Grooming Smarter

They said WHAT???

My son has come to work for me again after leaving a job as a warehouse assistant manager for several years. Yesterday he suggested we do a book on how to communicate with clients. It was such a silly idea I decided to run with it.

Clients are funny! There are certain phrases you will hear repeatedly that bring to mind flashbacks to every other time we hear them. Those are the ones that once you figure out how to interpret will make your life as a groomer SO much easier!

For example, any time a client starts out the conversation with “I have been out of town and my {insert the name of relative here} was supposed to be taking care of him/her for me” expect that the dog has not been bathed, brushed or touched for MONTHS on end and they want you to fix it and make them pretty again.

“He doesn’t like men” means he will lick every man in the shop to death and the women will be his chew toys.

“He might be a little funny about his feet” means DO NOT TOUCH them unless you have a death wish.

“My dog needs a dip” or “He might have a few fleas” usually means get out the flea bombs because this one is going to be an infested mess, like you have never seen before. EXCEPT when it means that there are no fleas at all and there never have been and never will be.

“I brushed her this morning” or “I brush them every day I SWEAR” means the dog has never seen a brush except in your salon and will likely need shaving down.

“My last groomer refuses to do them” generally means that the client is bringing you the best dogs you’ve done in a month.

“I need my dog back as early as possible” is more accurately akin to “prepare to leave 15 minutes late tonight.” Conversely, if the client says “take your time no hurry” you can expect a call in 45 minutes inquiring as to their status because “I was just on this side of town and checking to see”.

On the phone when a customer asks for a price quote, “my Yorkie is about five or six pounds” means to expect a twelve to fifteen pound Yorkie, and you should quote the price accordingly.

“My dog’s nails MIGHT need trimming” can mean one of two things. They are so long a chainsaw will be needed to trim them or they are so short that if you touch them with a clipper they will bleed pre-emptively.

If a person says “My hubby/wife/mother/son/daughter, etc wants him/her cut short” or left long or dyed pink with a Mohawk (YES that really happened!) it is always wise to call the person you usually deal with to verify if the person giving the instructions is NOT the person you usually see. This is critically important if it is someone you have never seen before or if they are a stepson or son in law. Don’t ask me how we know that.

People are FANATICAL about their football! At least here in the south. If a person other than the owner of the dog drops off and requests a particular team, beware! It's a set-up designed to make you look like an idiot in the eyes of the owner who is actually a fan of the requested teams arch rival. You will never live it down!

“My previous groomer would NEVER do to what I wanted” means the client has no idea what they want and expects YOU to figure it out or the other groomer was trying to fire the client.

“I want my dog to look like the dog on the Little Caesar’s dog food ad” means they want a round head. NOW if they have a Westie it will mean that their dog doesn’t have hair enough to do a proper Westie head and has a long nose with huge ears. The good news is that if you come CLOSE they will not see the differences and will be thrilled that you did what they asked.

“My dog is a little bit overweight” means it will take two people to lift them onto the table or into the tub. Usually the owner also falls into the “extra large” category and you feel bad even saying anything to them about their dog’s weight.

“We want it shorter but not shaved” is my favorite thing this time of year. Usually that means cut the down with a 4F or so, but it also can mean that the dog will need to be wetshaved with a ten to get under the mats.

“I can get her at ANY TIME during the day” is usually followed by a gasp and utter disbelief that it will take 4 hours to groom her pooch. My son usually says, “SO I take that anytime is NOT ok for you then?”

"Why did you cut her so short" means you did exactly what I asked you to do, and the same thing you always HAVE done, but then again, so does "You need to go shorter cause it grew out so fast this time!"

Sometimes these clients are so high maintanence that it is not worth keeping them around. It is up to ou how much of it you will put up with. If a client is constantly driving you crazy or demanding more and more special treatment, letting them go on to another place is sometimes a great idea for both you and the client. 

There are many more of these pleasantries I am sure! Send them along to me in comments at the bottom of this article! I will add them to the list! We all need to laugh every now and then!

 

You can do HOW MANY???

The age old question in this industry seems to always be, “How many dogs can you do in a day?”

I always smile, and stay out of that conversation anymore because when I did tell people that I can do a LOT of grooms, I was told that I must be telling a lie or I must be doing sub-par work. Then I sit back and read the responses. 5 dogs a day was the latest average I noticed posted in response to that question.

I have to be honest with you. I have a bathing staff, and they are responsible for bathing, drying and fully brushing out all dogs in my shop and they will sometimes even wet-shave the dogs that need it. I usually have 5 dogs done by 11am. We start bathing at 8am and the first dog is dried by 8:20 or so usually. By 3pm I generally have 12-15 dogs finished.

Last Saturday, my son and I were the only ones at work and I dried dogs while he bathed them. I left 5 dogs for him to dry while I started finishing dogs and we managed to do 19 dogs, 15 grooms and 4 baths, between 8am and 4pm. I am VERY happy with the results of every dog we did Saturday, and would put them up against anyone elses dogs they have done in the same haircuts. I know, you don’t believe me. Well it’s true!

Today the shop did 22 dogs including a chow mix shavedown and a standard poodle in a Scandinavian trim. There were four of us. We were done by 2:30. My bather left at about 12:15.

How do we do it? Equipment. Timing. Well maintained dogs. Did I say equipment?

• We have a bathing system.

• We use strong dryers, not cage dryers unless the dogs will not tolerate hand drying.

• We use shampoos and sprays that facilitate drying.

• We have everyone arrive before 10am to make it easier for us. The bather knows that they can leave when done so they tend to bathe faster than if they were on hourly rate pay.

• I use a window unit AC in the drying area to remove humidity and facilitate faster drying, even in the winter.

• Because our dogs are in routinely they are in better shape and they are better behaved.

• We use table covers to absorb water that flies off the dogs.

• We use water strippers (flat dryer nozzles) to remove water faster. Those are some of the things we do to speed up our day.

We are also highly organized. Each station has the tools they need to do their job, including bandanas and all sprays they may need. We have shear holders, blade holders and drawers to hold the other tools we use. With everything right at hand, the grooming goes really fast.

I keep a refrigerator with sodas, water and food stocked for the staff. They never have to run to the store to get a drink, or go get lunch. His keeps people in the building and that means they get done faster. All of this is terrific advice and it all helps us get done faster.

The most important thing that makes it possible for me to do that many dogs though is with me everyday, 24 hours a day. My mindset. I do not allow myself to think that I cannot do something.

Now, that is not to say that I do not have limits, or that I take dogs after we decide we have as many as we want to take on. We do limit how many we do. BUT! I never tell people that they can only do XX number of dogs or else they will not be doing a good job. I NEVER limit their brains that way.

If you are told over and over again that if you do more than XX dogs a day there is no way you can do them well, you will never be able to do more than XX. If you are told, “You can do as many as you want to do”, or, “you need to do more than XX” then you will learn to do that.

I do not want you to think that I pressure people to do more than they are comfortable with because that is not it at all! I allow people to learn at their pace and groom as fast or slow as they want to. I pick up the pace and help them out. I just train my staff to NOT think that they are limited by anything other than the day at hand. If I had ever told Ashley that she could not do more then she would have a hard time doing that. But because I DIDN’T tell her that she thinks that its normal to do this many.

When you are told you cannot do them, you get it in your head that it should take 2 hours per dog, and it will take you that long.

I have said before, I do not understand how people can make money doing 3-6 dogs a day. I think its one of the reasons people get out of this industry. They are not taught how to work faster, do things easier and make money. If you don’t make money you won’t stay because it will frustrate you.

There are many things you can do that will speed up grooming without stressing or upsetting the dogs and believe me, they are actually better behaved since they are finished faster!

Many of those things have been discussed in my blog and more are coming! Once you have opened your mind and relaxed, believing you CAN do it, you will be amazed how much faster you can get and how fast it will happen.

Remember too, that just because you cannot do something does not mean that other people are not capable of doing it and doing it well.

I remember reading at one point someone saying, “The dogs do not know how fast my hand is moving when I clipper or scissor, so it doesn’t stress them out.” I agree 100%!

Open your mind and you will be amazed at what you can do. Never let anyone tell you that you have to be limited in what you can do. Its not true! I would love to be able to do 3 or 4 dogs a day, but its not possible to make a living doing that many. I want everyone to be able to make enough money to live comfortably. Speed and quality do not have to be mutually exclusive of each other. When you learn that, you will be successful in this industry.