In the Dog's House

The Business of House Call Webinar Series

Hey guys, I've been busy working my butt off on a huge 3 part series on running a successful house call grooming business. I wanted to share what I have planned with you, and would love any input you may have!

The Business of House Call is a three part series that is the culmination of over a year’s research speaking with house call groomers throughout the U.S. and Canada about their businesses and what works (and doesn’t work) for them. Alyssa will guide you through many of the important pieces that can make or break your business, share what’s worked for her and others, and give you the tools to make the best decisions for yours. 

In part I, I'll cover how to:

• Select your service area to maximize profit
• Select a pricing system that fits your style of grooming and clientele
• Calculate your pricing to assure you're making a profit
• Create client policies that you can stick to

In part II, I'll cover Client Relations including how to:

• Effectively communicate with your clients
• Raise prices without an uproar
• Get your clients onto a regular grooming schedule

In part III, I'll discuss Marketing your house call business including:

• Setting up a client referral program
• Low cost advertising ideas
• Unique & unconventional advertising methods
• Using online advertising to your fullest advantage

Each part will be a 60 minute class with a question and answer session afterward. Attend the first class to find out about a discount for purchasing the entire series! 

Class dates are scheduled for:

March 4, 2012 6:00pm CST  The Business of House Call Part I (Service area, Pricing & Policies). Click here to register.

March 11, 2012 6:00pm CST The Business of House Call Part II (Client relations). Click here to register.

March 18, 2012 6:00pm CST The Business of House Call Part III (Marketing). Click here to register. 

 

And I promise I will be posting some new non-class related blogs soon! I'll be taking Chris' Canine Esthetician class on February 19th, doing a write up on that, and will be writing how I implement what I learned into my house calls with more of the "Bringing the Salon to Your Clients" series of posts.

Secret Project Revealed!

I'm finally allowed to spill the beans! Happy New Year everyone! To kick things off for this rockin year of 2012 I am proud to announce the launch of Pawsitive Educational Training!

 

What if continuing education was available on your schedule?

     What if some of the top pet industry speakers were available on your command? What if there was a wide range of topics to choose from? This is what Pawsitive Educational Training is all about. We are a collaboration of the best the pet industry has to offer. We provide both live online and recorded On Demand webinars.

     Our topics include mobile and house call grooming, marketing, safety, breed specifics, equipment use and maintenance, creative grooming, animal behavior, competition grooming, product choice and uses, cat grooming, and so much more.

     We are Mary Oquendo, Alyssa Forss, Daryl Conner, Chris Sertzel, Ellen Ehlrich, Dawn Omboy, Kim Raisanen, Sherri Shinsky, Nicole Kallish, Lindsey Dicken, Melissa Jepsen, Derek Hartmann, Barbara Bird, Debi Hilley, Donna Gleason, and Kristie Perry Kingsland.

Come visit us to see how easy & cost effective it is to continue your education.

The site is not completely finished and due to changing classes will have updates often so be sure to check it out regularly!

Happy HOWL-idays!

Hope the busy season doesn't have you all too pooped just yet!

Since its obviously a busy time of year, I haven't been able to write much but I wanted to let you know that in my free time I haven't been idle. I have some very exciting announcements to make come the new year and can't wait to share them with you. But for now, here are some up coming articles you can look forward to:

• Doing House Calls in Winter - Some tips and tricks from my experiences in Northern Wisconsin winters.

 

• Wet Shaving in House Call - How to use this time and coat saving techinque without making your client's house a disaster area.

 

• Bringing the Spa to Your Clients - Continuing the series including a write up on my experience in Chris Sertzel's Canine Esthetician class!

 

In the meantime I hope you all have a joyous and profitable holiday season and that the new year finds you all fulled with promise. Thank you all for your support!

House Call Expense Budget Worksheet

This is from a project I'm working on that will be released at a later date, but I thought many could use it now. Special thanks to Chris Sertzel and her salon expense budget worksheet which was the base for mine.

You can click on the image to see it full sized.

 Please note that the cost per dog calculation is the minimum you need to charge in order to break even. There is no profit calculated in that number. Make sure to add in your profit margin before setting your prices!

 

I can't wait to tell you all more about the projects I'm working on, but until I can, enjoy this freebie. :)

Bringing the Spa to Your Clients

I have been wanting to add skin and coat care treatments to my services for house call and thought I would share what I am planning to do, how I do it, and how it's received by my clients. This will be an on going series and hopefully you'll be able to learn from my experiences.

 

Choosing Spa Services

When deciding what to offer, it's important to think about what is realistic to do in your client's home and doesn't add too much extra baggage to your equipment load. Keeping these things in mind, plus the skin and coat issues I regularly see from my clients, this is a list of services I plan to offer:

• Sugar scrub exfoliating treatments
• Hot oil remoisturizing treatments
• Herbal soaks (Aromatherapy during the bath)
• Canine massage

More than likely I will implement these options slowly, as I get further training in the areas I want to pursue.

 

 My First Spa Treatment in House Call

 Recently I had a Bichon client named Rocco that had been suffering from seasonal allergies. He was terribly itchy and his owners weren't sure what to do. After discussing nutrition, and planning a visit to their vet, I offered to try a sugar scrub to help remove the dead dry itchy skin for this poor boy, and help encourage healthy skin to regenerate while they sought treatment for the underlying problem. Since this isn't part of my regular service, but not currently on my services list, I offered to try this for free and if it helped we could go from there. I brought along my camera and thought I would share it with you.

For Rocco I decided to make a scrub using brown sugar and olive oil. I used about 1 cup of brown sugar and enough olive oil to make it slushy. Here's a photo of the scrub before I applied it to Rocco.

This is a photo of Rocco before the bath and scrub. He's not usually a fan of his baths, so this was the best shot I could get of how his skin looked before. For a closer look click on the photo.

 

I wetted Rocco down with tepid water before adding the scrub. To apply the scrub, I took clumps and applied to the coat gently. This type of scrub doesn't spread well without adding a bit of water after you apply it in order to spread and scrub into the skin. Because of how pink and sensitve Rocco's skin was, I didn't scrub for very long but let him soak in the scrub for about 5 minutes. He was surprisingly still for this portion of the bath, I think he was enjoying himself :)

Scrub applied to Rocco. You can see more of his skin irriatation here. Most of the flaky skin and already come off with the initial application.



Rocco's skin after the scrub had soaked for 5 minutes, and a long cool rinse.

 

Rocco seemed to enjoy his sugar scrub very much and his owners were quite impressed with the results. Ultimately this was very easy to do, didn't make a mess, and only cost me a few dollars in time and ingredients.

What to Charge?

 

For anyone considering doing house call grooming, how to price for this specialized and personal service can be a concern. In general, most house callers charge around the same as mobile groomers ($15-20 higher than salon price). But how you charge that amount (your pricing structure) can be largely dictated by how you want to run your business, the area you service, and your style of grooming. For simplicity reasons, we’ll focus on three popular options and which situations might benefit most from that specific pricing structure.

 

Hourly with a Minimum Charge

Groomers that charge an hourly rate have a set dollar amount that they charge per hour of grooming, and often have a minimum amount of billing time. For example, a groomer could have an hourly rate of $30 with a minimum billing time of 2 hours, making their base fee on all dogs starting at $60.

Pros:

• Simplified pricing
• Ensures a more consistent wage

Cons:

• Can create a pressure to rush through grooms to increase earnings
• Doesn’t include charges for gas or trip time

This type of pricing system often works best for seasoned groomers who are fairly quick and consistent in their speed of grooming. If a groomer was to choose this pricing option, a fixed area of service would also insure that they wouldn’t expend too much money on gas and loss of billable time while traveling.

 

Salon Competitive Base Price with Flat Service Fee

With this pricing structure you would charge a base price that was comparable to your local salons with an additional service fee that does not change. For example, if most salons in your area charge $40 for a full groom on a Shih Tzu, for that breed you would charge $40 plus a service fee of $20 for coming to their home.

Pros:

• Compensates you for travel time and/or gas expense
• Doesn’t have a time pressure the way hourly pricing can

Cons:

• Depending on service area, a flat fee may not adequately compensate for travel or gas

 

Salon Competitive Base Price with Travel Fee

Again this structure would use a base price comparable to local salons but the additional travel fee can vary based on the location of the client. For example, a Shih Tzu is charged $40 in a local salon plus a travel fee between $15-25 depending on the client’s relative location to you.

Pros:

• Compensates you more accurately to your gas expense or travel time
• Enables groomers to have a larger service area

Cons:

• Explaining pricing to clients is more difficult without giving a direct quote

This pricing structure works extremely well for groomers in more rural areas or those wishing to have a larger service area without absorbing the addition cost of gas or travel time.

 

 

Lugging All That Equipment!

In a previous blog we covered the Tools of the Trade, but how do you carry those tools? Every house call groomer's solution to this problem is a bit different so I got together with some of the wonderful members of my House Call Groomer's Facebook Group to show you how some house callers carry their equipment. Hopefully seeing how others carry their equipment will give you ideas on how to carry yours!

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The first set up we will look at is from Salem, a house caller in Tennesse.

From Salem: "This is all my usual stuff. I'd love to have a dolly or something but haven't yet found the solution."

In the numbered bags above she carries the following:

1. Blades and Snap Ons
2. Bow Supplies
3. Scissors, Stripping Knives, Combs, Brushs
4. Vaccum, Clipper vac kit, Clippers, Shampoo Bottles, Sprays

 

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Next up we have Chastity, a house caller for over 10 years who likes to come prepared for anything!

In her trunk Chastity carries a TON of stuff, but will not bring in everything for a single house (you can click on the photos to open a pop up window for a better view). Here is a close up photo of the bag she uses to carry most of her small hand tools:

 

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Last but not least we have Stephanie's cooler bag! Stephanie is a house caller in the Toronto area.

 

The ingenious thing about using a cooler bag is that it maintains a constant tempurature for your shampoos and sprays. Keeping those supplies at a constant tempurature lessens your chances of issues with aerosol cans in a hot car, or your shampoo breaking down from the heat.

 

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I hope you found these photos and descriptions helpful in figuring out ways to carry your equipment. I, like many house callers, am constantly looking for new ideas and ways to make carrying my gear easier.

A special thanks to Salem, Chastity and Stephanie for sharing your set ups and helping your fellow house callers. You gals rock!

If you would like to continue to see more examples, or would like to see your set up featured, please leave a comment here or email me. I can easily see this becoming a long running topic, but I want to know what you, my readers, think!

Take Care & Happy House Calling!

Managing Nervous Nellys

We’ve all dealt with the anxious, clingy behavior of “nervous Nelly” pet parents, but this is an especially big issue in house call. Learning to manage these anxious owners so that you can do your job, and still give them peace of mind is an art unto itself; one that must be learned with practice and a few simple tricks to get this type of owner to do what you need them to do.

 

Confidence is Key!

Showing a concerned pet parent that you are a confident and capable professional through your words, and body language can quickly put their minds at ease.  To show confidence in your speech, speak at a comfortable rate without mumbling or using “um”s. Clear, concise speech shows that you know what you are talking about and believe what you say.

 

Body language is a huge part of our industry when dealing with dogs, and whether we know it or not it is with our 2-legged clients too! Confident body language is a large topic that I plan to discuss further, but for now here are some basic tips:

• Give direct eye contact to your client when speaking (as long as it is safe for you to do)
• Smile as you speak and work
• Have good posture with your shoulders back and a comfortably wide stance (when not grooming)
• Do not fidget while talking with your customer (this shows insecurity)

 All these behaviors express confidence to our customers.

 

Read Your Client’s Body Language & Speech

Most nervous owners are that way for a reason. Whether it’s because they have insecurities about someone handling their “baby”, have an extreme attachment to their pet and become fearful if it is out of their sight, or any other number of issues; body language and the way they speak can tell you much more upfront than you may realize. Once you know how they are feeling, it is much easier to put them at ease.

 

Fearful/insecure pet parents usually have a nervous, hurried tone to their voice and speak quickly. If they are not clinging to their pet (which is extremely common), then they may be fidgety. People feeling this way often attempt to avoid direct eye contact. (Sounding familiar? Like a fearful submissive dog perhaps? Human and dog body language intersect more often that many realize!)  Their body language is often closed, with legs crossed (if sitting), arms folded, hands in pockets or held together, and their body angled away from you.

 

For owners feeling these emotions, a calm reassuring tone of voice, eye contact when they allow you to make it, open body language, and lots of smiling can put them at ease.  A gentle touch to the shoulder or arm, if you deem appropriate, can also be very reassuring.  Open body language is the opposite of closed. Face your client directly, with a wide stance if standing, or legs mildly open if sitting, arms at your side, leaning forward slightly if sitting. When talking to these clients, focus on the positive as much as possible. “Fluffy is going to have a wonderful time being pampered today, and you are welcome to watch,” with a nice smile can go a long way for these people. If you’re concerned about the dog picking up on the owner’s energy, remember that your energy when in direct contact with the dog will have more of an impact (from my experience). So as long as you are confident and the owner isn’t nervously talking to the dog, you can make it work.  As always though, if you do not feel comfortable with a nervous owner staying in the room, politely ask them to remain out of the pet’s line of sight.

Using these techniques, I hope you now have the confidence to handle “nervous Nellys” with finesse.

 

What Could Go Wrong? (My First Grooming Competition)

I’m sure you are all wondering where on earth I was last week that I didn’t post, well… I competed for the first time last Sunday! Although it’s a little off topic I thought I’d share my first competition experience with all of you.

The Humane Animal Welfare Society (HAWS) of Waukesha put on a rescue rodeo competition with all proceeds going to help homeless pets. When I first heard about this I thought, “What a great way to get my feet wet and get the jitters out before All American!” So I signed up and was happy as lark. Shortly after, I started talking to people who compete and heard the same story time and time again; if it can go wrong it will at your first competition. Blissfully ignorant of the validity of that statement, I smiled and nodded pleasantly thinking that I couldn’t happen to me. Boy was I wrong.

Morning of the competition, I am up and on the road by 8am for my 3 hour drive down to Waukesha. The competition didn’t start until noon, but I thought the extra time to set up, get a free lunch and chat with other WAPPS members was well worth getting up at 7am on my only day off that week. Before I continue, have you all ever heard the joke about Wisconsin seasons? We only have 3: winter, still winter, and road construction. April is just past still winter, making it the WORST month for road construction in the entire year (if counties decide to start then). Since my county hadn’t started any major road works yet, I foolishly assumed that there wouldn’t be too many issues on my drive down…

A little over an hour into my drive, I am cruising happily down Hwy 45 when suddenly a single sign notifies me that the highway will be ending in 5 miles, and to take the next exit.  I do as the sign says, expecting detour signs to get me back in the direction I need to go but there were none to be found! I do not have a GSP, my cell doesn’t have internet and I have no idea where I am. Calmly I decide that I have a good cushion of time and can try to figure this out. Choosing to go West towards what I hoped was a town, I miraculously picked an alternate route after several turns with no signage. About 20 minutes later and I am back on track.

At this point I thought to myself, “Alright! Crisis averted and I am still making great time! Maybe I should call Mel and talk though some of my pre competition jitters.” So I call my friend Mel (a fellow groomer and rock star friend) and we chat as I continue toward my destination. After an hour of venting and giggles, Mel lets me go to check in a client and I realize, while I was gabbing away I had missed my exit! I am now only about 20 minutes away from the competition but lost in Milwaukee (and a rather rough part at that!) Knowing that I can only luck out navigate once in a great while, I stopped at the nearest gas station for directions. I had printed off my original directions from Google maps, including the address of HAWS and several contact numbers just in case. As I get out of the car to ask the gas station attendant directions behind his bullet proof glass, the wind that had been crazy that day decided that my printed directions were a necessary sacrifice and swept them out into four lanes of traffic before I could even blink. Not letting the wind get to me, I ventured inside and got mediocre directions on how to get to Waukesha, but he had no clue where HAWS was and now neither did I.

As per directions from my new gas station friend, I get onto Interstate 94 and start madly dialing my friends. I had for some reason memorized the address of HAWS, but not the phone numbers of anyone that could actually give me directions there, so the next best thing was to get anyone with an internet connection. After calling all of my family, my partner Jay, and several friends in California, my dear friend Ashley in Texas answered her phone.  In a panic I explained my situation and she promptly saved my butt! She stayed on the phone with me until I pulled in the parking lot, and wished me luck. The time was now 11:40am, and I only had 20 minutes to get all my stuff unpacked, meet my dog and figure out what the heck I was going to do with it!

I run in, mutter some quick pleasantries as I set up all my equipment and find the person I need to get my dog from. At this point there are only two dogs left, so I reach in the hat and pull out a little slip that says, “Moose”. And this is what I got:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Needless to say I was dumbfounded by the 4 inches of hair on Moose’s back, neck and sides while having less than an inch of floppy wimpy hair on his spindle legs. I was told Moose was some kind of Poodle mix, that he was moving to New Mexico (adoptive family) and that although he was portly, he had already lost 2 pounds in the 2 weeks he had been there. At this point my brain was so fried from everything else that had gone wrong that something just click. I may have had a lemon, but I’d be darned if it wasn’t going to be lemonade! I settled on a modified Schnauzer face with more of a Westie skirt (to hide his bulge) just when time was called to begin grooming.

I expected to be terrified grooming while Chris Sertzel judged me and a room full of dog lovers watched but somehow I tuned it all out. I wish I could say that was the end of all the things that went wrong, but sadly it wasn’t.

Since I was one of the last people to arrive, I got to set up my table front and center, less than 2 feet from the spectators. The lovely people in the front row: 3 small talkative and whiny children and a mother who could not control them. I channeled all my patience and pushed through. 

Moose was also not a fan of his muzzle being touched, period. So when it came time to blend his lovely new schnauzer face, while the kids in the front row threw a fit… let’s just say I did what I could and was proud that I did. Frankly getting eyebrows alone on this dog was a miracle.

I knew I wouldn't place, but I was darn proud I had done the best with what had ended up being a pretty rough situation, though it did help that I feel in love with Moose while grooming his wiggly butt. After the winners were announced, I cuddled on Moose one last time and gave him back to the kennel staff. Two days later his adoptive family came to pick him up and adored his haircut. So the new owners were happy, and in spite of all the craziness I actually had a great time! That makes me a winner in my book.

The All Important Pre-Groom Interview

    Asking the right questions on the phone with a potential client is imperative to determine whether they would be a good addition your client base, and if house call is the right fit for this dog and customer. Some house callers perform an in-person consultation to determine this. For many this works well but personally, I ask very detailed and specific questions over the phone to save money on gas and time.  Here are the questions I ask clients to get a better feel for the type of client and determine how best to move forward. I will also explain with each question why these are so important to ask, and what I am looking for in their answer.

 

1.       Are you familiar with what house call grooming entails and the type of services I offer?

This is an important question for many reasons. I have had several people set up appointments that were actually surprised when I asked for an address to come to them, for some reason they thought I was a salon! To avoid this kind of mix up, make sure to ask this question. This also gives you the opportunity to educate your potential client if they are not familiar with all you offer and have questions about house call. Make sure to discuss your services professionally and confidently. People can sense how you’re feeling through your voice.

 

2.       What type of pet(s) do you have in your household? What breed(s)?

Although this question is obvious for information about the pet(s) you will be grooming, it also opens up a conversation about all their animals. Many owners do not know that cats can and need to be groomed. If you offer this service it gives you the opportunity to explain the benefits of cat grooming and potentially add more grooms to your trip than the pet(s) they originally called for.

 

3.       When was the last time your pet(s) was professionally groomed?

This gives you an idea of the condition of the pet(s) for quoting a price, and how frequent this client usually has them groomed. If it has been quite some time since their last groom, ask why. Make sure to stress professionally when asking this question as well, if the owner is bathing their pet(s) at home and not doing it properly this means a lot more work for you!

 

4.       Where are you located?

This helps you determine if they are in your service area, and if it is in an area that known as a bit “rough”, you have the opportunity to simply say you don’t service it (potentially keeping you safe).

 

    After gathering all of this information you are in a much better place to determine a price quote for the client, and whether they are the type of client you are looking for. A polite way to turn a customer away if you are unhappy with any of their answers is to state your next available appointment as very far out. Using these questions as my starting point, I have been able to selectively choose the type of clients I want for my business in a polite and professional manner. I hope this helps you do the same.