Technology is everywhere. It’s evolving quickly and being increasingly ingrained in every aspect of our lives, from personal to professional. It continues to make our lives easier and more efficient, particularly when it comes to business. The grooming industry is no exception.
Gone are the days of heavy paper appointment books for groomers. There’s no longer a need to spend hours looking through filing cabinets and sticky notes to find vital customer information. With the right software, you don’t even have to waste precious time calling clients to remind them about their appointments anymore.
There’s no doubt about it: technology has changed the grooming industry for good—and for the better. Specialized software is now available to help pet groomers run and manage their businesses more efficiently. Yet, many groomers still haven’t embraced this technology in their shops. They’re still doing things the old–fashioned way and losing countless hours a week because of it.
Software is enabling groomers to spend less time on administrative tasks so they can spend more time on the work that matters—grooming pets, building client relationships and growing their businesses.
Digital Calendar
Automating back–office tasks saves time, enhances efficiency and improves business. Take cloud–based calendars for example; moving your paper calendar to a digital calendar enables you to quickly add appointments into the calendar and add a wealth of important information, including the customer’s name, the pet’s name, the service requested, grooming notes and the pet’s breed. Because your digital calendar is cloud–based, you can access it online on any device, anywhere in the world.
Along with a lower cost, better data storage, greater security, and easier updates and tech support, cloud–based appointment books mean you don’t have to carry your paper calendar around everywhere in case someone calls to book an appointment. You’ll never overbook or double–book yourself with your calendar at your fingertips at all times.
Customer Data
Another benefit of entering your appointments into a digital calendar is that it allows you to store your customer data in an organized fashion where you can access it at any time. That means you’ll never have to search for paper cards anymore. With just a few clicks, you’ll be able to search for and find the customer data you’re looking for.
Most software for groomers includes client profiles with contact and personal details. Even more importantly, it contains valuable pet profiles that allow you to track important pet information you’ll need to look up for every appointment, like breed, size, temperament, allergies, behavioural issues, vet info and more.
Automated Reminders and Receipts
Software not only helps you add and keep track of information digitally, but it also offers a wealth of automation that’s especially valuable to businesses. For example, most systems can automatically send your customers appointment reminders via text or email, which saves you valuable time and reduces no–shows. You won’t have to stay late every night making those calls. Most systems can also send automated receipts.
Payment Processing
Grooming software also makes it easier for you to track and receive sales. With the right setup, you can use a payment processor directly through the software and even collect convenient contactless payments, which your customers will appreciate. Contactless payments speed up the checkout process, and they come in two main forms: credit cards and mobile wallets. If the card is equipped with contactless technology and your payment terminal includes near–field communication (NFC), your clients simply need to hold the card near the card reader to complete their transaction.
While cash is not going to disappear overnight, it’s not everyone’s preferred payment method—and it pays to offer variety.
Marketing Automation
On top of enabling you to run the administrative side of your pet grooming business more efficiently, software can also automate marketing. As you know, the more free marketing and advertising you can get as a local groomer, the better. With specialized software, you can set up marketing campaigns directly in the system to send automated texts or emails for birthdays, or to customers you haven’t seen in a while, and more.
From welcome emails and automatic retention messaging and surveys, these types of automated marketing campaigns can help you build stronger relationships with clients to enhance loyalty, all with little work on your end. Just set up the campaign and forget it! You can even set up a customer loyalty program through some systems.
Online Bookings
Another especially valuable benefit of software is the ability to connect the software to your website to enable online bookings. These days, people expect to be able to book appointments online quickly and hassle–free. Many do not want to call. They want to schedule their dog’s grooming the same way they order their lunch: online! Giving them the ability to book appointments online not only improves the customer experience, but also reduces the amount of time you have to spend tied to the phone, which means you can book more appointments throughout the day.
Technology in the grooming industry is here, and it will soon become a staple in the sector as more groomers realize the positive impacts of automation on their businesses. Technology gives groomers the tools they need to succeed. It will help save you time, reduce your labor costs, increase your revenue and allow you to better understand your clients with valuable data. The question is: Will you get on board or fall behind? ✂️
David Sorbara
David Sorbara is the founder and president of Barkley HQ, software for pet groomers. Dave has been in the point–of–sale industry for 13 years and loves helping small businesses grow. He has brought his knowledge and know–how of software and operations to the grooming industry for the past three years. David started Barkley HQ because he saw that groomers did not have specialized software to help them run their businesses effectively.