Great Day!

I really had a great day today! I absolutely love getting feedback from happy customers (who wouldn't?)!

My first dog of the day was a new client. I opened the door to let her in (grooming starts before the store opens) and once she came in she asked if I was Jen. I said yes and she said, "I am SO glad to meet you! Ever since the 4th of July, every good-looking dog I see, when I ask who grooms their dog, the answer is always 'Jen at ***.' I like the place I've been going OK, they're nice and everything, but I just haven't been very happy with her haircut. You do a beautiful job, and I'm SO looking forward to you grooming my dog!"

I totally felt like a rock star in that moment. I've been appreciated by many clients in the past, but this is probably the first time I've received such adulation from somebody whose dog I haven't even groomed yet!

Her mom picked the dog up when I was done because she is a teacher and had to go to work. Her mom seemed very pleased with the grooming and said, "You know X subdivision? We saw a woman walking this dog, I think he was a Bichon but he could have been a mix, and we asked her who groomed him and she said you. So that's how we wound up here."

I told her I'd be moving to a new location very soon, but it happens to be much closer to where they live, so it works well for everybody!

My next dog was one of my regulars, a Maltese. Clueless Dad dropped off, but Mom picked up with her normal amount of appreciation.

After lunch, I had these two Yorkies. This client has been coming to my groom shop for years and is known for being...particular.

I did them several times last year, but when she couldn't get in with me in the Spring, she wound up with our least-experienced groomer.

She was...uh...less than pleased with the results and threatened to never come back. She said she would give us one more chance and she was scheduled with me since I "didn't do too bad" on her dogs when I did them. Such a glowing compliment.

Anyway, I made sure to listen VERY CAREFULLY to what she wanted done with her dogs, and I followed her notes to a T.

Here's the first one.

Now, how many shots did it take to get a good picture of the second one? Let's find out.

11. And do you know how we finally got the winning shot? One of the other groomers had a brilliant idea and held the other Yorkie over my head. I still don't love that picture, but it was good enough!

Now for the million-dollar question: Was the customer happy when she picked the dogs up?

Survey says...

YES!!! Certainly she could call back and complain, but she did seem very genuinely pleased as she walked out the door.

VICTORY!!!


P.S. - My Shutterfly photo book just arrived in the mail, and it is AWESOME!