Picture this, it's Saturday morning, and you're sipping coffee before your busy dog grooming day. Phone in hand, you review your appointments for the day. Zeke, the Border Collie, will be your first appointment, followed by three doodles. Fortunately, you get a break in the afternoon with a Shih Tzu mix and a couple of other small dogs.

*ping* a text comes in from one of your bathers. She's come down with a stomach bug and won't be able to come in. With a sigh, you mentally recalibrate your flow for the day and dash off a message to one of your part-timers to see if they can come in for a few hours.

At least your scheduling software works. All of your appointments are confirmed, and you have all your client notes in one place easy to access by anyone of your staff. You don't miss the old days of paper ledgers, index cards, and post-it notes. 

Why Scheduling Software is a Must-Have for Dog Groomers

Pet businesses with established processes and systems usually run smoother. Whether it's a system for how you store and maintain your grooming tools to automating as many repetitive administrative tasks as you can.

1. It Saves Time

When clients can book their dog's next appointment online, you don't have to return calls and play the "let's match calendars" game. Instead, your online calendar lets your clients know which appointments are available so they can book themselves in.

Then, your automated system will ping them a reminder so they don't forget. Whether scheduling text messages or emails, it's an easy way to reduce no-shows. How much will you increase your income if you eliminate no-shows? (Hint: One grooming business owner mentioned a $70,000 a year boost!)

Imagine another scenario where a storm shuts down your salon for two days. You have two days worth of lost appointments to reschedule when you reopen, plus your current appointments. Sure, you could call everyone back to reschedule manually, taking two hours or more. Or, you could automatically send a message acknowledging the missed appointments due to weather and inviting your customers to reschedule with your adjusted calendar. Boom! Fifteen minutes later, you can be back to dog grooming.

That's the magic of pet business software.

2. It Keeps You Organized

Today's appointment scheduling systems for pet businesses have room for client notes. And since the software works across devices and locations, everyone can know what type of haircut Luna's mom prefers and that Luna's birthday is tomorrow. Birthdays mean extra pampering, right?

Of course, your pet business software can do more than only schedule appointments and send automatic reminders. It can also handle online payments and maintain your website and social media. All-in-one business software is the ultimate in eliminating tedious tasks and having one spot for everything you need.

3. Boosts Customer Happiness

In the modern world, more and more people expect and want to book appointments and pay online. It's easy, they can save the scheduled appointment right to their online calendar, and automatic payments mean they can connect the credit card of their choice and get reward points. It's efficient and is exactly the way people operate today in other areas of their lives.

Plus, with automatic invoicing and payments, you spend less time on bookkeeping and can see your cash flow at a glance. This means you have more time to spend with the dogs and on customer relationships. 

4. It Saves Money

With the right pet business software, you don't need separate invoicing and payment software, web hosting, social media management tools, and on and on. Instead, you can take care of business right from your car, your home, or your salon.

As you can see, automation through scheduling software is a great way to save time which in turn saves you money. However, you can automate other things too to save you even more time and money. One simple guideline to keep in mind is you can probably automate any administrative task you find yourself doing over and over again. From new customer onboarding to managing your grooming pricing.

For example, Easy Busy Pets have unveiled Smart Fields. This is dynamic pricing based on the dog's weight, breed, type of groom, or any parameters you choose.

Let's take a closer look. 

The Benefit of "Smart Fields"

While dog grooming scheduling software has always made it simple for your clients to book appointments 24/7, Smart Fields make it even easier to determine the right price and duration.

You can watch the demo video here:

As you know, the dog's breed, size, and coat type (and coat condition) contribute to the length and price of the groom. If you're like most groomers, you offer weight-based pricing. A 135 pound Newfoundland will have a higher grooming fee than a teacup poodle. Yet, effective pricing also accounts for the dog's coat condition and customer preference. For example, if your customer's Eskie only comes in 2 or 3 times a year, they may require excessive dematting or a shave down.

With Smart Fields, the software knows who the customer is so they don't have to input their dog's name, gender, breed, and size. It's fewer clicks for the customer and simplifies your life too. The Smart Fields feature lets you choose specific parameters like breed and size to adjust pricing to the specific dog and not a generic "50-pound male."

When your customer books their appointment, your calendar automatically knows it's Max the 150-pound Mastiff and prices accordingly. It also blocks out the right amount of time for the groom.

For example, let's say you allot 2 hours to groom Bella the labradoodle, but you tell your clients 3 hours to account for any delays. When Bella's mom makes the appointment, she clicks on 10 am on Saturday and that's all she needs to do. She automatically gets a thank you confirmation and knows how much the grooming will cost. She receives a reminder message three days before the appointment and another one the day before. Then, when she picks up a freshly groomed Bella, she pops by, says a quick "hello" and they're on their way. She's already paid online.

It's fast, efficient, and organized. That's what scheduling software can do for your pet business. Imagine what you can do if you save ten hours a week on administrative tasks? What would you do? Would you open up additional grooming slots? Take time off? Focus on improving your processes?

You can try our scheduling software for pet businesses at no cost. See how much it improves your pet business processes and enhances your productivity.