Rebooking clients is a crucial strategy for groomers and pet stylists to increase their income and keep your fur clients coat and skin in great condition. Encouraging clients to schedule their next appointment before they leave ensures a steady stream of pets coming into your salon.
Rebooking clients before they leave ensures they stick to a regular grooming schedule, unlike those who don't rebook and may forget, leading to sporadic grooming appointments. This consistency is not only beneficial for the pet but also for your business, in this day and age its important not to assume that clients will return on their own without some encouraging.Â
Encouragement and friendly text or email reminders can significantly increase rebooking rates. As a professional dog groomer, we need to educate our clients how often they should return based on:
- The breed and coat type
- Age
- Condition ( Dry skin, allergies, fleas, medical conditions)
- Trim style ( Longer lengths or Hand Scissoring trims need to be more regular)
- Activity level
- Environment (e.g., living near the beach or in the bush)
- Owner's home maintenance routine between appointments
Most pets require regular grooming, even the short coated breeds, with indoor pets benefiting from weekly or fortnightly bathing and haircuts every 4 to 6 weeks. Hand strip breeds may need weekly, bi-monthly, quarterly, or half-yearly hand strips depending on the breed. Groomers who understand the impact of rebooking realise that it's not just a courtesy but crucial for business turnover. Educating clients about the rebooking process helps them stay in a regular routine.
Research indicates that retaining customers is more cost-effective than acquiring new ones. According to numerous studies, acquiring a new customer can cost five times more than retaining an existing customer. By focusing on client retention and implementing effective rebooking strategies, businesses can significantly increase their profits. Research suggests that increasing customer retention rates by just 5% can lead to a profit increase of 25% to 95%. These statistics highlight the substantial impact that retaining existing clients can have on a business's bottom line. Effective rebooking strategies play a crucial role in keeping clients engaged and coming back, ultimately driving up profits.
Rebooking offers significant benefits to both dog groomers and pet owners. For groomers, it leads to a substantial consistent revenue, particularly during slower periods like winter. It also fosters a bond between groomers and pet owners, providing a more personalised VIP service. Additionally, rebooking helps groomers manage their schedules more effectively, reducing the need for costly advertising.
Many groomers offer a VIP membership on a yearly basis, allowing clients to book a year in advance at their preferred days and times. This membership typically includes perks such as a set number of cancellations per year with a reschedule for guaranteed spots available that same week, free nail trims, two or three free baths a year, and discounted grooming rates for VIPs. The membership can be tailored to suit your business needs, with a capped number of clients per year to maintain exclusivity. By offering different prices for members and non-members, you can create a sense of VIP service and generate additional revenue. For example, with a clientele of 500, offering this membership to half of your clients at $100 per dog (or $150 for two dogs) could generate an extra $25,000 per year for your business, while ensuring clients continue to prebook and stay loyal to your services.
Encouragement and reminders can significantly increase rebooking rates, many of the new grooming booking softwares and apps have automatic reminders for your clients . Groomers who understand the impact of rebooking realise that it’s not just courtesy it can be detrimental to the dog for skin and coat care, and important for business turnover. Educating your clients on the rebooking process helps keep them in a regular routine.
Here are six tips to ensure clients are rebooking:
1. Stress the importance of maintaining a schedule for the pet and the client's lifestyle. Once you know all the answers, you can suggest the ideal number of weeks the pet should go between professional grooming appointments.
2. Suggest dates. Don’t ask the client if they would like to rebook their appointment; suggest an ideal date and clarify the importance of regular grooming. If the client is hesitant or can’t schedule ahead, inform them that your bookings are filling fast, and they may miss an appointment, which could cause matting and perhaps extra cost.
3. Offer an incentive. You can offer a deep conditioning treatment or special treat for the regulars that book weekly or biweekly. These types of clients can be your bread-and-butter, so it’s important to look after your regulars.
4. Create a loyalty program or VIP membership that rewards clients for regular rebooking. Offer points for each visit that can be redeemed for discounts on products or free services. This encourages clients to return and rebook their appointments.
5. Personalise the rebooking experience by sending personalised reminders based on the client's preferred communication method (email, text, phone call). This shows that you value their business and helps keep your salon top of mind for their grooming needs.
6. Ensure your staff is trained to rebook clients. Research grooming booking systems that can pre-book your client and send out regular text messages.
Ensuring your diary is pre-booked to at least 70%-80% allows for new clients to join your clientele, provides financial security and also guarantees client retention along with a steady income.Â
Stay ahead of the curve and keep your pet clients looking amazing and returning to your business, join us at Groomer Nation and learn more about grooming techniques, breed trims, pet trims, show/competition trims, skin and coat care, hand stripping and so much more at Groomer Nation (www.groomernation.com.au).Â
Happy Grooming my friends !
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