You're traveling to another dimension....
You're next stop is....
The
Twilight
Zone!
Picture a quite little family owned grooming shop on the East coast of the United States.
Thursday, January 19, 2012.
Phone rings...it's @9am.
MFF: "My Furry Friends, can I help you?"
Ms.M: "Hi, this is Ms.M. I have an appointment today at 1pm, but I am sick and not sure if I can make it."
MFF: "That's okay. Did you want to reschedule?"
Ms M: "I really want to get her in."
MFF: "Well, your appointment is not until 1 pm. Would you like to wait a little while and see if you feel better? You can give me a call back if you can't make it in and we will reschedule for you."
Ms. M: "Okay. I'll do that. Thank you."
Noon, same day.
Ms. M: "Hi, this is Ms.M again. I am not feeling any better. Can I reschedule the appointment?"
MFF: "Sure. We don't have anything until next Thursday at 10am. Would you like to take that?"
Ms. M: "Yes, thank you. I'll see you next Thursday at 10 am, and I am sorry about today. I really want to bring my dog to your shop."
MFF: "No problem. You can't help it if you are sick. We will see you next week."
Fast forward to today.
10:15am
The new customer that rescheduled from last Thursday to today, is a no show.
10:50am
Phone rings.
MFF: "My Furry Friends. Can I help you?"
Ms. M: "Hi, it's Ms. M. I am on my way. I will be there in a few minutes."
MFF: "Well ma'am, your appointment was alomst an hour ago."
Ms. M: "No it wasn't. It was for 10am."
MFF: "Yes ma'am, but it's now 10:50, but I'll see if the groomers can still take yo........"
Ms. M: YOU'RE WRONG!! I am looking at my clock and it is 10 of 10.
MFF: "No ma'am, my clock says that it is 10 of 11."
Ms. M: "I don't know what clock you are looking at, but MY clock says that it is 10 of 10!! YOU ARE WRONG! " I guess we are not going to be able to do business together!"
MFF: " I am not saying that ma'am. I am trying to tell you that you have the time wr......"
Ms. M: *CLICK*
10:53am
Phone rings.
Ms. M: " I just wanted to let you know that your clocks are wrong! I am sitting in a bank looking right at the three different clocks and they all say 5 of 10. I think that there is some other reason that you don't want to groom my dog."
MFF: "Why would I do that ma'am? I rescheduled your appointment from last week because you said that you were sick...."
Ms. M:" I WAS SICK!!"
MFF: "I didn't say that you weren't, but if I didn't want to groom your dog, why would I have given you another appointment? Why would I want to lose your business?"
Ms. M: "You're going to lose more than just my business now. Word of mouth gets around fast!"
MFF: " Well ma'am, I hope that later today when you realize that you are running an hour behind that...."
Ms. M: *CLICK*
You have just visited the Twilight Zone.
DoDoDoDo...DoDoDoDo...DoDoDoDo...DoDoDoDO
HAAAAAAAAAA!! People are so CRAZY!
ReplyDeleteBahaha! Oh my, that's probably one of the best re-schedule phone calls I've heard.
ReplyDeleteWe've got a lady down here in Texas who is notorious for cancelling, usually 10 minutes before or after her appointment. Texas gets hot in the summer.. if its 105 one day, chances are it'll be 105 the next day. This summer, she called and cancelled on us almost every day for a week and change because "It's too hot outside, I can't leave the house with my dog." After every cancellation, I'd offer a reschedule, and of course she'd reschedule for the next day. We started taking bets on whether she'd call before she was due in, afterward and by how many minutes. Oof!
Side note though, I just found your blog and kudos for keeping up with it! I've been grooming for my paycheck for about two years now and its wonderful to see folks that still love their work after so long. This summer my husband and I are expecting our first kiddo so there's been some talk about me taking our dining room in a new direction and hopefully finding a small handful of clients to work form home with.
Going out there on your own has got to be scary but I love reading about y'all that succeed and make it work! My goal one day would be to run a shop like (what sounds like) yours: a self-service area as well as a groomer-driven side.
Sorry for the novel but I appreciate the before and after pictures also! I'm trying to get a better grasp on what groomers in different regions are doing and how I can change/adjust/improve what I'm working on. I did get a picture of one kiddo I'm rather pleased with, when I was finished I had a moment of "I think I'm doing it right!" I've only had him for two grooms so far, the previous groomer at another shop chopped off his ears and top knot, it kills me!
http://i.imgur.com/vxStv.jpg
WOW Anonymous, You did a fantastic job on that Standard! What a beautiful dog. For grooming only 2 years, your scissor skills are great.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the little one. My kids have been coming to work with me since the day each of them was born. I wrote about my daughter on here awhile back.
http://petgroomingthegoodthebadthefurry.blogspot.com/2010/09/my-daughterthe-groomer.html
I hope having your little one does not side track you too long from grooming. All of the good groomers that I ever hired left to start families. :( You have a talent. I hope you stay with it. :)
Lisa, MFF
Thanks for the compliments Miss Lisa. =) Once I was finished with that poodle I quite literally had to sit down and take in the overwhelming feeling of "I did a good job! For reals this time, a professional good job!"
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the pictures of your daughter! It gives me some hope that I can handle family and grooming. There's still a large part of me that wants to return to school and start my pre-vet work but the more I think about my own shop and grooming on my own terms, the more I really like the idea. I do feel like I'm stuck right now though. I post as anonymous because I work for a corporate store, and they can be a bit pushy about certain things. I don't feel like I work with anyone I can learn anything new from. I feel like I've hit this brick wall. I think I've completed all of my novice-level work and I'm ready to move on but I don't know where to look! Any recommendations? Of course, going to Hershey is on my list but that'll have to wait a little bit now. =D
Your welcome,
ReplyDeleteYour grooming deserved the compliments. It was a very professional job.
I give you all of the credit in the world for wanting to go back to school for pre-vet work. I thought about going down that road myself when I was around 20. I even got a job at a Vets to see if I liked it. For me, it made me sad. Too much death and sickness.
One of the main things that I love so much about grooming, is that no matter how much a dog may hate to get groomed, or how scared they may be when they come in, they are clean and happy when I am finished with them. I MAKE THEM FEEL GOOD! I can give a dog that I think is not getting enough loving at home, extra love while they are with me. I help make all of the dogs that come to see me feel good and happy. Even an old or sick dog that may not be feeling that well, will feel a little better when I am done with them.
I have to say that even though I went to Grooming School, they only taught me about 40% of what I needed to be a groomer. I spent many years learning more on my own. I wish that grooming videos had been around when I first started grooming. I am very much a visual learner. If I were you, I would look into investing in some grooming videos. I have heard some great things about the Sue Zecco & Jay Scruggs videos. I have also watched some video clips from the Jodi Murphy's CD's. I like watching her groom. I am pretty sure that you can watch clips from most of the videos to help you pick out ones you would want. It would be a little bit of an investment, but I think that they are worth it. You may even be able to find some used ones for cheaper on E-Bay.
The Grooming Expos are great too. If you can't make it to Hershey this year because of your baby. Intergroom is in April, in New Jersey. You can learn so much by just going to the trade show and watching the free demos or spending hours watching the grooming competitions. I hope that you decide to stick with grooming. You are very talented. :)
Lisa, MFF