Groomers, historically, have used forms known as “clip cards” to track customer and pet information. Rather than rely on memory alone, clip cards are an easy way for groomers to keep and organize customer contact information, grooming histories, and the most recent price charged to the client.
Clip Cards Contain Important Business Information
The most important asset that a business owns is a customer. And the most important asset that a customer owns is their name, followed by the names of their family, and the names of their pets. Pulling and having a clip card with that information in front of you when calling a customer to confirm a grooming date can save you a ton of embarrassment when the name of their pet Collie escapes your memory. And the more complete your record of the customer’s name, address, phone-number, work-schedule, and any incidental information, the more time you will save as well. Customer’s want and expect you to know them, to know their pets, and to know their needs. The fact that you have a customer base of several hundred people can be daunting unless you decide up front to write every thing down and keep tightly organized.
Pen & Paper Versus Digital App
Today, there is a raging debate over whether it is better to put pen to paper or buy a mobile app. Pen and paper seems antiquated to some people, but it really comes down to a matter of personal preference. If you are a habitual app user then you may be perfectly alright with finding and using a mobile app, such as MoeGo [moego.pet] for scheduling appointments. However, we have used clip cards from Barkleigh Productions for years without incident. We also found that being able to pull several cards at one time helped us to price jobs and schedule time more efficiently.
Best Time to Fill Out Clip Cards
Make a habit out of filling in a clip card. There are two best times to fill out a clip card. First time: When you are talking to a new customer over the phone or in person, you need to get as much information down on the card. Second time: Always fill in the date, price, and time information of each groom – immediately after a grooming. Don’t wait to get back home before doing so or you may forget valuable information.
Use Clip Cards For Scheduling
One of the ways to minimize downtime and eliminate wear and tear on your vehicle [and you] is to set up area days. Set aside certain days of the week or month to service customers within an area or region. You spend less time driving between jobs, and you’re able to get more work done in a shorter period.
Pulling cards where the addresses are within a certain amount of distance from each other, and then checking the back of the card to find out how much time you needed to groom the pet will give you a more accurate way to plan your day than the typical “guesstimating.”
Use Clip Cards For Tracking Price
We always tracked our time of arrival and departure at a customer. Over time, it gave us a fairly accurate way to judge how much to charge the customer for their particular breed. When the hours are multiplied by our hourly rate, we knew right away if we had made money or lost money on the grooming job.
Conclusion
When filled out properly and done as a habit, clip cards are a valuable business management tool. They will not only save you time, but over the long term, they will make you money .