PetGroomBossPro Blog — Cat Grooming

Moving Your Cat Clients Over With CSV Import

If you already have a list of cat clients, whether in a spreadsheet, another program or a contact list on your phone, the thought of typing them all into new software is enough to put off switching. CSV import exists so you do not have to.

This article covers bringing your cat clients over and getting their cats set up properly once they are in.

Before You Import

Quoting new cat clients was the subject of Estimates for New Cat Clients: Quoting a Lion Cut Before the First Visit. This one is about the clients you already have.

PetGroomBossPro imports clients from a CSV file, the plain spreadsheet format almost every program can export and every spreadsheet app can save. Before you export, it helps to tidy the list:

• One row per client. Merge duplicates, so the same owner is not in twice.
• Full addresses. Street, city, state or province, and postal code, so each address lands in the right place.
• Phone and email. Needed for texts, reminders and invoices.
• Drop old clients. Owners you have not seen in a long time can stay in the old file.

Addresses Go on the Map Automatically

Imported addresses are placed on the map automatically. That matters for a mobile groomer, because the map is what Pending Jobs and routing use. Once your cat clients are in, you can see where they are, plan cat days by area and auto-route Closest First or Furthest First from the shop.

PetGroomBossPro supports one client with many addresses, so an owner who has a home and a vacation place can have both.

Then Set Up the Cats

Pets in PetGroomBossPro are saved on the visit. Each visit holds the pets at that home, and the next visit fills in from the last one. So after the import, the most important step for a cat business is the first visit for each client: that is where each cat is entered and marked as Cat, with:

• Name, breed, size and coat
• Rabies due date, if you keep one
• The notes line for the cut and behavior, such as “lion cut, boots and tail tuft, two people for nails”

Do it once, carefully, and every visit after fills in from it. Many groomers sit down with their old notes and enter each cat as they book its first visit in the new system, so nothing from the old records is lost. The pet record is covered in Saved as Cat: How Each Cat Is Recorded on the Visit and Carried Forward.

Rebuild the Repeat Schedules

Your regular cats need their standing times back. For each one, use Add Recurring Grooming to book the same weekday, time and van every 6 or 8 weeks, or whatever the owner was on. Every visit is written up front and waits on Pending Jobs until the office confirms it.

This is a good chance to clean up the schedule: put two-person cats on the van with two people, group cats by area, and check that each owner's price is right.

Tags and Custom Fields

Clients can have tags and custom fields. A tag such as “Cat client” or “Cat + dog” makes it easy to find cat owners later, for example when you want to text the ones who have not booked in a while. Custom fields can hold anything else you track about a client that does not fit elsewhere.

Pet details themselves belong on the visit, where they carry forward and show on the groomer's card, rather than in a custom field.

Cards on File

Cards on file do not come over in a CSV. After the import, owners can add their card in the customer app, or the office can add it. Many groomers send a short text to each imported client with a reminder to set up the card before the next visit.

Try It Before You Move

The 14-day free trial needs no credit card, and the live demo is a fully stocked sample mobile grooming company you can click around with no signup. Import a small batch of cat clients first, set up their cats and their next visit, and see how it feels before bringing the rest.

Your Cat List, Moved Over

CSV import brings in the clients and places their addresses on the map. A careful first visit for each client sets up the cats, and repeat schedules put the regulars back in their slots. For the rest of how cats are handled in PetGroomBossPro, see the cat grooming software page.