PetGroomBossPro Blog — Running a Mobile Grooming Business

Switching Software With a CSV Import: Moving Your Mobile Grooming Business Client List

The biggest worry about switching grooming software is the client list. Years of customers, addresses and phone numbers, and the fear that moving them will take weeks or lose half of them on the way. In practice, a client list is one of the easiest things to move, as long as you can get it into a spreadsheet. That spreadsheet, saved as a CSV file, is the bridge between your old system and the new one.

Why Start With the Client List

Moving off paper and a calendar app was covered in Moving a Mobile Grooming Business Off Paper and a Calendar App. If your clients are already in a spreadsheet or another piece of software, you can skip the typing and import them.

The client list is the foundation for everything else. Pets, repeat appointments, invoices and texts all hang off a client and their address. Get the clients in cleanly and the rest follows.

Get Your List Out

Most software and most spreadsheets can export to CSV, a plain file where each row is a client and each column is a piece of information. Look for an export option in your current system. If your list is in a spreadsheet, save it as CSV.

At a minimum, you want each client's name, phone number, email and address. If your old system can export more, such as tags or notes, keep those too. Do not worry about old appointments or invoices. You only need the people and where they live.

Clean It Up Before You Import

A few minutes of tidying saves hours later. Open the CSV in a spreadsheet and look for:

• Duplicates. The same customer entered twice, often with slightly different spellings.
• Old clients. People who moved away years ago. You can leave them out or tag them as past clients.
• Missing addresses. A mobile groomer needs the address. Fill in any gaps you can.
• Messy phone numbers. Make them consistent so texts reach the right people.
• Address in one cell. Splitting street, city, state and ZIP into separate columns usually makes for a cleaner import.

Import Into PetGroomBossPro

PetGroomBossPro has a CSV import for clients. You bring the file in once, and your clients come in together. Imported addresses are placed on the map automatically, so you can see straight away where your clients are and how they cluster.

That map is useful from day one. It shows which areas you already cover well and which days might suit which neighborhoods. If you plan a second van one day, it helps you draw the line between areas, as covered in Adding a Second Van to a Mobile Grooming Business.

Add Pets and Notes

Many old systems do not export pets in a useful way, or keep them in a notes field. After the import, add each home's pets with their name, dog or cat, breed, size, coat, rabies due date and notes. You do not have to do it all at once. Start with the regulars you will see in the next week or two, and add others as they come up. The next visit fills in from the last, so each pet only needs entering once.

Add van notes at the same time: where to park, the gate code, the outlet or water hookup.

Rebuild the Repeat Schedule

Next, put your regulars back on their schedules. For each one, use Add Recurring Grooming to book the same weekday, time and van every 4, 6 or 8 weeks, or whatever they had before. Start each series from their next planned visit. Every visit then waits on Pending Jobs with its planned day, time and van until the office confirms it. The Recurring Clients list shows the whole book in one place so you can check nobody was missed.

Cards and Customer App

Card details do not come across in a CSV, and they should not. Once clients are in, invite them to add a card on file in the customer app, or to sign up through your website form. A short text explaining the change helps: “We've moved to a new system. You'll get reminders and invoices in the app, and you can add your card there for easy payment.”

Before you import a single client, try the live demo at my.petgroombosspro.com/demo.html to see a fully-stocked sample grooming company. The final guide in this series is Choosing Mobile Grooming Business Software: What to Check Before You Switch. To see the whole platform, visit the mobile grooming business software page.