PetGroomBossPro Blog — Running a Mobile Grooming Business

Senior Living Pet Days: A Monthly Account for Your Mobile Grooming Business

Many senior living communities allow residents to keep a small dog or a cat. Getting that pet to a salon can be hard for a resident who no longer drives, and the staff have plenty of other work. A mobile groomer who parks outside on a set day and grooms the residents' pets one after another solves a real problem. For the groomer, it is a full day at one address with almost no driving.

Why Senior Living Fits a Mobile Groomer

The basics of monthly accounts were covered in Monthly Accounts for a Mobile Grooming Business: One Statement for Many Visits. A senior living pet day is one of the friendliest versions.

You may see a lot of small dogs and cats. Residents are usually at home on grooming day, which helps the day run on schedule. And the day is predictable: the same location, the same parking spot, many of the same pets each time. For a groomer who likes a calm day and regular faces, it is a good fit.

Pitching the Community

Start with the community manager or activities director. Keep the offer short and specific:

• Which day and how often, such as the second Wednesday of every month
• What services you offer and a simple price list
• That your van is self-contained and needs only a parking spot, and possibly an outlet or water hookup
• How residents sign up and how billing works

Bring a printed price list and offer to send a written estimate. In PetGroomBossPro, an estimate built from your service list can be approved online, and the approved estimate becomes the job.

Decide Who Pays

Senior living pet days usually work one of two ways. Either the community pays for the grooming day and handles it with residents however it likes, or each resident pays for their own pet.

If the community pays, set it up as one client with billing set to Monthly. It then gets one statement each month covering every visit. If residents pay, each one is their own client with their own card on file, and Complete on the groomer app can charge that card. Some residents may prefer a family member to handle payment. A client can have a card on file from whoever pays, and they can update it from the customer app.

Schedule the Day

Put the community on a fixed slot with Add Recurring Grooming: the same weekday, time and van every month, or every few weeks if demand is high. Each visit waits on Pending Jobs with its planned day, time and van until the office confirms it.

Add van notes for the community: which entrance, where to park, who to check in with at the front desk, and where the outlet is. Every groomer working that day sees them on the groomer app, along with appointment times on each card. If residents have set times, list them in order so the groomer can work through the day without guessing.

Keep Every Resident's Pet Notes

The pets at a senior community come back again and again, and the residents will notice if their dog gets a different cut each time. Each pet in PetGroomBossPro has its name, dog or cat, breed, size, coat, rabies due date and a notes line, such as “short summer cut, rounded feet” or “bring back to apartment 214, resident uses a walker.” The next visit fills in from the last one.

The rabies due date is typed on each pet, so the groomer can see it on the card. Keeping it current is a simple job for the office when the community or resident sends an update.

Report Back to Residents and Families

Residents and their families enjoy knowing how the groom went. The grooming checklist in the groomer app runs for each pet and includes a note for the customer, such as “nails were long this time, worth a trim between visits.” The office can print a Grooming Report, which you can leave with the resident or the front desk.

Before and after photos are saved on the job, which is handy if a family member asks how their parent's cat looked this month.

Be Patient and Friendly

A senior living pet day is as much about people as pets. Residents may want to chat, may need a little help bringing their pet to the van, or may forget the appointment despite the reminders. Allow a little extra time between pets, keep a friendly routine, and work with the staff. Make sure the phone and email on each client belong to whoever should get the night-before reminder, whether that is the resident or a family member.

The next account type, with a very different pace, is covered in Doggy Daycare Bath Days: Running a Monthly Account in a Mobile Grooming Business. To see how monthly billing, repeat grooming days and pet records work together, visit the mobile grooming business software page.