PetGroomBossPro Blog — Pet Grooming Software

Texts and Reminders for Mobile Pet Grooming: Night Before, On the Way and Arrived

Mobile grooming depends on the owner being ready. The dog needs to be home, the gate needs to be open, and somebody needs to hand over the leash. A groomer who shows up to an empty house loses the slot and the drive. The simplest fix is telling the owner, at the right moments, that the van is coming.

The Job Is Booked, Now Tell the Owner

Whether the client came in through the booking page or through Estimates in Pet Grooming Software: Quoting a Multi-Pet Home and Turning It Into a Job, once the visit is on the schedule the reminders take over.

Three Alerts the Customer Chooses

PetGroomBossPro sends automated alerts by text and email. Customers pick which ones they want:

• Night before. A reminder that the groomer is coming tomorrow. This is the one that catches the owner who forgot and would otherwise be at work with the dog locked inside.
• When they're next. A heads-up that they are the next stop on the route, so they can get the dog ready and the harness on.
• When the groomer arrives. A text the moment the van is outside.

Letting customers choose matters. Some owners want every alert. Some only want the night-before reminder. Respecting that keeps your texts welcome instead of annoying.

Sent From the Groomer's Day, Automatically

The groomer does not have to remember to text anyone. As the groomer works through the day on the groomer app, the on-the-way and arrived texts go out on their own. The groomer can keep their hands on the dog and their eyes on the road.

The night-before reminder goes out for the next day's confirmed visits. That is another reason the day-before habit on Pending Jobs works well: once tomorrow is confirmed, the reminders follow.

Two-Way Texting From the Office

Owners reply. “Can you come at 11 instead?” “The gate code changed.” “She has a vet appointment, can we skip this one?” Those replies come back to the office through two-way texting, not to a groomer's personal phone. The office answers from one place, and the conversation stays with the client record.

That also means customer conversations live with the business, not on a groomer's personal cell. When a groomer leaves, the conversations stay with you.

The Monthly Text Allowance

Every plan includes a monthly text allowance for the US and Canada:

• Start — 500 texts
• Pro — 1,000 texts
• Crew — 2,000 texts

The allowance counts texts sent and received. A mobile groomer who sends a night-before reminder and an arrived text to each client can use that as a rough guide when picking a plan. Pricing is covered in more detail in Pet Grooming Software Pricing: What $59, $89 and $199 a Month Get a Mobile Groomer.

Email Too

Alerts can go by email as well as text, and other messages, like estimate follow-ups, use email. For customers who prefer email or rarely check texts, that keeps them in the loop without using up your text allowance.

Texts Plus the Live Map

Texts tell the owner something is happening. The customer app shows them where. On grooming day, an owner can open the app and see the van on a live map with their place in line: “You're stop 12 of 20 — the groomer is 5 stops away.” That is covered in the next guide, The Customer App and Live Map: Letting Pet Owners See the Grooming Van Coming.

Keep Messages Short and Useful

Automated texts work best when they say one thing clearly. “Your groomer is on the way” is better than a paragraph. Save the longer messages for two-way texting, where a person is answering a real question.

It also helps to tell new clients up front which alerts they will get and how to change them. An owner who knows the night-before text is coming is more likely to read it.

When the Day Runs Late

Every groomer has days when a matted coat or a nervous dog takes longer than planned. The automatic texts follow the day as it really happens, so the “when they're next” alert goes out when the groomer is actually heading to that home, not when the schedule said they would be. If you are running well behind, the office can send a quick personal text through two-way texting to the next couple of owners. A short heads-up is usually all it takes to keep a client happy on a slow day.

Fewer Empty Driveways

The goal of all this is simple: when the van pulls up, the owner knows it is coming and the dog is ready. That saves the drive, the slot and the awkward call. For the rest of the guides, go back to the pet grooming software page.