PetGroomBossPro Blog — Groomer App

Training a New Groomer on the App in One Ride-Along

A new groomer already knows how to groom. That is why you hired them. What they do not know is your business: your regulars, your standards, your van and your app. The good news is that the app part is small. Most of it can be covered in a single ride-along day, with the rest picked up as they go.

Before the Ride-Along

The previous article, Slow Cell Signal at the Curb: Practical Habits for the Groomer App, covered habits for dead-zone stops. Habits are what training is really about. Before the first day, the office does three things:

• Add the new person as an employee with a personal PIN.
• Assign them to a van (a “team” in the app). For a ride-along, that is the van they are riding in.
• Send them the company login and ask them to install the groomer app to their home screen the night before.

Installing takes a minute in the browser, no app store. That is covered in No App Store Needed: Installing the Groomer App From the Browser on iPhone and Android.

Morning: Login, Clock In, Read the Day

Start at the shop or wherever the van is parked:

• Sign in with the company login and their PIN.
• Clock in on the time clock.
• Scroll the whole day together. Point out the set times, the order, and how many pets are on each card.

Reading the day is the habit that matters most, so spend a few minutes on it. Ask the new groomer what they notice: which stops are long, which pets need extra care, what supplies the add-ons need.

First Stop: Reading the Card

At the first stop, the trainer drives and the new groomer reads the card out loud before going to the door:

• The pets: name, breed, size, coat.
• The cut and behavior notes.
• The rabies due date, and your business's policy on it.
• The add-ons for today.
• The van notes: parking, outlet, water, gate.
• The past notes from earlier visits.

Reading out loud catches the things people skim. By the third stop, they will be doing it in their head.

Middle of the Day: Start, Checklist, Photos, Complete

Once the new groomer is comfortable reading the card, hand them the buttons. For each stop:

• Start when the first pet comes into the van.
• Before photo of each pet.
• The checklist for each pet as the groom goes along, plus the add-ons.
• The note for the customer, written for the owner to read.
• After photo of each pet.
• Complete, at the curb.

Explain what happens on Complete: the invoice is created, the card on file can be charged, and the office sees everything on the job. Knowing their taps reach the office and the customer makes people more careful with them.

The Things That Go Wrong

A good ride-along includes the less common situations, even if you have to talk them through rather than see them:

• Nobody home. How long to wait, then Skip with a note.
• A wrong van note. Write what you found on the appointment so the office can fix the home.
• The owner asks for something extra. Note it, tell the office, let the office add the line item.
• A pet's details have changed. How your business handles updating pet notes.
• No signal. Read the card ahead of time.

End of Day: Clock Out and Review

At the end of the day, clock out together, then look at the day from the office side. Show the new groomer what the office sees: the completed jobs, the checklists, the photos and the customer notes. Seeing their own day from the other side makes the point better than any explanation.

For the first couple of weeks, the owner can review the new groomer's completed jobs from the office without riding along every day. The checklist and photos show whether the standard is being kept.

It helps to pick the ride-along day carefully. A day with a mix of stops (a single-dog home, a multi-pet home, a cat, an apartment community with tricky parking) shows the new groomer more of the app in one day than a day of identical appointments. If a day like that is not on the schedule, talk through the missing situations on the drive between stops.

Why One Ride-Along Is Enough

The groomer app is built to be learned by doing. A few taps per appointment, and a card that tells the groomer what they need. The harder part, learning your regulars, is handled by the notes on each card, so a new groomer can take a book of regulars without the owner on the phone all day. For the rest of the groomer app, visit the PetGroomBossPro dog grooming app page.