PetGroomBossPro Blog — Repeat Appointments

Moving Repeat Grooming Clients Off the Paper Book and Into Software

A lot of mobile grooming businesses run on a paper appointment book, a spreadsheet, a phone calendar, or all three. It works until it does not: the book stays home on the day you need it, the spreadsheet is out of date, and the calendar knows the time but not the dog. Moving repeat clients into PetGroomBossPro is a one-time job, and doing it in a sensible order keeps it short.

Why Move at All

Splitting a book across vans is covered in Two Vans, One Book of Repeat Clients: Splitting Recurring Grooming Across Vans. That kind of growth is very hard to manage from a paper book, because the book lives in one place and one head.

Software gives you what paper cannot: the slot, the pets and the cut notes on every visit, reminders that send themselves, the day's appointments on the groomer's phone, and payment when the groom is done. But you only get that once the clients are in.

Step 1: Gather What You Have

Before importing anything, pull together your client list in whatever form it exists. For each client, you want:

• Name, phone, email and service address.
• Their pets: name, Dog or Cat, breed, size and coat.
• Rabies due dates you have on record.
• Cut and behavior notes.
• Their usual slot: frequency, weekday, time.
• Their price, if it is different from your standard list.

Do not worry if it is not all in one place. Getting names and addresses into a spreadsheet is the main thing; pets and slots can be added as you go.

Step 2: Import the Clients

PetGroomBossPro takes a CSV import of clients. Save your spreadsheet as a CSV and bring it in. Imported addresses are placed on the map automatically, so they show up correctly on Pending Jobs and in routing from day one.

After the import, spot-check a handful of clients and make sure the addresses landed where you expect. Fix anything that looks off before you start booking slots.

Step 3: Set Up Services and Vans

Next, set up your service list with your prices: Full Groom, Bath & Brush, Cat Groom, Puppy Intro Groom, Nail Trim and the rest, plus add-ons like Teeth Brushing or De-Shed Treatment. Keep one version of each service; the frequency is picked per client.

Then set up your vans and employees with their PINs, and assign each groomer (and bather, if you have one) to a van.

Step 4: Book Repeat Clients Onto Slots

Now go through your repeat clients and book each one with Add Recurring Grooming. Check or add the pets, pick the service and add-ons, choose the frequency, the weekday, the time and the van, and save. Every visit is written up front and waits on Pending Jobs.

A good way to work through it is by weekday. Do all the Tuesday clients, then all the Wednesday clients, and so on. That way you can see each day fill on Pending Jobs and catch double bookings before they happen. The form is walked through in Add Recurring Grooming, Step by Step: Booking a Repeat Client in PetGroomBossPro.

When you pick the start date for each series, use the client's next appointment from the paper book. That way nobody's rhythm changes because of the move, and the first reminder they get from the new system is for the visit they were already expecting.

Step 5: Run Both Side by Side, Briefly

For the first week or two, keep the paper book handy while you run the day from the software. Confirm tomorrow on Pending Jobs each afternoon and compare it to the book. Anything missing is a client you have not booked yet; add their series.

Once a couple of weeks match, retire the book. Two systems for long is how appointments get lost.

Step 6: Let the Rest Fill In

Not every detail needs to be perfect on day one. Rabies due dates, cut notes and behavior notes can be filled in by the groomer during the first visit after the move, and the next visit fills in from the last one. Invite customers to the customer app to choose their alerts and add a card on file. Over a cycle or two, every client's record becomes complete.

A Clean Start

Moving off paper is the kind of job that feels big and turns out to be a few evenings. Once it is done, you will not go back. If you want to see what the finished result looks like first, the live demo has a fully stocked sample mobile grooming company with repeat clients already on slots. For the rest of the repeat tools, return to the PetGroomBossPro recurring grooming software page.