How to Upsell: Dog Grooming Services
What services can you upsell at a dog groomer and what are the benefits?
Offering specialized services at your dog grooming business can significantly enhance both the pet's well-being and your business's bottom line. Not only does upselling increase revenue, but it also builds client trust and loyalty by demonstrating your commitment to comprehensive pet care.
What is upselling?
Upselling is a sales technique where you can sell additional or more expensive products and services alongside the ones you currently offer, with the goal of increasing customer lifetime value, profits, and average order value. An example is a customer books dog grooming with you and you give them the option of using standard grooming products or more premium (and therefore more expensive) grooming products (i.e. organic products, vitamin-enriched products, and more.) If upselling is done correctly, your customers will love how attentive you are to their pets’ holistic needs, from grooming to daycare to snapping high-quality photos of their pups’ new looks.
Upselling Techniques
To upsell effectively, you have to have a deep knowledge of your services, and your community’s needs. Are there no pet stores in the area? Consider selling dog food and treats so owners can knock out two proverbial birds with one stone. You can try talking to your customers in person or sending emails asking for feedback, which you can then incorporate into a business expansion plan.
When you’re trying to sell customers on the upsold services, you must focus on the product’s benefits, stating how they compare to the other options. Does the shampoo have an ingredient that combats itchy fur? Is it vegan? Make sure to tout all of those benefits when customers are selecting packages. You can also offer tiered pricing so owners can opt into some or all of your upsells. And finally, come up with arguments for why someone would want to spring for an upgrade. For example, why should an owner opt into dog nail painting instead of leaving their nails bare? Could you bundle this service with dog photography so you can take cute Christmas photos of a dog with their new manicure?
Dog Groomer Ideas for Upselling
Dog Daycare Service
Perhaps owners want to drop off their pets for longer than a typical grooming session so they can go to work or doctor’s appointments. You might want to open a doggy daycare to service their needs. You can open a space for dogs to eat, play, and relax before and after they’re groomed. And maybe after relaxing, pets might be more willing to go along with getting their nails trimmed or their hair cut. You can even expand into boarding for dogs to stay overnight, giving customers more flexibility for pickups and dropoffs. And some dog daycares offer taxi services where they pick up pets at home and drop them off there again at the end of the day. But starting a doggy daycare is not without its pros and cons, so you’ll want a great pet software that encompasses both your grooming service and your new dog daycare facility, like PetExec.
Grooming Packages
Packaging is a great way to ensure loyalty. You can sell grooming appointments together at a slight discount so the owner will have to return to you multiple times. This increases customer LTV or lifetime value, which is a factor companies look at should you wish to get acquired. In addition, when customers return from one grooming section to their next one, you can add new features between their visits (like starting to sell treats, using better shampoo, or other benefits) which you can point out to them during their visits.
Dog Food/Treats
To make your facility more of a one-stop shop, you can begin to sell dog food and treats. In order to know what to sell, you can ask your customers what they’re currently feeding their dogs, or what their health goals are for their pups. You may even be able to find dog food in the same catalogs where you order your grooming products. You can research various dog diets and stock different types of food and treats that adhere to those, such as vegan dog food, grain-free treats, gluten-free dog food, and even human grade dog food. Note that if you choose to sell fresh or frozen dog food you’ll have to purchase refrigerators and freezers to store the food, which can add to electricity costs. And if you’re worried about keeping track of new inventory and knowing which of your SKUs (stock keeping units) are selling best, know that PetExec makes managing inventory simple while tracking profits and expenses.
Dog Photography Service
Did you know that ⅓ of all Americans have a separate social media account for their pet? That’s a lot of potential customers for your business! You can offer dog photography services where you take glamor shots of pups after you’re done grooming them. And to get clients to book more photography sessions, you can get different fun backgrounds and props for photoshoots. Who doesn’t want to see their pup in a Santa hat, or as the Easter bunny? An added bonus is if the photos come out well, you can (with the consent of the owners) use them for your own marketing on social media and your website.
Skin Condition-Specific Grooming
Just like people, dogs can have skin conditions that need extra treatment, including dry skin, dandruff, mange and hot spots. Skin conditions are the number one reason pets are brought to the vet, with a top concern being allergies. Offering shampoo and conditioner products that cater to dogs’ skin needs will put dog owners’ minds at ease, and can be a great upsell category as well. You can offer products that are all vegan, hypoallergenic, detangling, or even cruelty-free.
Commonly Asked Questions
How to start a dog grooming business? (link)
Starting a dog grooming business doesn’t have to be stressful, but there are some simple steps to take to ensure your new venture is as successful as possible. First, perform market research to understand how much demand there is, what competition is out there, legal requirements, and potential income. From there, you can create a budget, a business plan if you are looking to work with investors, purchase necessary equipment, make sure the business will apply tp legal and health requirements, and create business and marketing plans. A great pet business software like PetExec can help you with many of the listed steps – you can start a free trial to see how!
How to market a dog grooming business? (link)
You can utilize different tactics, or channels, to market your dog grooming business. These can include content marketing (crafting an effective website that contains SEO terms like “dog grooming near me” or “cat groomer in Durham”), local SEO (making a robust Google Business profile), social media marketing (posting on organic social channels like Instagram and TikTok), advertising via social media, Google Ads, emails, events, or direct mail, establishing a referral program, and perhaps the most fun of all, creating branded swag.
Are Dog Groomers Profitable? (link)
Dog groomers can reach profitability if they take into account many factors. Opening in an area with lots of pets can increase your chance of profitability. It’s definitely helpful to find a location where the rent is affordable. Running a tight financial ship that takes into account expenses and income is tantamount, as is creating pricing strategies that will help you turn a profit but are attainable for owners who live in your area. And the most important part of all is providing great services that will make tails wag and your customers cheer, wanting to book grooming services with you again and again.
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