Unnecessary Stress on a hot summer day.

It is hot here in Utah, and I mean hot, many days above 100o
What a great time to have Apple our “mini” schnauzer have her first complete grooming!
We schedule a time at the grooming place and off we went to leave Apple for her “spa day”, so she would come back both happier, cooler and prettier.
When we got there, we went through a check-in process.

Basic questions, address information, age and breed etc.
So far so good!
Then the very young lady asking the questions asked us:
Do you want to leave a skirt?
Skirt? Well, we didn’t plan on buying her new clothes today, do you think it is necessary?
Oh, after she gave me the “Are you drunk?” look, she explained to me that skirt is when you leave some hair in the bottom part of the dog.

Wow, how come I didn’t know that?
She asked me next what kind of conditioner I’d like.
“One that conditions?”
She then gave me a hundred options of shampoos and packages that left me kind of dizzy.
I got there saying I wanted full grooming but little did I know that didn’t mean much to them.
I finally said: “Anything that is necessary so she will still look like a dog”
At that point, I couldn’t care less if she would look like a Schnauzer or pequinese!
Another young lady that was grooming a Shi-tzu made the comment:
So you don’t want her looking like a cat?
Very funny! But I was sweating.

The other lady, not noticing I was on the verge of an anxiety attack, kept going:
– How do you want her face?
– Should we trim her nose?
I said: I have a feeling she needs the nose, don’t you?
Then the ultimate question came?
Do you want us to use blade 5, 7 or 10.
Oh my gosh, when I go to a hair dresser, they ask me how I want to look, but they don’t ask me which kind of scissors they should use or if they should use. This is up to them, the experts, not up to me the client!
I just said ”Look, can you make her look remotely like we see Schnauzers on posters and magazines, please?” and gave her the dog.
The other young lady interfered and said: “You should use blade 7, the 10 will show too much of her body”.
Thank you, but if you know that, what are you guys asking me in the first place?

I’M NOT THE EXPERT HERE!

When we got Apple hours later, she looked gorgeous! We were really happy with the final results and we are coming back there, but….
That inquisition caused some unnecessary stress and jeopardized the relationship between us, the clients, and the business.

They could simply not ask the questions that are related to their expertise and I, as just a humble dog owner am not supposed to know or
If for a reason I’m not aware of, dog owners should know the blade used to groom different breeds of dogs, they should put together a system that would both help me decide, and educate me in the things I need to know before taking my dog to grooming.

I left that place sure that next time I’d buy a dashhund, so I wouldn’t have to worry about blades and noses!

Besides, so many options and packages don’t help, they confuse the mind and you know: If you confuse the mind, you loose the consumer.

Did you get the point? Do not offer many options.
As an expert, people expect you to know what to do. Do not ask them every single detail. They don’t care, that is why they came looking for you.

Create systems to help and educate your clients and to give you an unique edge.
Do not cause unnecessary stress for your clients if you want to keep them!