Happy Friday Daily Groomers!

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You're going to want to read this newsletter to the very end.

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BUT- before doing anything, watch this video 👇

How AI Can Help Grooming Business Owners

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I recently dove into a wild rabbit hole, and it all started with one striking statistic:

“Small and mid-sized businesses miss about 62% of calls”.

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And it got me thinking about grooming businesses.

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With so many of you juggling shears, clippers, and battling traffic on the road to get to your next appointment…

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How many customer calls actually get answered when you’re in the middle of a grooming session?

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Curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to run a little experiment: calling local grooming businesses to see who actually answers the phone.

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Yes, it was a bit of “old fashioned market research” at its finest. 😂

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I know some of you might be thinking, “But Alex, you’re wasting these hard-working people’s time…” Rest assured, for those who did answer,

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I introduced myself, mentioned The Daily Groomer, and explained that I was gathering data for a research report. I even promised to share our findings with them.

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Surprisingly, these conversations turned out to be positive—and even fun!

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Now, back to the experiment…

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Initially, I planned to call just 100 grooming businesses. But when I discovered the power of an auto-dialer that calls multiple numbers simultaneously until someone answers, my half-smile turned into a full grin.

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Soon enough, I was dialing 1,000 businesses in key markets like Texas, California, and New York—all during working hours to see who would actually pick up the phone!

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Here’s a look at my simple tracking spreadsheet. (This experiment wasn’t really rocket science…)

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The results?

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A whopping 67% of these grooming businesses didn’t answer the phone at all during working hours.

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That’s two-thirds of active businesses, complete with Google Business Profiles and positive reviews, yet when a customer calls… crickets.

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Out of 1,000 calls, only 12 call backs came my way.

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So, what’s going on? And more importantly, what can we do about it?

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If you have a dedicated receptionist or front desk staff, you're likely at an advantage. But if you're the one handling the phones, you might be facing these challenges head-on.

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So naturally I had to ask… is this something artificial intelligence can help us with? 🤔

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I know I know… “here’s young guy Alex throwing around big buzzwords trying to convince me up how AI will take our jobs.”

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(AI or Robots will never groom dogs so I think you’re all safe for quiet awhile!)

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But what about the mundane tasks in your business? I’m talking about something as simple as answering the phone and taking a message.

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Honestly, it’s not as far off as you think… “AI receptionists” are already making waves in the veterinary space with simple ways that can revolutionize how we handle calls.

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Imagine an intelligent system that never sleeps, answering every call and scheduling appointments, while you focus on what you do best: grooming.

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😳 Seriously, check out how good this is…

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913-423-8997

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You just talked to my new AI receptionist, Rebecca. She never sleeps, is always in a great mood, and never rolls her eyes at my wild ideas. 😂

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*No real Rebecca’s were harmed in the making.*

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But seriously… how crazy is that?! It’s like a voicemail on steroids!!!

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Considering roughly 85% of clients who call a business don’t call back, this approach could offer a WAY better experience for our customers.

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And imagine how nice it would feel to not have to spend hourssss after work calling & texting clients back… with virtual Rebecca collecting your intake forms, you could choose to only call the ones you want to work with lol 😂

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This is just something simple we built for this experiment so it’s not super advanced - but it sure beats voicemail!

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I’m really excited about how software and technology will advance our industry. If this email resonates with you, I’d love to hear your thoughts—just hit reply!

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For the love of crazy experiments,

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Alex Martin 🐶

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✋The Groomer’s Toolkit

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📺 Watch - What does a grooming franchise territory manager even do? Learn the ins and outs of the job from Zoomin Groomin’s Matthew Rivera on The Daily Groomer YouTube channel.

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🎧 Listen - Going deeper on building out your team… on this episode on The Daily Groomer Podcast you will learn how to build your grooming staff - commissions, job titles, & more with Aaryn Mistro.