Grooming Salon

Scheduling Procedures

6 min read

Scheduling Procedures

Agent Booking Checklist

Follow these steps in order for every new appointment:

Step 1 — Identify the Client

  • Collect client name (first and last)
  • Search 05-Client-and-Dog-Knowledge/active-clients/ for an existing file (LASTNAME-FIRSTNAME.md)
  • If existing client: open their record; confirm contact info is current; proceed to Step 2
  • If new client: create a new file from client-record-template before proceeding

Step 2 — Identify the Dog

  • Confirm which dog is being booked (client may have multiple)
  • Open the dog’s profile section within the client record
  • If new dog: create a dog profile section from dog-profile-template

Step 3 — Check for Flags

  • Read the dog’s Temperament & Handling → Flags section
  • Read Kendra’s Notes in the dog profile
  • If any Level 2 or Level 3 aggression flag exists:
  • If any health condition is noted: confirm the requested service is compatible (see health-and-vaccine-requirements)

Step 4 — Verify Vaccine Records

  • Check the dog’s Vaccination Record table in the profile
  • Confirm Rabies, Bordetella, and DHPP are current (not expired by appointment date)
  • If records are missing: inform the client they must be provided before the appointment can be confirmed
  • If records are expiring soon: note it and inform the client; do not block the booking unless already expired

Step 5 — Determine Pricing

  • Confirm the dog’s breed and coat type
  • Look up the base price in breed-pricing-matrix
  • Confirm the service tier requested
  • Apply any applicable coat-type modifier (matting, first-time, handling difficulty)
  • Add any requested add-ons from add-ons-and-upgrades
  • Check for an active package in the client record → apply package pricing if applicable
  • Quote the price to the client

Step 6 — Assign a Groomer

  • Check the schedule for available slots
  • Standard appointment: assign any certified groomer with availability
  • Flagged dog: assign Kendra or a Phase 4 certified groomer only
  • Confirm Kendra is available that day for the final approval walk
  • If Kendra is not available for a flagged dog: offer a date when she is

Step 7 — Confirm and Book

  • Confirm the date, time, service, price, and groomer with the client
  • Add the appointment to the scheduling system
  • Note any add-ons, special instructions, or flags in the appointment record
  • Send confirmation to the client (see booking-policy for confirmation timing)
  • Set reminder alerts (48 hours and same-day morning)

Groomer Schedule and Capacity

[Agent prompt: Fill in groomer capacity once team is established. Update this table whenever a new groomer is added or schedule changes.]

GroomerDays AvailableMax Dogs/DayCert LevelNotes
Kendra[days][X]ExecutiveFinal approver; handles flagged and complex dogs
[Groomer 2]Certified
[Groomer 3]In trainingPhase [X] — restricted assignments only

Schedule Blocking Rules

  • Allow [XX] minutes between appointments for cleanup and handoff
  • Block [XX] minutes for lunch / break
  • Do not book more than [X] full grooms back-to-back without a buffer
  • Reserve the last slot of the day for dogs with longer expected drying times (doodles, double coats)
  • Kendra’s approval walk time is built into the appointment — do not schedule back-to-back if Kendra is the sole approver

Waitlist Management

The waitlist is not just an overflow queue — it’s the salon’s growth engine. A full book with a healthy waitlist is proof of demand, which is what justifies premium pricing (see business-goals-and-milestones → Pricing Philosophy) and tells Kendra exactly when and who to hire a second groomer for (see 6-Month Goals in the same file).

When the schedule is full:

  1. Log the client and dog on the waitlist with the fields below — not just a name and date range
  2. Add them to the waitlist in the scheduling system (or a simple log if not supported)
  3. When a slot opens: contact waitlisted clients in priority order, matching service type and groomer
  4. Script: “Hi [name]! We had an opening come up on [date] at [time] for [dog name]. Would that work for you?”

Waitlist Record Fields

Capture this for every dog added to the waitlist — it’s what turns the list into a hiring and pricing tool, not just a callback queue:

FieldPurpose
Client & dog nameIdentify who to contact
Breed & coat typeDetermines base price and groom time — see breed-pricing-matrix
Expected price (tier + likely add-ons)Projects revenue per slot before it’s ever booked
Expected frequency (e.g. every 4/6/8 weeks)Projects recurring revenue, not just a one-time booking
Temperament / handling notesFlags whether this dog is safe to route to a newer groomer or requires Kendra/a certified lead — see [[aggressive-dog-policy
Date addedPreserves order for fairness within a priority tier
Preferred date range / serviceWhat they’re waiting for

Waitlist Priority

  1. VIP loyalty clients
  2. Existing clients (in waitlist order)
  3. New clients

Within a tier, Kendra may pull a specific dog out of strict order when it’s a better fit for an open slot — e.g. an easy, well-behaved regular is a better use of a newly opened chair than a difficult first-timer, even if the first-timer has been waiting longer. The list is a curation tool, not just a FIFO queue.

Using the Waitlist to Justify a Hire

Once the waitlist is consistently non-empty, total its expected price × expected frequency to estimate the monthly revenue a second groomer’s chair would generate. When that projection comfortably covers the new hire’s cost (see ongoing-expenses), it’s time to act on the 6-Month Goal of bringing on groomer #2 — Kendra can then hand-pick which waitlisted dogs go into the new groomer’s book, keeping the easiest, most reliable clients for the new hire to build confidence on.

See waitlist-sizing-analysis for the actual headcount math — how many unique dogs a full-time vs. part-time groomer’s book needs once fully ramped, based on rebooking frequency.

Using the Waitlist for Cancellations

The same list is the first call when a same-day cancellation opens a slot — match the open slot’s service/duration against waitlisted dogs and work down the priority order above.

Rescheduling

For reschedules requested by the client with 48+ hours notice:

  • Rebook at no charge; note the original date in the appointment history

For reschedules due to late cancellation or no-show:

For reschedules due to groomer absence:

  • Contact the client as early as possible
  • Offer the next available slot with their preferred groomer OR offer any certified groomer
  • No fee to the client — this is a salon-side reschedule

For a missed/cancelled appointment for a recurring client:

  • Make a courtesy call to get the client rebooked (see no-show follow-up script in cancellation-and-no-show-policy)
  • If a slot is open before their next regular cycle date, fit them in there
  • If the schedule is full, place them at the next available appointment via the standard waitlist process, even if this shifts them off their usual cadence — see cancellation-and-no-show-policy for acceptable drift

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