Here’s an easy way to identify potential new customers

Our simple 4 step process to help you identify opportunities for your business

Step one – get a blank piece of paper

We’re going to ignore “you” and focus on “them”. Let’s think of your local town – doubtless there are loads of potential new clients hiding there – and I want to start by trying to work out what types of people they are. Big business calls this “demographics” and “profiling”, it’s expensive and statistics based. But at the heart of it they’re simply trying to find groups of customers that are (or could be) profitable. Let’s try a simple version ourselves:

Try to think about the types of customer that might be out there – frankly this is pretty easy – imagine an average street, and think of the types of people and households who might be interested in your services. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Young families – may well have new pets
Working families – adults all have jobs
Outdoorsy types – keen walkers/hikers, who love a good yomp in the countryside
Retired people – where pets are companions
Tough guys – the pit bullers
Doggy households – homes where there are more dogs than people
Enthusiasts – dog agilitiers, breeders, show dog owners
Working dogs – farmers, policemen, army dogs, guide dogs

The point here is there’s no right or wrong answer and at this stage we’re not too concerned about the number of people these groups might include. Feel free to change/add to/ignore my list and see what you can come up with.

Step two – put yourself in their shoes

Not too difficult so far – and here’s the bit that could make a difference to your business! Having jotted down a list we can now start to imagine the situations when different people might need a groomer like you. Here are a couple of examples just to get you going:

Young Families – may well have a puppy – so they might need a puppy familiarisation day
Working families – might find it difficult to make daytime appointments – an evening or weekend trim might work best for them
Outdoorsy types – chances are their dogs will enjoy rolling in unpleasant things . . some kind of power wash service might be up their street
Retired Couples – might want a summer trim to keep their dog’s coat manageable

Don’t be limited by thinking of just the services you currently offer or think are most profitable (I can hear you groaning at the thought of power washing a cow pat covered dog!) the point here is to identify which services different types of people might want.

Step three– come up with a list of services you could sell

Here’s a list of possible services that might get you started. Don’t cheat! Try and write your own list.

Puppy initiations
Emergency power washes (I’m thinking fox do-do here!)
Summer Trims
Show Grooms
Pet Trims
Older dog MOTs – limiting hair in the house
De Molting Sessions – dog agilitiers, breeders, show dog owners
Mixed Breed (Mongrel) trims
Birthday Treat Days
Nail Trims/ Ear Cleaning/Hygiene Areas
Evening Trims

Step four – decide which services you want to offer

Now it’s time to ask if you actually want to offer this range of services? I understand – life may be too short and profit potential might be too small – there’s no harm at all in not offering certain services. So once you’ve made your list feel free to strike through a few options. What we’re after here is a list of needs that our potential customers might be after. Once you’ve got that – you’re ready to concentrate on promoting your services to new customers.

Please let us know how you get on

Hopefully this article’s inspired you to think of new ways of attracting new clients – if your lists turn out to be much better than mine (and I do hope they will) then please get in touch and let us know, that way we can all benefit from any moments of genius!

New Clients