Why so many dog groomers slowly grow to resent their customers..

Let’s be honest, the most awkward encounters we have in our businesses are with our human clients, not the dogs. 

We’ve all said it at least once; 

“If only the dogs could book themselves in!” 

As a dog groomer, I’ve always been someone far more comfortable in the company of dogs than with people. 

I love people, I love chatting to people, but some days, when my mental energy is low, I’m the kind of person that swerves people I know if I see them up ahead on a dog walk or across the aisle at the supermarket. I sometimes simply don’t have the capacity or patience for small talk.
I’m almost certain many of you can relate. 

However, as groomers, we can’t really afford to have those anti-social moments when we’re at work. As much as we might like to, we can’t hide behind the counter, stick a hand out to take the lead, say nothing and ignore the customer! (Yes, I know you’re dreaming of it too).

As much as we are in the dog grooming industry, we can’t avoid the fact we’re also in the service industry. Humans pay the bills, not the dogs. Yes, they care about how we treat their dogs, but they also care how we treat them. And yet, we rarely see real customer service training being offered. 

It’s assumed we all know how to talk to people, and yes, in day to day conversations, even those with no prior customer service role, most groomers can deal with clients. 

Customer service involves being nice right? Smiling? Showing you care about the dog? 

However, what about the not so day-to-day situations? The conversations about matted dogs? The conversations about our policies and expectations? Implementing late fees or deposits. What happens when being nice needs a bit of help with some being firm? 

How do you mix the two and remain professional? No resentment. No school mistress vibes. And also, no backing down because ‘fear’ joined the party and told ‘nice’ that ‘firm’ was bad and was going to cost them a client? 

Customer service goes so much deeper than simply being nice. It involves communication skills that know how to adapt to any situation and still remain professional. It involves knowing how to overcome frustration and growing resentment of customers that don’t seem to want to listen and knowing how to communicate with them clearly & firmly, with authority and warmth. 

It's not a skill you simply adopt overnight. It takes confidence and unfortunately is strengthened by it being tested over and over again. (In other words, you have to make a few mistakes and have a few awkward customer encounters until you really master it). 

But, I wish it was a skill that was encouraged & discussed more in our industry, because the longer we just assume that customer service is a fleeting consideration and goes no deeper than “being nice”, the longer we will see dog groomers slowly growing to resent their businesses and customers.

The longer we will see groomers being treated like doormats, too scared to implement fees out of fear of losing clients in an increasingly competitive market. 

We say our industry doesn’t get the respect it deserves? Can we all agree that if we want to change that, the change has to come from within? The general public don’t have “respect my groomer more” high on their list of priorities. 

We need to improve our communication skills, not only to express our expectations and boundaries, but also to demonstrate our expertise and instil our professionalism and authority. 

Because when we master that; the consequences are far reaching. Not only do we get more respect as individual groomers, but as an industry. Our prices make more sense than they do from the grooming industry that only knows how to rant. 

Customers start to understand their home grooming responsibilities so much more, when working with a groomer that knows how to communicate professionally, over one who lets them stretch schedules and never articulates exactly why they shouldn’t, any deeper than, “he could get knotty”.

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On Wednesday 14th October 2026 at 7pm, PRO members of The Dog Grooming Business Academy are invited to join me for a webinar, “Brushing Up on Communication” breaking down the communication techniques I used over the years in my grooming business to explain to owners about matting, why I sometimes needed to shave off their dog and what they needed to do at home to maintain their dog. Plus we’ll take a little coaching sideline into customer psychology to explain why these techniques work. 

I haven’t had to 7f a matted dog in 6 years due to these techniques, and yes I still groom. I’ve also never lost a customer (I didn’t want to lose), by implementing a no-show or late fee - (scenarios we will also be covering in the webinar). 

The webinar includes social media ideas, website/ policy  wording for those that want it,  and also a customer info sheet that explains why matting happens & why we do what we need to do, in a way that makes sense without teaching them a level 3 City & Guilds in hair growth.  

Members. You will find the Zoom link in our community.

Not a member? You can change that here.