Hints for Reoccuring clients

[MsDaisy]

I'm new to mobile and trying to figure out how to best book my reoccuring appointments without accidently booking more than one client in a slot down the road. I've tried only doing even or odd numbers of weeks, but still a client on a 4 wk schedule will over lap someone on a 6wk. I'm getting by currently by using my dayplanner and having enough open slots, but everyday I'm getting fuller and more headaches are occuring. Any hints or obvious fixes that I'm missing?

[Gracy Rose]

Well, I am sure that you have a stylish day planner :-) I suggest that any client that is more than 4 weeks be used as a filler.

Example: I have a dog every wednesday, another dog every 4 weeks on Wednesday and a dog that is every 6 weeks on Wednesday.

The weekly dog gets a SET time slot. The 4 week gets the next choice and then 6 weeks may have to move a little here or there.

[Starshan]

I am running into this problem, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8wk clients. I do have only one client that is 4wks book the yr out. Others are 5+ those are starting to over lap now & then. Frustrating. I do keep 2 calandars, one big one at home, a little one in the van that I bring with me as I bring the last finished dog in. We usually go over the calendar then. I now have an online booking program & a few are wanting to do it that way as it gives an email reminder. If I start having clients have a problem with needing certain days at certian weeks then maybe they should book more appts out?

Shannon
The Soapy Puppy

[mijothewonderdog]

Palm Pilot

Use a Palm Pilot. It works great!

[Starshan]

Its not so much the keeping track part as my calendar is working fine but the over lapping of the weeks. I go to 7 different towns. I just took another house with 2 dogs in the 8th town. I travel 20 miles but try to keep it under if I can & this one was 18 miles so I took them. So if 2 people happen to land on the same day that need say Friday's but one is to the left of my house 15 miles & the other is to the right 10 miles. That is just not going to happen, I'd be driving all day just to do 2 dogs. Not sure how to work this out.

Shannon
The Soapy Puppy

[Meesh]

I think a big part of the problem are your distances. When I was in my first year and going as far as 12 miles I would have problems with routing and scheduling. Now that I am sticking within five or six miles it's not as big a deal. No one is all that far from each other.

My only problem dogs, scheduling-wise, are in an neighborhood I kept from the beginning that is a little on the out of the way side. I have four dogs in the neighborhood, so it SHOULDN'T be a problem, except none of them are on the same schedule. One wants four weeks, one is six, one eight and one 10. When I restart after my surgery hiatus I am going to give the one who wants to be 10 weeks a choice of eight or 12 weeks. That way I can at least do her dog and the eight weeker at the same time, or get her so that I do it every other time when I do the six week dog.

My BEST routed day is every six weeks I have six dogs all right near each other in the same neighborhood, three of them Bichons, three are Shih Tzus, and every other time I also do one of the Shih Tzu's "sister," a small Goldie mix. I actually have quite a few good days like that where much of the day is in one neighborhood and the rest are on my way home from there.

If you are growing your client base it may only be a matter of time before you can start pulling in, dropping the farther away clients and keeping closer in ones.

Meesh

[groominshuman]

A couple of things to think about, become computerized. There are many programs that can get your schedule up and running. Second, try to schedule as many clients in the same area. Third, let your clients know that they may need to be flexible with the time because of existing clients. Fourth, the best way is to build trust with your clients and get a garage code or key, then your schedule becomes a lot more flexible. Good luck, is takes a little time to work out the kinks.

[gottalovegracie]

I'm booking my regulars (4,6,8 weekers) out for the whole year. I go thru and manually set them up because sometimes they can't get the exact same time/day every time becuz someone else already has that spot. I think this is what you are struggling with?? Some of them, I know, are home every day pretty much so if they like a certain time, say, 10am...if that time of day is not open on Monday of a certain week, I'll put it on Tuesday (or whatever). Some clients HAVE to have a certain day becuz its their day off, so I may just adjust the time like the 10am might not be open but the 2 is...I give them the schedule now, they can see what day/time all the appts are and if something doesn't work, we can tweek it. Being mobile requires clients to be a bit more flexible with their times then in a shop where you can double book and work on a few at a time. Doesn't work that way when mobile, unless it's a multidog house.

I do have Pet123 to help with scheduling but to be honest, it's easier to set them up manually then I'll go thru and put them in the program becuz it seems like it's constantly telling me that such and such a date doesn't work because there is already someone scheduled then months down the road...this is just how I do it. I also tell the clients that if their "holiday appts" don't fall where they like to let me know now so that we can get that all figured out before the rush.

Hope that helps...
glg

[TAILSRWAGON]

Customer Survey

As this started happening to me, I sent out a customer survey and asked which days and times worked best for them. Also if they wanted a 4 - 5 week schedule or a 5 - 6 week schedule. That gave me flexibility to move them to dates and areas that worked for me.
I have a large service area and spend certain days in certain locations. If I get an overlap I have the survey to refer to and book them on another day or a week later.
It has worked really well for me.

[julimills]

Hints for Reoccuring clients

I agree that going computerized is the way to go. I actually use a have a laptop that I bring with me. I created a matrix that keeps track of customers, the areas that they live in and the schedule in weeks as well as any other important info. By my third year I have been able to schedule my clients for the whole year, allowing me to set up my days with the least amount driving. This has worked out for me very well. I would definitely reduce milage to 10 miles or less. I stick to 8 miles from my home and have been able to setup most of my days that have 5 or 6 pets with just a few miles from each other.
Juli Mills

[Meesh]

My only problem is people cancelling on me. MOST do give me at least 24 hours notice, but that does tend to mess up my routing. However, with most of my clients within a six mile radius of my house, it's never too bad. The few I have who live farther afield I have told them if they cancel and need to reschedule they are not likely to see me until what would have been their next schedule appointment. Those people tend to give me keys or key codes.

As another poster said, trying to get as many people to give you access to their dogs when they are not around is the best and gives you a lot of flexibility.

Meesh