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As featured in the Groomer's Choice VIG Magazine: Vol 1, Ed 3, Fall/Winter 2023 

Picture this: It's the holiday season. You’ve been at work for 10 hours and still have a couple more dogs to groom. In the last hour, you’ve gotten four messages to fit another dog in. This was supposed to be your last day before vacation, but you feel bad letting your client down. You could groom them tomorrow. Technically you aren’t doing anything, right? You’ll just push your vacation off one more day. 

We all know the holidays get crazy. Everyone wants to get their dogs groomed before pictures, events or family visits. If your holiday season looks like the above scenario, you probably end up feeling overworked, frustrated and disrespected. 

I’ve noticed a few different solutions to tackling the holiday rush, including working more hours/days to fit everyone in or strategically planning grooming cycles so only a bath and tidy falls on the holiday appointment. These options may work well for some, but I know they wouldn’t work well for me. 

Learning how to incorporate balance, set and uphold boundaries and communicate clear expectations can help transform your holidays into a stress-free, peaceful time. 

You won’t master these overnight, but each day presents opportunities to practice them. Remind yourself you can only control you and your actions. Release yourself from the expectations and feelings of others because how they feel or react is not your responsibility. 

Incorporate Balance: You’ve probably found work-life balance, and it shouldn’t necessarily change just because it's the holidays. If you work until you drop, when will you recover? Don’t wear yourself out or overwork yourself. That’s not to say you shouldn’t work hard, just don’t work too hard. Know your limits and set your boundaries. 

If you look forward to additional income from grooming more dogs around the holidays, try adding that income through other means. You can add more retail items or offer holiday specific add-ons, such as shampoo packages, colognes, bows or bandanas or even pictures of the pet. 

Create and Uphold Boundaries: Once boundaries are set, stick to them. Establish your scheduled hours. Block off your vacation time and lunch break. If you find it’s difficult to adhere to your boundaries when interacting with clients, pretend you are speaking on behalf of a coworker or friend. Sometimes it is easier to stick up for others than it is for yourself. After a few practices, remind yourself you deserve the same and start sticking up for yourself! You deserve respect, but you have to have it for yourself first. 

There are still only 24 hours in a day during the holiday season. Instead of fitting dogs in, be more particular about which dogs you schedule. It is not the time to schedule the once or twice a year dogs. It's the time to make sure your regulars, who adhere to a schedule, get appointments. Take care of the clients who take care of you. 

Yes, it is inevitable there will always be clients who ask to get in at the last minute, but you can say “no.” You are not obligated to drop everything for a client. If you have a day scheduled off, you aren’t just “doing nothing.” The thing you are doing is “having a day off.” 

Communicate Clear Expectations: When you bend and break the rules for clients, odds are that they will expect you to do it again. Setting clear expectations is always important, but especially during the holidays. 

Don’t offer appointments after hours. Encourage clients to book their next appointment when they check out at the end of each groom. Instead of suggesting it, don’t give them an option. Act like it’s expected or as if they were going to book it anyway. Try saying “Six weeks out is insert date, could you do 10 a.m. Tuesday or 3 p.m. Friday?” or “Let’s book her next appointment. Six weeks out is insert date, which days/times that week work best for you?” 

Whatever other expectations you have for your clients, start implementing them. For existing clients, it may take some training on their end and yours. For new clients, start with all the expectations up front. Having them sign a new client agreement with your expectations or policies is a great way to communicate with them right away. 

If you are unhappy with how your holiday season is structured, then practice incorporating balance, setting and upholding boundaries and communicating clear expectations. Because a less stressful holiday season with a normal volume of appointments and pleasant client interactions is possible. 

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