Don't Let It Bring You Down!

It’s been a bit of a demoralizing week for my fledgling business.

While www.southenddoggroomer.co.uk  is still largely waiting to be discovered by the Google bots (and therefore everyone else) drumming up new business is pretty hard graft. Leafleting pays off, but deciding which areas to target is pretty random. I’ve taken to brazenly approaching unsuspecting dog walkers and bestowing a business card with what I hope is a friendly smile (as opposed to a nervous facial spasm). Got to be careful with this tactic though, as if I am not careful I will wear out my welcome by pestering the same poor people each day; and since I am usually walking my pooch too (multi tasking like all successful business types – impressed?) I don’t want to spend the rest of the summer feeling like a plague carrier as other walkers double take and give me a wide berth. I am so sorry if I have given anyone a persecution complex!!

So it’s important that any enquiries that do come my way are converted into concrete bookings. I’m not so desperate I’ll do anything, I still had the backbone to explain I wasn’t happy about shaving down a double coated dog and why, it remains to be seen if the owner will give me the benefit of the doubt and call back to book the recommended undercoat/bath/brushout regime instead. I hope so, all of the clients who have agreed to this so far have seemed pleased with the results.

Imagine though, how I felt when I turned up on Saturday morning at 10am prompt to what turned out to be a phantom booking:

Me: Morning! Southend Scalliwags to groom Fido

Phantom Client: Oh, I thought that was booked for Saturday

Me: It is Saturday

Phantom Client: Is it? Oh well Fido isn’t here today he is up in London with his master at So & So’s birthday

Me: Couldn’t you have called to let me know?

Phantom Client: I didn’t have your number

Me: But you called me to book, I didn’t call you……

At this point I accepted the futility of the situation and told the phantom client to call when Fido got back from London. May be I need to get a life but for me Saturday Kitchen is Must See TV and there is an upside to every situation. In this case it was James Martin.

Later that day another client called to postpone, I appreciated this courtesy and it was for a valid reason, so no absolutely no complaints here, just disappointment.

And when a third client called Sunday evening to cancel Monday morning’s appointment I really had to pull myself up by the bootstraps and give myself a stern talking to.

So today I literally got on my bike and went leafleting. And while I was out I took two new bookings. Whether these turn out to be phantom bookings too remains to be seen, but meanwhile the diary is starting to fill up again and it was a lovely cycle over to Canewdon!