SEPTEMBER 1, 2026

4 min read

How do I get my first 20 grooming clients?

What twenty regulars bring in each month

A client who stays rebooks on their dog's coat cycle, which Dapper Doodle Grooming's 2026 guide puts at four to eight weeks for a doodle. At an $80 average groom on a six-week cycle, twenty regulars bring in about $1,156 a month before anyone new books (20 clients times $80, times 52 weeks divided by 6, divided by 12 months). Those twenty also send you the next eighty through referrals.

This guide covers the four channels that fill a new book without an ad budget: your Google listing, local partners, photos and referrals. None of them costs money, but you have to put time into each of them weekly.

Finish your Google Business Profile first

A dog owner who searches "dog groomer near me" calls someone from the map results. Google's own help page names three things behind local ranking: relevance, distance and prominence. It counts how many reviews you have as part of prominence, and says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up. You can't change your distance from the person searching, so put your work into relevance and prominence.

• Fill in each field. Add your hours, services with prices, a service area if you're mobile, and photos that are yours rather than stock.
• Ask for the review the day after. Text something like "So glad [dog's name] did well yesterday. If you have thirty seconds, a review helps a small shop a lot," with the direct link. Ask one time, with no follow-up nagging. If you turn on review requests and save your review link, FurSlot sends that ask for you in a day-after thank-you text (what goes out and when).
• Don't trade anything for a review. Google's review policy bans offering discounts, free goods or free services in exchange for posting one, and bans asking for specific content. Share the link and leave the rest to the client.
• Answer each review, including the unfair one that'll come sooner or later, in the same calm tone. Future clients give your replies as much attention as the reviews themselves.

Partners who already have your clients

The dogs you want to groom already visit vets, daycares and pet shops that don't groom. Walk into those places with cards and an offer to send clients both ways, something like this:

"Hi, I'm [your name], and I groom at [shop] on [street]. If your clients ask about a groomer for a nervous dog or matted ears, I'd love it if you sent them my way. And if mine ask about boarding or daycare, I'll send them to you."

Clients ask front-desk staff for groomer recommendations, and staff recommend groomers who treated them like colleagues. You'll get more clients from one warm relationship with a busy daycare than from a month of posting online, and your card stays on their counter on the days you're not there.

Photograph each dog, post twice a week

Before-and-after photos are the grooming trade's native advertising. Take the before when the dog arrives and the after on a clean background before pickup, then post them with the dog's name and the service. Owners share photos of their own dog, and their feeds are full of local dog owners.

Get one line of permission at drop-off, "Mind if I post [dog's name]'s before-and-after on my page?", and keep a consistent photo spot in the shop. Post twice a week, week after week, rather than a burst in launch week and silence after it. You'll get the strongest posts from coats that change most on the table, like a Goldendoodle or a Shih Tzu in full coat.

The referral ask is one sentence

Instead of punch cards, make your referral program one sentence at pickup: "If you know another doodle owner, I still have a couple of Thursday spots open." Naming a breed and a day gives the client something easy to repeat at the dog park.

If a referred client books, take $10 off the referrer's next groom and tell them why. A client you thank that way tends to refer again, and a referral reward is a different thing from a review reward, since the referrer isn't rating you. If you're mobile, the van is its own channel, covered in the mobile startup guide.

Then find out which channel is working. Ask each new client one question at booking, "How did you hear about me?", and write the answer on their record. After twenty clients you'll know which channels brought people in, so you can put next month's hours into those.

Answer "how much?" with a price and two times

Each channel above ends in the same message, a client asking what a groom costs. New groomers tend to answer the question and wait, so give the price and offer a booking in the same text:

"Hi [name], a full groom for [dog's name] starts at $[price] if the coat's in good shape. If it's been more than eight weeks or there's matting, I'll quote the extra when I see the coat at drop-off. I have [day] at [time] or [day] at [time]. Want me to put [dog's name] down for one of those?"

Saying "starts at" leaves you room for a coat you haven't seen. If you mention matting in the first reply, you won't be arguing about it at pickup, and what to charge for a matted dog has the numbers behind the extra. Give two specific times so the client can say yes in one word, because "let me know when works" leaves them to do the scheduling.

Reply the same day, before a client who's texting three groomers books one of the others. Get the price right on the first quote too, using the 2026 pricing guide and the price list template. A founding client who books at a launch price will expect it at each visit after that, and you'll groom your first twenty clients more often than anyone who books later.

Give your first clients a real booking page