First Grooming Customer
Sunday, October 29, 2006
This Saturday was a glorious day. Two weeks after we unfurled our salon banner, we had our first and second customers. I knew that any business venture is a gamble and was prepared to sit it out without customers for up to three months. However, days after the banner and the flyer distribution, I must admit I keep asking myself what I would do if there are no takers. Well, at the least our kennel dogs will enjoy a custom-made dog grooming table and bottles of shampoo!
Marketing Plan
In almost every activity I get into, I plan thoroughly. For weeks, I plan and imagine in my head how I will lure customers into our neighborhood salon. While our street Germany is closely parallel to the main commercial avenue that is Doña Soledad, people have to enter the village gate and pass through the sole open end of our street to see our banner. I have to have a brilliant marketing strategy.
The strategy is customer-centric. We profile our target customer. Families with toy dogs. Locations: Better Living, Sun Valley, Aero Park, Merville and the smaller villages in between.
Gender of owner: Mostly female. Dogs owned: shih tzu, poodle, long-haired mixed breeds. Income level: enough to invest in dog grooming.
In marketing, visibility is the key. We have a 2'x3' tarpaulin banner hanging in our gate and in the village newspaper store near the village gate. For the latter, I invested a few hundred pesos for the privilege. We printed about 100 half-page flyers and placed them in neighbors' mail boxes. In my regular dog walks, I pray that I will bump into potential customers. I did meet a couple of nice dog people and I looked forward to helping them groom their dogs. I made this blog in the hope that some dog lover will read it and discover our gem of a salon. The strategy that bagged the first customer was the 500 flyers we inserted last Sunday into newspapers and magazines. I have to thank the newspaper store owner who allowed me to hang the banner and gave this brilliant idea of inserts. I am now an advocate of this marketing tool.
Marketing Plan
In almost every activity I get into, I plan thoroughly. For weeks, I plan and imagine in my head how I will lure customers into our neighborhood salon. While our street Germany is closely parallel to the main commercial avenue that is Doña Soledad, people have to enter the village gate and pass through the sole open end of our street to see our banner. I have to have a brilliant marketing strategy.
The strategy is customer-centric. We profile our target customer. Families with toy dogs. Locations: Better Living, Sun Valley, Aero Park, Merville and the smaller villages in between.
Gender of owner: Mostly female. Dogs owned: shih tzu, poodle, long-haired mixed breeds. Income level: enough to invest in dog grooming.
In marketing, visibility is the key. We have a 2'x3' tarpaulin banner hanging in our gate and in the village newspaper store near the village gate. For the latter, I invested a few hundred pesos for the privilege. We printed about 100 half-page flyers and placed them in neighbors' mail boxes. In my regular dog walks, I pray that I will bump into potential customers. I did meet a couple of nice dog people and I looked forward to helping them groom their dogs. I made this blog in the hope that some dog lover will read it and discover our gem of a salon. The strategy that bagged the first customer was the 500 flyers we inserted last Sunday into newspapers and magazines. I have to thank the newspaper store owner who allowed me to hang the banner and gave this brilliant idea of inserts. I am now an advocate of this marketing tool.
The Adorable Shih Tzu pup
This was our first customer. A sable-black young pup lovingly owned by sweet lady from a neighboring village. At first I was hesitant to accept such a young pup, but I bowed to the lady's request when I saw the vaccination records and the bag of dog paraphernalia that attested to the attention and care bestowed upon the lucky pup. I gave her the same level of attention. I started by giving her packed water and food. Played a bit with her and proceeded to gently clean her ears, cut her nails and trim the hair under her paws. She was a joy to groom. I was happy to send her home in bandana and cologne.
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