They are not buying a service. They are handing over a family member
A groom, a walk or a week of boarding is bought on one question: will my animal be all right with this person? Nothing you write about yourself answers it. Another owner answers it.
- Photo reviews from owners — the strongest proof in this trade
- Reviews about nervous animals, not just easy ones
- Your hours, your area and one way to book
- One link for the Instagram bio, where owners look first
The photograph is the review
A sentence saying the groom was lovely is worth something. The same sentence beside the owner's own photo of the dog on the way home is worth far more, because nobody stages that picture. Ask for it in the request rather than hoping — "if you took a photo, add it" is the whole prompt, and it roughly doubles what the review proves.
Ask the day after, not at pickup
At pickup the owner is holding a lead, a bag and a card machine. The next morning they have had the animal home for a night, seen that it settled, and can say so. That is also when the photo exists, because the picture people take is the one at home rather than the one in your doorway.
The reviews worth having are about the difficult animals
Every groomer has reviews from owners of easy dogs. The owner searching at eleven at night has a dog that bites the clippers, a cat that screams in the carrier, or an old animal on medication. A review that names that situation and says it went fine is the one that books them, and it is worth asking those owners specifically.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I post photos of customers' pets?
Ask first — most owners say yes and enjoy being asked. The simpler route is the review form, where the owner attaches their own photo, which means they have chosen to share it.
What do I do about a review after an incident?
Reply, factually and without arguing, and say what changed afterwards. Owners reading it are frightened of exactly that scenario, and how you answered is the only information they have about what would happen to them.
I work alone from home. Does a page still make sense?
More than for a shop with a sign. A stranger has no window to look through and no premises to judge, so the page is the whole of what they can see before they decide.