Happy Friday, Daily Groomers!

This week we’ve been heads down analyzing the thousands of calls our AI receptionists handle every week across our early customers.

That adds up to 50,000+ hours of real-world grooming calls — mobile groomers, salon chains, house-call groomers, accents, multilingual customers, you name it. Every call helps us refine the voice tech, but more importantly… it paints a vivid picture of what really happens when clients pick up the phone.

No one else in the industry has this kind of dataset, so I figured I’d let you peek behind the curtain. Here’s “what pet parents really want when they call” — where you get to be a fly on the wall for over 10,000 real calls.

👉 And don’t miss it: last week’s online booking poll results are waiting for you at the bottom of this email.

📝 A Few Ground Rules

• These are mostly missed or after-hours calls, where AI picked up instead of voicemail.

• Names and pets have been changed for privacy.

• Spam calls are included (because yes, they eat up grooming business time too).

And one more reminder: Small and mid-sized businesses miss about 62% of calls. Considering that 85% of clients who call don’t call back, having backup — whether AI or not — is critical.

As a reminder, you can try it out in your business for 14 days free by booking some time with me and the team.

📊 Why People Actually Call

• Scheduling & Availability → 46%

  The #1 reason by far — booking, rescheduling, canceling, or confirming appointments.

• Service & Pricing Questions → 20%

  “What does a full groom include?” “How much for a doodle?” Pricing curiosity never stops.

• Status & Check-ins → 9%

  “Is Lila ready yet?” “Can I pick up Daisy now?” These mid-groom check-ins create constant interruptions.

• Policies & Logistics → 6%

  Hours, directions, payments, vaccination requirements — all the small stuff that adds up.

• Complaints & Concerns → 4%

  From canceled appointments to billing disputes to heartbreaking calls about pet loss.

• Unavailable Services → 4%

  Daycare, training, cat grooming, even pet pickups and rides — callers often assume all groomers do it all.

• Direct-to-Human Requests → 3%

  “I need to speak to Jane right now.” Persistent clients who want a specific employee or the owner.

• Spam & Solicitation → 8%

  Google listing scams, loan robocalls, even utility companies — yes, they call groomers too. (I get 10 spam calls a day…. 😂)

Here’s the surprising part: the lowest category of all the call summaries was requests to speak with a human.

You’d think callers would notice they were talking to AI, get frustrated, and immediately demand a person. But the reality? Most people don’t even realize, or they don’t care… they just want to be heard and know their message is getting through.

And honestly, I’ll take that trade any day. If fewer people are demanding a live transfer than we get spam calls, that’s a huge win (and a lot less hassle). We did just go live with live transfers too just in case!

📌 Real Call Spotlights

Here are some of the more memorable ones:

• Heartbreaking: Caleb called to cancel Luna’s appointment. Luna had passed away. The AI calmly noted the cancellation and flagged it as urgent for the team.

• Frustrated: Kelsey, owner of a shepherd named Mia, had already had two canceled appointments and was ready to find another groomer.

• Quirky: One caller asked about a “donation pickup” — completely unrelated, but logged in the system.

• Detailed: Carol wanted very specific trims for her pup Benny — “eyes, anal glands, paws, and beard.”

• Breed challenge: Tony needed a spiked choke collar just to get Dagger the 80lb bulldog’s nails clipped.

• Spammy: More than one call about “urgent Google listing verification.” 🙄

💡 The Big Picture

When you strip it all down, the majority of calls boil down to scheduling and pricing. Yet those are the very things that interrupt groomers most during the day — when they’re elbow-deep in shampoo or halfway through a haircut.

Imagine how much smoother your day runs when:

• Status updates (“Is Bella ready yet?”) are automated.

• Scheduling intake is captured without picking up the phone.

• Spam calls never waste your time again.

That’s what our AI receptionist is built to handle. It’s not perfect (yet), but it really damn good. Feel free to call it and try it for your self.

Quick Poll: What’s Your Phone Line Sounds Like? 📞

At The Daily Groomer (& Teddy), we’re always curious about how much time phones take away from actual grooming. For some shops, it’s just a few calls a day. For others, it feels nonstop. And with everyone’s business number listed on Google, the calls never stop rolling in. Let’s measure the call chaos:

With nearly half of grooming calls tied to scheduling, it’s clear the phone eats up valuable time. But last week, we asked how many of you are already using online booking to take that load off — and the results were across the board but the insights behind them were even better…

📊 Last Week’s Poll: Do You Use Online Booking?

We asked our community about online booking — and your responses painted a clear picture:

✅ The Fans (love it & won’t go back)

• “We’ve received more positive feedback about our online booking than anything else we do. Clients — especially younger ones — love the ease of it.”

• “Our system even has a waitlist option that auto-texts clients when a spot opens up. The technology frees up so much time — we’ll never go back!”

🤔 The “Yes, But…” Crowd (use it with guardrails)

• “We use it but only for existing clients — and only if we can approve the appointment first.”

• “I prefer online requests, not direct bookings. That way I can slot people where they actually fit instead of them picking blindly.”

• “Our software allows us to approve or decline requests, and even propose different dates by messaging with the client.”

😬 The Skeptics (hesitant or overwhelmed)

• “It makes me nervous — clients don’t always know how long their dog takes, or they misstate the size.”

• “I’m already so busy, I don’t have time to learn a new program and onboard all my clients.”

• “It’s hard enough for my groomers to get booking times right — I can’t imagine leaving it up to clients.”

🚐 Mobile Groomer Challenges

• “Routing is the biggest barrier. Zip code filters aren’t fine enough — we need smarter systems that factor in driving routes.”

• “Until we solve routing, online booking is tough for mobile groomers to implement.”

💡 Takeaway

Online booking is the future — but groomers are clear:

• They want control (approvals, requests vs. direct bookings).

• They want customization (routing for mobile, adjusting times per groomer).

• And they need it to be easy for staff and clients, or they won’t adopt it.

Your feedback = our roadmap. If you want to be a Teddy advisor and help shape online booking for groomers, let’s chat.

For the love of grooming,

Alex

That’s all folks! Keep calm and groom on 🐶🤘