Running the Appointment

This page explains how to run a grooming appointment in the employee portal: the step sequence you record, how to message the customer during the groom, and why the groomer notes step must never be skipped. This page summarizes the Appointment Operations Policy, which governs.

The step sequence

Once the dog is in the building, record the appointment through this sequence in order. The steps are the record of what happened, and they drive customer updates. Skipping steps makes the record inaccurate, and the record is what protects you if anything goes wrong later.

1. Precheck Completed: intake verification. Confirm the dog matches the booking, read the profile, acknowledge red flags, and confirm vaccination status. This is where Intake and Handling Profiles is applied.
2. Wash Complete: bath finished.
3. Trimming In Progress: the cut is underway.
4. Nails Manicure Completed: nails finished.
5. Groomer Notes Completed: the post-groom record: what was done, what was observed, and profile updates.
6. Completed: the appointment is finished and the dog is ready for pickup.

The middle steps record progress within the groom. They are progress markers on the way to Completed. The appointment's standing is separate: Scheduled, Completed, Cancelled, or No Show. Do not confuse a progress marker such as Trimming In Progress with the appointment's standing, which remains Scheduled until the appointment is Completed.

Quality of the groom itself is governed by the Service Standards Policy, which governs.

Messaging the customer during the groom

The portal provides customer messaging with prepared texts. Use them at the right moment

• Mid-groom update. Send when the bath starts. The prepared text tells the customer the pet is in the bath with the named groomer and doing well, and that a further message will follow when drying and scissor work are complete. Send it when the bath actually starts.
• Pickup message. Send the moment the dog is actually ready. The prepared text tells the customer the pet is completely finished and ready for pickup at the salon. "Ready for pickup" means the dog can leave with the owner now: not when notes are started and not when you expect to finish shortly.

These messages go to the customer's portal Messages page. They are not text messages. If the customer does not check the portal, they will not see the message.

For anything urgent: the dog is distressed, or pickup is overdue by an hour: call the phone number on the booking. Do not rely on a portal message.

Groomer notes are part of the job

The Groomer Notes Completed step is the step most often skipped under time pressure, and it is the most important step after the groom itself. This is where the profile receives its updates: behavior observed, cut details, and anything the next groomer needs. A completed appointment with no notes breaks continuity: the next appointment starts without the benefit of this one. The notes duty is governed by Grooming Records and Continuity of Care, which governs.

Complete the notes before you mark the appointment finished

1. Record what was done, including cut details.
2. Record behavior observed, by handling area where relevant.
3. Update the handling profile with anything new.

Mistakes to avoid

• Pickup message never seen. A customer who arrives two hours late may not have ignored the message; they may never have seen it. Check that the message was actually sent before treating the delay as the customer's fault.
• Portal unavailable mid-appointment. Use the booking's phone number and your own contemporaneous notes. The system is the record, but the dog in front of you is the priority. Enter the steps and notes as soon as the portal is available again.