Paragon People bring passion to the art of grooming instruction to help our students succeed. That’s why we’re delighted to welcome award-winning competitive groomer and instructor Courtney Ramstack, CMG, to our DLP Online Grooming Mentor team! Courtney has trained more than 150 students throughout the midwest, coaching them through grooming competitions and successful salon management. Her own rise from bather to industry-leader came through her strong sense of style, attention to detail and outstanding customer service. We’re delighted to have her on board!
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Paragon’s Online Dog Grooming Program Welcomes Courtney Ramstack to Mentor Team
The Importance of Thinning Shears to Blend & Soften on the Finish of a Guard Comb Trim
In this FREE Spotlight Session, Melissa Verplank discusses the importance of an indispensable part of the grooming kit: thinning shears. Join Melissa as she demonstrates how a good set of thinners can make all the difference.
Plan Now for a Successful Holiday Dog Grooming Season!
The autumn leaves may still be turning, but the sweet jingle of the Holiday Rush cash register will soon ring out across the land. Are you — or your salon — ready for the holiday rush? In this excerpt, CMG Melissa Verplank outlines tips and questions to ask yourself to ensure a smooth holiday season. If you need to hire help, train them now with Paragon’s Groomer Education & Training Program, and you’ll be set to ring in the New Year with record profits!
Ten Tips & Questions to Help You Get Through the Dogs During the Holiday Season
- What are the pros and cons of working extra hours? Do you have enough staff to handle the volume?
- Should you take on new clients?
- Make sure all your regular clients have their holiday appointments BEFORE taking on new clients or ‘non- regulars.’
- Hiring extra help – is there something you can easily delegate with some basic training that would free you up to deal with clients? Cleaning? Answering the phone? Taking out the trash? (Or adding a bather/stylist who has completed level 1?)
- Have you worked out a system to maximize the types of pets you take per stylist?
- Work out a drop-off and pick-up schedule that allows you to stay focused on grooming pets.
- Stay calm, cool, and collected no matter what happens during the course of the day.
- Set realistic time goals that push you, but stay on target. Use an egg timer if necessary or place a clock where you can’t miss it – no matter what.
- Use every speed trick in the book from prepping – to bathing – to drying – to trimming.
- When clients pick up their pet, are you offering a promotion to assist in re-booking 6 weeks down the road when it can traditionally be really slow?
Correcting Behavior During Grooming
Correcting Behavior During Grooming – Learn the 4 Keys to Successful Pet Handling
If you are a long time pet professional, you’ve probably mastered today’s topic. If you are fresh to the industry, you are probably struggling with it. How do you handle the dog that does not want to cooperate with the grooming procedure?
Managing Your Schedule
How is your summer going? Busy?? Overworked? Feeling stressed? Not being able to ENJOY your summer because you are too busy?
Having too much work can be just as frustrating and scary as not having ENOUGH work. I get it. As groomers and service providers, we want to keep people happy. That’s how you build a thriving business. However, if the business is thriving – and you are not – how can that honestly be good for your business? How can that be good for your customers and pets in the long run?
We all have the same number of days, hours and minutes each year. Everyone wants to maximize their time to make the most out their lives. How you schedule appointments, how many hours and days you work each week and how much time you allot for yourself will contribute to how you feel at the end of the day.
Fair Pricing – The Large Dog
In this video, Certified Master Groomer Melissa Verplank discuses the challenge of fair pricing. Do you sometimes feel like you’re not getting ahead, despite a full roster of grooms? How are you pricing you “big dog” jobs – the Standard Poodle and Doodles and other time-intensive grooms? Learn how to tweak your pricing structure to get ahead of the game.
Want time-saving tips on grooming the “big furries”? Check out Learn2GroomDogs.com for a robust library of instructional videos and business tips. (https://bit.ly/2Ysq3Ts) Use Code LUCKYDOG for 50% off your first month! Want to train staff to work efficiently, effectively, with reproducible results? Check out Paragon’s Distance Learning Program. (https://bit.ly/2WXQrTT) Use code LUCKYDOG for $100 off Tuition.
Canine Influenza Revisited – Tips for Salon Management
As summertime approaches, so does the anniversary of the worst outbreak of Canine Influenza the country has seen. In the summer of 2018, numerous pet care facilities in Paragon’s home state of Michigan closed temporarily, required vaccinations and/or orchestrated mass vaccination efforts to slow down the spread of Canine Influenza H3N2 strain, including our own Whiskers Pet Resort and Spa. Is your facility ready for 2019?
By now, you have probably heard about the newest illness threatening our pets. Canine influenza (CI), or dog flu, is a highly contagious infection that can have serious implications not only for our pets, but for your business and our industry.
How to Build your Bath and Brush Business
In this video, Certified Master Groomer Melissa Verplank talks about ways you can be proactive in maintaining the volume of pets in your grooming business. In order to keep your business volume consistent and growing you need to deliver a service that goes beyond what customers can do at home or at a self-wash. Learn ways to set your service apart!
Get more great grooming business tips from www.GroominarNetwork.com.
Want to advance your training? Check out our advanced levels at Paragon Pet School’s Professional Dog Grooming Certification Program.
Education is Everything
By Melissa Verplank, CMG
We have a motto within my companies when it comes to learning:
“Education is everything.”
It is at the very core of everything we do. Why?
I see learning as never-ending. It does not matter what stage you are in your career. Or what stage you are in your life. Continued learning offers positive opportunities around every turn.
I was never a great student in school. Traditional academics did not excite me. But once I got into dog grooming, now that was a different story.
I became passionate about learning. About growing my career. I didn’t seek out traditional methods. Most of my learning was self-directed. Something much more challenging before the age of the Internet! I quickly understood the wealth of benefits continued education unleashed.
There’s No Black and White in Dog Grooming
In this video, Certified Master Groomer Melissa Verplank discusses a concept that Lisa Leady shared during a www.Learn2GroomDogs.com video shoot: There’s no black and white in grooming, but there’s a lot of gray. In this context, how do you evaluate techniques and products? Melissa suggests answering these questions:
Is it safe for the pet? Is it safe for the groomer? Will it yield a quality product? Will it be efficient?
Get more great grooming business tips from www.Learn2GroomDogs.com – Sign up with Code LUCKYDOG and get 50% off your first month!
Want to advance your training? Check out our advanced levels at Paragon Pet School’s Distance Learning Program. Use Code LUCKYDOG to get $100 off tuition!