Part of a Petsmart focus Group yesterday

[JoeLacy]

I spent 2 hours with the marketing department yesterday going over new concepts. They are trying to encourage people to use the grooming and Vet services more often. Look for "special" deals and incentives to come soon.
That's all I can really say about it, so this is just FYI.

[ihartgonzo]

As some one who works for the company... I think they need to hire more professional, caring, well-trained, QUALITY people. That makes a much bigger impact than special deals. Imho. I didn't know they had focus groups, though.

[lizzybeth727]

Originally Posted by ihartgonzo

As some one who works for the company... I think they need to hire more professional, caring, well-trained, QUALITY people. That makes a much bigger impact than special deals. Imho.

As someone who used to work for the company, I agree. They also need to do a much better job of giving benefits and performance raises to their staff, so that they will be able to KEEP those quality people.

And the fact that they had a focus group to discuss their services BESIDES training, also speaks volumes for the direction the company is going. JMO.

[Beanie]

Originally Posted by ihartgonzo

As some one who works for the company... I think they need to hire more professional, caring, well-trained, QUALITY people. That makes a much bigger impact than special deals. Imho. I didn't know they had focus groups, though.

Oh yeah, all retail stores do - I was part of one maybe 6 months ago (or more? can't remember) about dog food. That was lol-tastic. Better, quality products wasn't even on their radar... they just wanted to try special deals and new "gimmicks" to get people to buy what they already carry.
It sucked.

I love PetSmart. For toys... and a couple treats. They also carry EarthBath now which is fantastic! But that's about it. I agree with you, special deals aren't going to improve the quality of a lot of products and services. I wouldn't let any of their groomers even get near Auggie anymore after some lady tried to take scissors to him when he was just there for a NAIL trim. And she wouldn't even answer me when I kept asking her what she was going to scissor. I **** near grabbed her wrist before she finally answered me. =P NOT a good way to get - or keep - customers.

[JoeLacy]

That was one of the topics, questions like why did we pick the Vet we use and what would make us switch. It was a recorded brain storm kind of thing put on by an outside company. What was our experience with grooming and what could they do to make it better. They ran several test promo concepts by us and gathered our feedback. Nothing revolutionary coming down the pipe, but clearly they wanted to increase Banfields part in the Petsmart brand and looking for incentives to make that happen.

One comment for example was why pay Banfield one invoice and Petsmart another. In other words, have one payment at the front to cover all services. It was things like that and 1/2 of it was operational kinds of things. Another comment, if we have out vet records at banfield, why do we have to go to Banfield and then bring back the records. It should all be in the groomers computer.

Other suggestions were web cams so we could watch out doggies in the groomer or boarded. Text messages when our dog were ready. It was really just these kinds of things.

[lizzybeth727]

Originally Posted by JoeLacy

Another comment, if we have out vet records at banfield, why do we have to go to Banfield and then bring back the records. It should all be in the groomers computer.

Yeah.... OR the groomer could walk the ten feet to the Banfield counter and get the records herself. *shrugs*

[ihartgonzo]

Originally Posted by lizzybeth727

As someone who used to work for the company, I agree. They also need to do a much better job of giving benefits and performance raises to their staff, so that they will be able to KEEP those quality people.

Werd. I know a few groomers who are REALLY good at what they do, who have had a lot of training and experience, and who know how to handle the dogs. I know others who literally don't know the difference between a Bichon Frise and a Bouvier des Flandres. I mean, come on! These two types should not even be in the same category, much less paid the same and given the same hours. Three of the better groomers have left to go to private salons who pay better in the last month, and they're being replaced by ignorant dog washers who seriously have NO interest in dogs.

Originally Posted by Beanie

Oh yeah, all retail stores do - I was part of one maybe 6 months ago (or more? can't remember) about dog food. That was lol-tastic. Better, quality products wasn't even on their radar... they just wanted to try special deals and new "gimmicks" to get people to buy what they already carry.
It sucked.

Hahaha! I would be fired instantly if I was in the floor doing sales. I would be like "go across the street to the feed store. good day!"

I love getting endless amounts of coupons for Beneful "Chef Michaels Collection" and Goodlife rubber froot loop treats. Ummm, making them cheaper is not going to make them any less disgusting.

I actually like our Banfield Vets. They're a married couple and they are super cool (and their dogs are named after Muppets, which made us instant friends). However, my one experience at the Banfield at the Petsmart down the street was hellish and I was charged twice what they estimated. I think it varies way too much from store to store.

[JoeLacy]

I don't use Banfield so that doesn't matter to me anyway. There were also comments about how friendly and approachable the Petsmart people were and less so at grooming and even less than that at the Banfield front desk. There were comments about seeing the same Vet visit after visit to build trust. They were seeking out ways to make the customer experience more rewarding. It was all good nothing bad.

[corgipower]

Originally Posted by ihartgonzo

As some one who works for the company... I think they need to hire more professional, caring, well-trained, QUALITY people. That makes a much bigger impact than special deals. Imho. I didn't know they had focus groups, though.

As someone who works for their competition, I would have to disagree here. They should really focus on those gimmicks and special deals for crappy products.

They can then increase the profit by paying lower wages to subpar employess and fewer of them, too while raising their prices. K?

[Lolas Dad]

I have not taken Lola to Pet Smart for a grooming yet. I've taken her to other places.The last groom was just a few weeks ago it was to a groomer who did a good job the first time but the second time cut her pant's to short and also clipped her whole butt area to short so much that you could see the clipper lines. I'm not just talking about the anus area. He also shaved her belly completely smooth so I'm not really happy with his work and will find another.

I'd like to know if a person was able to find a good groomer at Pet Smart can they use the same groomer the second time or do they have it by whoever is available at the time. I'm sure a person can find a good groomer at a Pet Smart but then the question is if they are good, how long before they leave and does Pet Smart have some kind of no competition clause for a groomer meaning that they can't take on the client from pet Smart if they venture out on their own or work for someone else.