Lillian sent a message to Michael J. Massey – Chief Executive Officer and President of PetSmart, Inc. – Email Address that said:
I am writing this letter to express my concern in regards to the operation of Petsmart salons, and while doing so I hope to help Petsmart as a whole become more effective with two things: functionality and sales. When salon functionality is at its utmost potential, sales share a parallel correlation. I believe the following points will help the salon teams to master time management, reduce turnover rates, and increase sells.
I feel particularly beneficial in the way that I offer a unique perspective due to the fact I have worked in 2 different Petsmart locations over the past 3 years, and have coincidentally encountered the same problems in both. I feel that many other Petsmarts also share these same hurdles as well. Challenges such as: too many phone calls and not enough time, too many walk-ins and not enough hands, as well as too much stress and not enough experience with time management.
There are simple resolutions to these problems, such as providing groomers with headsets so that we can still groom and in turn multitask by talking on the phone. Half of the phone calls that come in are simply pet parents inquiring about prices and services, as those shouldn't require anyone to put down their dog and walk up to the front counter to do any sort of computer work The other half of calls are booking appointments, which although the new system Fetch has its perks it-it does take much longer to book an appointment than touchpoint did. If Fetch was installed on an I-pad specifically for use in the salon, it would once again reduce the amount of time spent walking back and forth from table to phone, providing the booking process right at our fingertips.
I am a power groomer, and with that being said I know that if I could just groom, and not deal with walk ins, I could personally be doing 12-13 dogs a day instead of 8-10. My average sales per dog are $55 which means that Petsmart could potentially be making an extra $102.50 per groomer per day if there was an associate hired to exclusively provide services to walk ins.
I have many more ideas that are well worth hearing and discussing, and would love to collaborate with the corporate office on additional concepts that could potentially be implemented in Petsmart’s across the nation. I want what is best for associates, which transpires into providing the best services for pet parents.
In conclusion my proposal is this, if I could travel to different Petsmarts and observe the main problems in each salon, I could then tailor an action plan specific to that location and help them overcome the problems they struggle with. This would then optimize output and sales. I would love to offer my expertise in the salon, as I have been grooming for the past 10 years. I wouldn't be someone who thinks they know how to fix the problem based on what I’ve simply observed, I would be someone who knows how to fix the problem based on initially being a part of it. I think very highly of Petsmart, and enjoy being employed by the company and would like to continue working alongside the salon and helping others.
Feel free to contact me via e-mail or by phone at your earliest convenience.
Sincerely,
Lilli
