GroomPod 484 Perceived value and microplastics transcript
Susy (00:00)
Hey everyone, welcome back to the Groom Pod. I'm Susie the Groomer, and I'm here with my bestie, Barbara Bird, and today we're talking about a subject that really impacts your business, and that is perceived value. What your client thinks about you and your service. And later in the episode, Barbara's gonna tackle a huge environmental and ingredient topic: the truth about microplastics in grooming products and what it means for us. Grab your headphones.
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made from the best stuff on earth. I love the scissoring spray. I'm using it all the time and I'm trying to figure out just how much the max I need to put in there to make it a really beefy detangler and still smell like coconut 'cause it is delicious.
Have you had a chance to smell it?
Barbara (01:42)
You started using
it because you like the smell. I gotta use this.
Susy (01:46)
Of course.
Barbara (01:47)
Yeah, I know, I know.
Susy (01:50)
Have you tried it? Did you get any?
Barbara (01:52)
Got some, yeah. I I'm not that big a fan of coconut like you are. You know. I put
Susy (01:59)
I forgot about that.
Barbara (02:00)
the the fragrance that took me over the top, so to speak, was the the oil from a funky poodle. The coat oil
that it has that it's the vanilla fee and fig, I think it is. that stuff smells so good. I put it on my hair.
before I go out ed with anybody, you know, because it's just instead of cologne I just put some of that stuff on my hair and rub it in rub it in my arms and whew, I love that smell.
Susy (02:37)
I got the schniff Jolly Rancher and their Fruit Loop one. And I've I'm off the Fruit Loop one and I'm onto the Jolly Rancher, which kind of smells a little bit like watermelon. And it's okay. So I'm using that on the horse, but I can't smell it after a few minutes, so it's not doing it for me. So I'm gonna go
Barbara (02:54)
Yeah. Yeah.
Susy (02:56)
back to the Equus.
Gel, the the magical gel, because that stuff smells great and I use it in her main and then everybody smells me coming for miles. I think that's a stronger smell than all of the other stuff I've been using. So did you have a nice vacation?
Barbara (03:13)
thank you very much. Yes, I did. And I did a a lovely little presentation to the Kansas City groomers a week ago, and I finished it just as I was waiting to for them to fix their technical difficulty before our broadcast. I was still shuffling
Susy (03:36)
Cheese.
Barbara (03:37)
slides around as we waited and
That is so freaking me. I know, you know, like I was just laughing with Susie. I'll probably finish editing my second edition of the Beyond Sense and Scent book after my my primary care physician gives me six months to go. You got six months left to live. Uh-oh, I gotta finish the book.
Susy (04:10)
so
true. That it that is typical Barbara.
Barbara (04:12)
I can't tell
today, I got another chapter to do, you know.
It's
just you know, like I I would sit here with the material in front of me to make this the this key what do you call keynote presentation and instead if I used my phone for anything I would end up on iPhone solitaire for two hours.
You know, I thought solitaire is my happy place because I can go there and I can feel alive because my brain has to work to do the solitaire, but there's no pressure. I don't pay any attention to the time it takes. I it's just my happy place where I can do something but not much.
Susy (05:07)
Well
the w we took closer to two months off, but that was fine because it's been wet since two thousand and sixteen. We haven't taken a any real con
Barbara (05:16)
we've been
yeah, we've been good. We've been really good and I think that we re we deserved a vacation and a a time to sort of like recharge and renew our commitment to the groom pod. And that's what I did. You know, I'm I'm here. I'm gonna start posting a selfie on my Instagram before we
broadcast because now that we're doing a live video for the groom pod, I have to fix my face before, you know, like I just can't let you see the whole real thing. It might
Susy (06:00)
Yeah.
Barbara (06:00)
freak out too much people. You know, like 86 years old is no joke. And so I have to like get pretty and look at more acceptable
And I might as well. Yeah, no, obviously
Susy (06:15)
Obviously not a priority for me. Sorry.
Barbara (06:19)
not a priority for Susie. Boy, you're gonna get to be my age and you're gonna say, man, I wasn't I was a fool not to follow Barbara's suggestions. Just a little moisturizer, Susie. Some sunscreen,
Susy (06:32)
Yeah.
Barbara (06:33)
Susie. Just you know, a little bit. I can give you a one
Susy (06:38)
I get it.
Barbara (06:38)
size, a one product does it all.
You don't have to use five products like I do, but you don't have to do the whole
Susy (06:46)
my gosh. I
Barbara (06:47)
Korean thing. Just a little moisturizer to keep the the skin plump.
Susy (06:55)
Well, I also
Barbara (06:55)
Mm-hmm.
Susy (06:57)
yes, I see you're you're no wrinkles. I have wrinkles. You have no wrinkles. I did too also refocus on things and I chewed on and thought about what we want to do for a refresher for the podcast and what direction we really want to go. Because just general grooming, I don't think it's focused enough for
long term for the long term, basically. So what we're kind of deciding to do is for me to get a little more science y and I'm all for that. I think that will be a good way to go. Barbara's I she's so excited. I know it's very exciting. I'm not
I'm not dumb, but I've never really focused a whole lot on that kind of stuff. So I'm going to have to refocus. So the transition will be gradual as I open myself up to more scientific topics within our grooming industry. Like for instance, today we're just gonna talk about value. But
Not really scientific, still an important subject for all of us. And the microplastics. Barbara's dug into that now for like two weeks, maybe three weeks. She's been really digging into that. So that should be interesting. But I thought this would give us a unique perspective. Different than the other podcasts out there. And give us
motivation to keep going and continue to have fun. And actually after the vacation I'm like, Well, even if we don't change anything, I'm just fine with coming back and doing what we do because it's pretty great.
Barbara (08:31)
fine with doing what we do, but I I I think our podcast would have more learning value if we focus it more a little a little bit more of our content on science science based information. you know and and we have covered
We've covered everything from birth to death in the shop.
Susy (09:04)
Literally.
Barbara (09:07)
You know, like twelve years we have covered just about everything twice. And that's not
Susy (09:15)
There's always new stuff.
Barbara (09:17)
but I wasn't ready for the third round of you know, like what do you do when? I'll let some other podcasts cover that.
And I, you know, like but I was just really happy to dive into the do we have to worry about microplastics in our shampoo question. And
Susy (09:42)
Yeah, that's perfect.
Barbara (09:43)
yeah, that's perfect, you know? And and that's just like right up my alley. And I think that that's that that's what's gonna more of that kind of stuff is gonna distinguish us.
from all the others because now we're not the only one anymore. You know, in
Susy (10:01)
No.
Barbara (10:01)
the beginning we were the only one. And then there were two of
Susy (10:05)
For many years.
Barbara (10:06)
us. And then, you know, three. And now there's, you know, there's more than we even know.
Susy (10:14)
And we love learning for free and giving out our knowledge for so that she can make some money on the side. But there's always Patreon and the donation button on our website. Those are all gonna continue to be active. I think
Barbara (10:29)
And then and I'm
gonna remind them that if you contribute on our website to Barbara Bird, I use it to buy products that I want to review for you from a science point of view. And I would love to do that and I I don't have a budget for that. So
Susy (10:51)
Sorry. Maybe next year. Yeah. The
Barbara (10:54)
Yeah, she keeps saying
and you know, like I have to buy that stuff out of my pocket and I got the the most ridiculous amount of social security income. Nobody could
Susy (11:08)
And
Barbara (11:09)
on my social security.
Susy (11:09)
Yeah, and not a constant
flow of other dogs to groom either. So anything that we can help Barbara with and she can go out and buy that she doesn't need, but we want to test, I think that's great. And then if you donate at Patreon, that literally goes to the nuts and bolts of this show, which I have been doing quite a bit behind the scenes on. So I've got this new editing program. We're trying it today. This is a big experiment. I'm not sure when this episode will actually come out, but if you're watching it, it's come out. So I must have
done all right, but it's
Barbara (11:40)
Ha ha ha.
Susy (11:42)
it's like I'm sixty-five. I'll be sixty five next month. No. When am I sixty five? In January. I don't know, I'm rushing. in January. No.
Barbara (11:50)
Don't go there before you have to, honey.
Susy (11:53)
And I and I you know I work a lot still and I like
to learn new stuff. It's part of what makes me me. And learning this new software is really exciting for me. It's video software editing and it uses AI to do some of the editing, take away some of my painful, long, many times over listening to the show. I love us, but I don't really need to listen to the show three times every week. That's a lot. It's a lot. I can
Barbara (12:24)
Amen belong.
Susy (12:26)
Yeah, so that this will help me with that. And but I still have to learn it. So there's gonna be some bumps in the road. I'm not gonna promise we'll get a show out every week. We're gonna try. But as I learn how this all works, it's gonna take me a little bit to do it to the ability where I feel like it's looking good. The other thing is that
I got new internet, so that's also cool. I got a new phone, that's cool.
And I
we're gonna just have so much fun being science-y.
Barbara (12:53)
Well I'd like you to get more than
one new thing at a time, Susie. It's you just
Susy (13:02)
I know.
Barbara (13:02)
you just had a breakthrough. Woo.
Susy (13:06)
I lost my mind there for a second. Actually, my phone,
my phone puked on me, and I was like, I have to do something because it drained the battery in two hours by not shutting itself off, not turning the screen off. I couldn't access stuff. It was really frustrating. So rest in peace, little S23. I now have an S26, which hasn't camera, and a little bit better water protection and interaction with your fingers. So it was worth the upgrade. And the internet problem was I tried
I tried to edit Barbara's webinar and for two days I tried to upload the video so I could do the editing and I got one percent uploaded and I thought something's really wrong with our internet.
Barbara (13:48)
And it was
only twenty slides. It wasn't like one of my ninety slide presentations. I'll never do that again. I promise. And it's still
Susy (13:58)
And it still wouldn't upload. I like your ninety slides because by the time
we get to the end, it's pretty funny. You're whipping through.
Barbara (14:05)
Well
Susy (14:07)
we don't need this one. We'll skip this one. this one's good. That's part of the fun. we will still occasionally talk about what's new in the grooming world because I have no intention of not grooming. And I had a thing happen yesterday. I christened
The van with a little blood, unfortunately. Yeah,
Barbara (14:31)
No.
Susy (14:33)
The dog licked the scissors edge. The dog.
Barbara (14:33)
Your tongue, the dog's tongue.
That's a lot of blood
Susy (14:41)
my
Barbara (14:40)
Wow.
Susy (14:41)
gosh.
Barbara (14:42)
Time cut.
Susy (14:43)
And you know, it never
happens on a dark colored dog.
Barbara (14:46)
I only had it happen
once or twice in my whole career and it was
Susy (14:54)
I'm
Barbara (14:54)
just the worst cuts ever. Did you have sugar on hand? No.
Susy (15:00)
no. I had I had
those licky sticks that you dip into the sugary powder but that has absorbic acid on it. I didn't really oughta put that particularly on the dog, but it was such a such a quick lick and such a superficial cut. But she was a pant, even with the air conditioning, and her tongue was flipping the blood all over
All over and all over her and on her head and all over her muzzle and it would stop. I'd hold her mouth a little bit closed, you know, let her open it a little bit so but she couldn't hang out her tongue and flap it around. And it it would stop and then I'd go to finish up cleaning and I'd turn around and it'd be bleeding again. So it took me about forty minutes to get that tiny cut on the top of that dog's tongue to stop bleeding. And it did, and according to the
people it did not restart. Thank goodness. But I didn't give her any treats. But I it was so awful and so fast. That tongue was out. Boom, she licked that scissor and nothing flat. Luckily I wasn't scissoring.
Barbara (16:08)
No
Susy (16:10)
I just had it set up there to I was gonna do a little on her like the lip hair. So I had it set up there and she just went and just tagged it It was awful.
Barbara (16:20)
just
it's just so hard to stop the bleeding of tongue things.
Susy (16:27)
Yeah.
And you feel so bad, but the dog never noticed. it was not a big deal to her. For me, I was so upset that I ended up cutting my own hand with the scissors while was trying to clean up a blood spot. I just my hand was just in the end. I tipped that and was stressful. But I am loving the van air conditioning. Air conditioning is fantastic. I don't really know what to wear because if the air conditioning is not on, then I'm in my shorts and a tank top.
And then the air conditioning comes on and I'm like, darn it, I'm really cold. It's blowing right on me. But then I turn it off and I get hot again. And so yeah, I'm still working that out. But it's fun. I like it. And actually, the van.
is what caused me to pick the topic that I chose today about perceived value because the value of my grooming, the perception of the value of my grooming has gone up considerably with the new van. And I've noticed it. And I can tell by people saying things and and I had a new client and yeah, it's so anyway, that's how I ended up on that topic. But anything else you want to talk about before we forge ahead?
Barbara (17:41)
No, I'll think of it a as you as you talk.
Susy (17:45)
I know one other thing I wanted to say. The steam. I can't remember if I told everybody, but steam cleaning the van. Yeah, I
Barbara (17:52)
The steam coming in? Yeah.
Susy (17:55)
I wrinkled my vinyl in one spot. So don't
Barbara (17:58)
You wrinkled
your vinyl in the hole.
Susy (18:00)
Yeah, so don't
and it was in a hidden spot because I was just testing, but I wanted to put it out there. It's great for hard surfaces and it's okay for cloth, but even heavy duty marine vinyl cannot take it with a pad over it and the whole thing. So I won't be doing that again.
Barbara (18:17)
No vinyl.
Susy (18:19)
No vinyl. That just an update. Anyway, rolling on. I think we should probably just head into our first subject. So yeah, ex we're gonna we're
Barbara (18:28)
Here, go. You go, girl.
Susy (18:34)
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And
Speaking of Groomar, they're really awesome and I'm so glad to have them and I think I'm gonna have to use the routing stuff a little bit better because the gas mileage in the van not great. And I can't really tell because it takes the generator, the gas goes from the generator, comes from the tank. Spit it out, Susie.
The generator draws its gas from the gas tank. So I can't tell what my gas mileage is. But it's September and I'm raising my prices anyway. But if you really want to help yourself route better, Groomar has you covered. All right, let's go to our first appointment.
How can we elevate the perceived value in your service? How do you transform your shop experience so that clients don't just pay your prices, but happily pay more? From team uniforms and shop aesthetics to the final haircut that takes your service from standard to luxury. Why is perception?
drive decision making in everybody. It's it's like human brains rely on visual shortcuts to evaluate quality long before they inspect technical details. This is from AI, by the way. Perception is reality to the consumer. A groomer can deliver technically flawless haircuts,
But if the client waited twenty minutes in a loud, dirty lobby with stale smells, their brain concludes the service was poor. And that's the perception.
The power of presentation. High-end packaging, matching uniforms, and curated lighting set an expectation of excellence. when the environment signals luxury, people naturally perceive their final work as higher quality.
Success in the service business comes down to aligning your presentation, i.e., the perception, with your actual craftsmanship or the reality. So clients fully recognize the value of your work. So, what is perceived value in service? This I got straight off of AI. Clients judge you on the total experience, not just one part. The first 10 seconds they decide what your service is worth the value or not, based on what they see, what
They smell and what they feel.
Today, feeling is absolutely huge. And if they come into your shop and they feel like it's chaotic, it's not clean, that there's a lot going on in the back that you can feel the stress of, well, they're not gonna perceive your value there. And that was what my grooming trailer was doing to me, because it just wasn't pretty anymore on the inside. And I'd pull up and I couldn't get the stains off the outside. And even if my tow vehicle looked clean, the trailer never looked
clean from the outside. So those first ten seconds when somebody looked at it, they were getting a bad impression.
Barbara (22:18)
So the outside of your van now
Does it say anything about certified master groomer?
Susy (22:30)
No, because it has Sharon's stuff on it. I'm not gonna rewrap it and I'm not gonna paint it. It's got her stuff on it, which is kind of funny. there's a lady
on the side in high heels and a short skirt grooming shih tzu. That's what's on the side. And on the back it says va va va groom and there's a picture of a doodle and border collie. That's that's what's on the band.
And I'm not spending, you know, five thousand dollars to have it painted.
Barbara (23:00)
Can't you on
a little peck on a little thing and or is it just gonna look tacky?
Susy (23:08)
In this case, what's the benefit for me? Now, if I was going to get more clients, if I was out recruiting new clients, then I would stick that on there. But everybody already knows that it's on my business cards. Now, certainly that's a good idea though. If you w want to get that image out there, a better image. I mean, for me, it's just a step up not to be in the dirty trailer.
Barbara (23:33)
I hear you.
if you're in a shop, for example, putting up certificates of participation and certainly certificates of accomplishment like
certified master groomer those are the big ones that should be like the first things they see in the shop I went to a one on ear care you know and got a little certificate for that that was up in the shop I just had several of those things on display and that
sets the tone for their interaction with you. So I really like to use for leverage for perceived value certificates of participation and certificates of achievement.
Susy (24:35)
So
are you thinking like where your cash register is, like behind you plaster your wall with all of your accolades?
Barbara (24:41)
like wherever you think they're gonna be looking. And and you know, it's kinda tricky if they're just coming walking in and dropping off the dog and turning around and they're you know, but the first time they come in they do kinda look around. That's where they're gonna pick up perceptions and you know, those visual perceptions
are very important as is the smell of the place.
Susy (25:18)
Yes, for sure. You don't really wanna have any smell, but if you're gonna have a smell, have it be a decorative smell and not dog smell. That's big.
Barbara (25:27)
I used essential oils rather religiously or consistently until my cat died at nine years old or I figured it was kinda early on. fragrance is something that we all
Identify perceived value. There are more sophisticated smells and less sophisticated smells and nasties.
Susy (26:01)
Also also that
waiting room area where people come in, take a little bit of time and keep it clean and decorate it a little bit so it feels like however you
Barbara (26:12)
Yeah.
Susy (26:13)
want to present, right? If you want to present yourself as a high-end spa, then make your waiting room scream high-end spa. You know, decorate it nicely with high-end furnishings and stuff like that. If you want to
G like go a Hawaiian shop, put all Hawaiian stuff in there and make it seem tropical. There's all kinds of different ways to go. But that theming has an impression on that person when they come in for that first time. And you've got the little seating area where you used to well you used to Yep.
Barbara (26:43)
Yeah, I you
know, and I used to sit out there. That was that was one of my working tactic is that the first time somebody came into the shop, I would exit from behind the counter.
and stand in front of the counter and then sit down to meet the dog. and there would be two chairs there, one for me and one for the customer and then the dog would usually start with sitting by his owner and within a couple of minutes switch over to sit
by me and just to check me out and I would let let that happen in a kind of a a passive way with which was real fine with the dog. Just let me sniff you without making a big fuss about it because I don't that might mean you're gonna do something to me.
Me stepping into the waiting area was a body language perceived value. That meant I would meet them on their terms. Do you know what I'm I'm saying?
Susy (28:05)
Absolutely.
Barbara (28:06)
just was perceived as my being an open communicator.
Susy (28:15)
Yes.
Barbara (28:16)
and that they mattered. when you're just like stuck behind the counter all the time that becomes a boundary that you know it's like a border crossing thing. And yeah, you
Susy (28:31)
Very much so. Absolutely.
Barbara (28:34)
know, like this is my side and that's your side and ha ha ha.
Ha
ha.
Susy (28:43)
sometimes if you're in a busier shop where you've got a lot of volume and people have to wait around for them to go back get the dog or wait for somebody to pay or wait for the groomer to come out, you might want to have like a little refreshment area.
Barbara (28:57)
I have a refreshment
area and it
was only employees would ever partake. well no, cookies and cupcakes and that kind of stuff. Homemade bakery, boy, those just got sucked up. And I for I always liked to have chocolates at my counter and I had
Susy (29:21)
Yes.
Barbara (29:23)
people that would just come in and
Before
they even said good morning, they'd grab a chocolate, you know.
Susy (29:30)
When I
go to the chiropractor, they have a little dish of mints and I always say, good, it's time for my treat when I'm done and I come and get two and she says, Take an extra one. I love that. That makes me feel like
They care a little bit more, I guess. Well, you can bribe me with candy
anytime. Yeah, so the vet hospital I worked at was very high end black lacquer furniture, tiled floors. Beautiful, beautiful place. They bought cookies and baked them off in the kitchen. And so the place smelled like baking cookies and there were always cookies out there. I don't think I'd want to do that in a grooming spot, but you could certainly put a water you know, one of those water what do you call it?
call it. I don't know. The water guy. You know the big guy, handsome guy, carries
Barbara (30:16)
Yeah.
Susy (30:16)
the water bottle in and sticks it in. You can have one of those. water cooler. Thank you, Susie. Where did that go? God, just
Barbara (30:22)
Thank you, you brain.
Susy (30:24)
Yes. So you can have a water cooler at at least, or maybe some coffee or something like that. But that's only if people are waiting around. For me and nobody's waiting for anything, I just go in and get the dog and bring him back out. But
I think that if you have a warm inviting space there, that it definitely boosts the perceived value of the the whole event. And then if you like go into the back where the groomers are grooming, uniforms. Uniforms and cohesive branding, I think is a really good way to elevate your status.
Barbara (30:59)
Yeah, and I didn't
used to believe in that, but I came to believe in that. I had a an assistant once and she was into it. You know, she would wear the scrubs that I would give her and we would
talk on the phone before I opened the shop about what the color of the day was. And we would wear jewelry, just little stuff. And that really made a difference. And the the person I had following that.
Not so good.
Susy (31:41)
Well that happens.
in the past, since I'm a one-man show, I have worn whatever tops I wanted to, you know, whatever scrub tops I liked or whatever grooming tops I had. And a few years ago I discovered a grooming manufacturer that had really nice pink and black tops.
And I bought five of them so that I'm always in the same look. Even though it's a different, you know, I've got enough to switch through for the week. I still have a professional look that is the same every time I show up. So I also have come around because I liked my individuality, but now I actually like the uniform because people know that's what I wear. And I think it just presents a little more perceived value. And I have a good logo. We have a good logo for the podcast.
Our logo's great. I love it.
Barbara (32:33)
Yeah.
Susy (32:34)
I don't, yeah, I'm really happy with it. I have a logo for my business as well. I don't get to use it very much. But if you do marketing, marketing pamphlets or anything or any of that stuff, you can set that out in the waiting room with your branding on it. You could also get them to embroider shirts with your branding on it. But all of that, once again, raising the level. Anytime you can.
Do something at the I I don't know, I think they call them like moments of service or touch points or something like that where you're interacting. I think it's a really good spot. And intake when you're taking in the dog, that's a great spot to really elevate yourself. Do a professional assessment every time. Go out, ask questions, verify services, use use your forms if you have them. Make sure people are comfortable. Make them feel warm and friendly because you're warm and friendly. And I think that
that helps a lot. And the overall vision.
Barbara (33:30)
Yeah.
And as you groom
more than the first time, it's really helpful if you ask your clients, so how did how did the grooming work out for you for your life last time? You know, that gives them permission to say, you know, I
I I really need to ask you to shorten his ears 'cause he gets it in his food. And I like the long ears, but it's just really so messy. So you know, like some people wish you would do something different on their dog, but they're inhibited. They're afraid that you're not gonna like and then you might be
not so nice to their dog or something, you know? So you know, like you need to give people permission to critique your work. You need to not
Susy (34:37)
Absolutely.
Barbara (34:38)
be thin skinned about that. And that was huge for me because I I I don't take criticism very well.
And yeah, you know, I I well
Susy (34:51)
It's a skill.
Barbara (34:53)
I'm doing better sixty-five years later. Well no eighty-five years later, sixty-five. I just
Susy (34:58)
Yeah.
Barbara (35:00)
shave twenty years off my life. Right.
Susy (35:04)
Yep, cut it right out. Whew, yes.
Barbara (35:08)
Well, yeah, it took
Susy (35:10)
I think that
Barbara (35:10)
about sixty-five years for me to kind of like get in a better place about that, but
you know, you you just don't know what you don't know and and a perceived openness to communicating about the the groom. Sometimes if you've been grooming something for a couple of years, you don't need to go into a whole lot of detail, because then they will they have the trust in you that
you like them and you like their dog and you know they they're not
Susy (35:56)
Yes.
Barbara (35:56)
afraid to bring something up. But a lot of people don't like to create conflict. And and I you
Susy (36:04)
I agree. That's me.
Barbara (36:06)
know like I
Susy (36:09)
I avoid it like the plague.
Barbara (36:11)
me too. And I
I'm just not I'm not comfortable with it, but I just was able to approach my customer relations that not everything that was a difference of opinion was conflict. Just call
Susy (36:34)
Right.
Barbara (36:34)
it something else, you know, working working
Susy (36:37)
I also
Barbara (36:38)
relate working on our relationship.
Yeah.
Susy (36:42)
I think sharing upgrades with your clients, like for instance, when I went when Groom Moore started supporting the show and I started to use that kind of software where they get a message from that looks like from a doctor's office, you know, but it's me. And then you can use it to get to be clear about pickup times because it's recorded on the phone. You can communicate a shave down that wasn't expected. If you do that communication, that's a perceived value increase because oftentimes they leave their
dog and go away and then don't hear back until the dog is finished. But a little bit of communication there brings up the value. And I think that another important spot where you have an opportunity to raise the value is at the handoff when the dog goes home. And if you're clear about pickup time and procedure and it and it's always the same, people get familiar with that, then I always like to
reveal a kind of a little tidbit about the grooming, you know, say, Scruffy did not want to have her nails done, but we got through it or something like that. Tell little story
Barbara (37:48)
Yeah.
Susy (37:48)
about the grooming. That endears you to them and it and it's better, I think. I like to do that. And I know you did that.
Barbara (37:55)
Yeah, that that's true.
Susy (37:57)
yep. And I like to use accessories. I think they're fun. So right now I have I hate to say it.
I bought bows on Amazon instead of from my individual bow people because I was in a hurry and I needed to get them right away. I got the cutest bow ties that are really stiff and well put together and well sewn, and they have sea creatures on them. They're all sea creatures. I love it for the Northwest seafare, boating, and all that. It's very cool. So I'm using these. I also have little tidy little flower bows, and then I've got bandanas, and then I use scent.
And and I do all of these things to help increase the value of the groom. And maybe though people don't want all that stuff on there, but the dog knows when you put it on. The dog knows that means that's the end of the groom. So it's a multifaceted little thing that I do. But I I always do that. And make sure to ask if everything looks okay before you send the dog home. I think that's helpful.
Because it sa yep, saves having to do something in the end. And one last thing, rebook their pet. Rebook the pet. Yeah. And I always tell people, you know, it's a lot easier for me to cancel an appointment than it is for me to find an appointment at the last minute when you've forgotten to make the appointment. also with my first visit with someone, I will call the next day.
And when I'm sending the dog home the day I groomed it, I say, normally I will book your next appointment at the time of your service. But the first time I don't do that because I'm not good with rejection. So that way you don't have to call and cancel, but do remember to call a couple weeks before you're ready for your next groom. And people laugh at that. And it's true, I'm not good with rejection. I don't do well with rejection. So this way they don't have to cancel that first appointment. And then sometimes I get the people that say,
just book it. We're coming back, don't you worry. And that works okay too. But it it works out that I always have a book appointment on the books for them and it makes it easier for them to keep on schedule. And once again, perceived value. A little bit extra I do. All right. I think that covers it. Can you think of anything else we might want to mention? I did. I
Barbara (40:18)
I think we beat that horse to death.
Susy (40:21)
smacked it. See? Too much enthusiasm. I did remember one thing social media.
It's fun to show their dogs on social media. I don't know if there's legalities involved with that. I don't know how that all works. But
Barbara (40:35)
Good to ask permission.
Susy (40:37)
Yeah, okay. So you ask permission. But I was thinking.
It would be really cool to have a photo spot because everybody's so Instagrammable these days. If you have a little photo spot in the front of your shop that has your logo where people can just go up and take a picture of their dog when they're freshly groomed and you can encourage and suggest it. I think that would be really fun. So I just thought I'd throw that up. Yeah. All right. Well, let's
Barbara (40:57)
That's cool. That's a cool idea. I like
Susy (41:01)
take a break. And we're gonna hear from show season and then we'll be back with this very interesting topic about microplastics.
we had a question on microplastics on our discussion group, Facebook.com slash group slash the groom pod, where you can ask any and all questions of Barbara and I. And I monitor it very closely, and then I tap Barbara on the corner and say, hey, there's something you need to go look at, and she'll come and look at it. This time it was microplastics. So here you go, Barbara.
Barbara (42:17)
Well, you know, I think microplastics and our products are an interesting question because the tendency on the internet is to
label ingredients with these broad swaths of things like so for for microplastics in in reality are actual pieces
teeny weeny pieces of plastic in a solution that doesn't biodegrade, that carries on
Susy (42:59)
Yikes.
Barbara (43:00)
and carries on and finds its way into the ocean, and then the fish eat it and we eat the fish. So we're eating plastics. plastic is a huge
concern for environmentalists and people that love the planet. Personally, my first reaction to the question about microplastics was how about the macro plastic of the jugs and bottles we send to the landfill? I think
The grooming industry does more damage with the macroplastics than we might with the microplastics. So I'm going to say that, but that doesn't mean that microplastics aren't worth looking at. And I want to correct a misperception that I gathered in the conversation that addressed this question on.
our discussion group on Facebook because people are generalizing from certain polymers to all polymer ingredients are bad and nasty and environmentally hazardous. And that's certainly not so not true. it's like
Labradors are dogs, but not all dogs are labradors.
Susy (44:46)
Right.
Barbara (44:47)
So what that generalization assumes is that all polymers are environmentally unsound, and that's not so. There has to be certain molecular characteristics that make a polymer a plastic.
And
In years gone by, like in the seventies and the eighties, we had shampoos that w had microplastic beads in them. Are you hear
Susy (45:27)
I remember those.
Barbara (45:28)
are you hearing my dog? Marco,
Susy (45:30)
Yeah, not anymore though. There we go.
There we go. Visual aids. That's another thing we're going to get better with is using visuals because
I completely forget everybody's watching us. So this is good.
Barbara (45:43)
So we there were true microbeads in shampoos. I know I had an apricot scrub and in the beginning there was like apricot kernel bits in
Susy (46:01)
Grit.
Barbara (46:02)
it, grit in it, and that was considered an exfoliant and then they changed it
And they had microplastic beads, so each they were very uniform. You could see them in the bottle. They look kind of cool. You could shake the bottle and then they'd settle down.
Susy (46:19)
It was like tiny boba tea.
Barbara (46:21)
they were fun. And they
they provided a certain amount of exfoliation without being rough. They a the actual apricot pieces were a little bit harsh on the skin. But the microbeads were very symmetrical and surface was very smooth. So they just did a a smooth sort of exfoliation. But those micro beads
didn't biodegrade and got passed on into the ocean and presented a hazard for fish life and marine life, and were ultimately banned from cosmetics by most countries. by 2018. By 2018 that fad was dead, gone in the trash bin.
And although you know there is no real policing of pet grooming products, you know, they don't s they
Susy (47:24)
Of course not.
Barbara (47:25)
just there just isn't money enough for the government to send around ingredient police to all the little grooming studios in the world. So so we get by with shit. But the
Everybody seemed to take heed of that, and you just don't see those microbeads anymore. That was the original concern about microplastics in cosmetics were those beads. But even though we don't have beads, the concern keeps growing because the concern about the planet keeps growing. And I'm
I'm actually happy to see it growing, but I don't like perfectly good ingredients that just happen to be synthesized, you know, of a synthetic origin rather than grew naturally in a plant. I don't want to see if we did everything had to come from a plant.
We don't have enough acreage on the freaking planet to grow that many plants. We have to have some synthetic substitutes. And many of our polymeric polymer just means
More polymers, more monomers. A monomer monomer is a solo molecule. Just I call them solo soldiers.
A polymer is in is a substance that is constituted of two or more
Monomers hooked up to form a polymer. And one of the first ingredients that I wondered about was one that has increased in usage in the pet grooming industry products called acrylates copolymer. That sort of sounds plastic.
Susy (49:50)
It sure does.
Barbara (49:52)
But acrylics copolymer, what it is, it's a synthetic polymer made from acrylic acid esters. It's commonly used as a film former, a thickener, a suspending agent. You know, like when they put charcoal in the shampoo, how do they keep the charcoal pieces?
suspended in the solution and keep them from like just or the oatmeal keep it from just like falling to the bottom. They have something called as a suspending agent and acrylics copolymer is one of those. It's also used as a a deposition aid, a way to deposit ingredients to
the hair and scalp or hair and skin and a viscosity stabilizer. That's thickness stabilizer. It keeps it at the same level. So those are all good features,
and the the truth of it is some acrylics copolymer acrylics copolymer is not a specific one thing. It's a group, just like
Sulfates is a group of
ingredients. Acrylics, copolymer are several or even many different ingredients that are in that classification. So
So the truth is the actual chemistry or the molecular composition of the acrylics copolymer makes a difference because many of the them are totally dissolved in the fluids. When they're totally dissolved in a liquid, it's not going to present a problem. If it's totally dissolved and it
Is biodegradable over time or it degrades, it breaks down over time. Like silicones are not biodegradable, but they do break down over time, except for the cyclic or cyclic. What is that? How do I pronounce it? Cyclic.
Susy (52:39)
Pronounce
it cyclic.
Barbara (52:40)
Yeah, the the
So the acrylics copolymer, there's very few of them in as that are actually found in dog shampoos. and the reason that that there is a trend towards a greater usage of acrylics copolymer is that formulators are trying to replace other
Quaternary conditioners and heavier oils and really looking for lighter polymers that give slip, shine, easier combing, reduced static, faster drying and less buildup. They're looking some of the the polymers are actually co-polymers that replace silicones. I remain
A friend of silicones, although the cyclomethicone
Susy (53:43)
Yay! I'm waving the flag.
Barbara (53:46)
is how you identify the cyclic silicones that are the cyclic silicones.
travel across the globe.
Cyclomethicones evaporate. Sure. Thank you, my brain.
Susy (54:03)
Ha.
Yay!
Barbara (54:08)
Brain, be word brain. Came through again in the clinch. Okay, so they evaporate into the air and they move around the globe in the air and they don't break down.
So we we found them in the North Pole. They can be found in the snow in the North Pole because they're in the air and then it snows and the air turns to snow and it's deposited in an iceberg.
Susy (54:45)
the
real issue the bioavailability of it like in our in ourselves? No, bioavailability.
Barbara (54:51)
The biodegradability? The biodegradable
Susy (54:56)
Like that shows up in our when they test us.
And find microplastics in us.
Barbara (55:02)
Well
yeah yeah, that is the ultimate problem is that things that don't
The biodegradable
Things
Substances, biodegradable
Susy (55:17)
Stuff and things.
Barbara (55:19)
substances, are food sources for other biology, like
you know, stuff in the in the environment, molds and bacteria and yummy things like that, will devour, will biodegrade.
Most of the stuff that we put into the landfill, paper bags ultimately get eaten by the biology. They just like disappear pretty much. And you know, well, this other stuff does end up showing up in kidneys, liver, lungs.
Susy (56:09)
Yeah.
Barbara (56:12)
it's bad. It's bad. and it just will find its way back to you. So it it's a good thing to be alert and ecology focused,
So here's another thing. they break down all of the suspicious substances into several groups. A red group that's true plastics that shed pieces. And that and you and do you know what the worst offender of that is? Clothing. Our clothing.
Polyester. Polyester
Susy (56:57)
Ooh.
Barbara (56:58)
sheds plastic into the environment and it ends up in the ocean contaminating the fish. And you know, this is why a lot of people won't eat seafood, because they think it's all contaminated.
Susy (57:17)
If you burn
the polyester, does it the microplastics then go up into the air and land somewhere else or do they burn up? I wonder. I'm
Barbara (57:24)
I
I I'll let you ask AI that I I didn't
Susy (57:29)
Okay.
Barbara (57:32)
I didn't ask that question. I I did ask because I was somewhat dismayed to see PEG ingredients called nasties. See that's
They it's not exactly a plastic, it's just in the orange group, which is like other bad shit.
so I've had a chat with my AI about the PEG. PEG stands for polyethylene glycol. And the truth is most PEG ingredients like PEG 40 lanolin, they totally dissolve. And so they're not a real
problem with with the environment. but the big the big problem with the microplastics is really fibers. Fibers that happen from washing machines, scrubbing the clothing. It gets into the water, fibers, it's your your fabrics, synthetic fabrics.
shed plastics in the water of the washing machine and it flows right to the old sewage system
Susy (59:03)
Into nature.
Barbara (59:05)
back into the ocean down the you know like most of the microplastics come from the coastline where the water drifts down into the ocean.
That's where most of them was fine. Beaches have a terrible time in some parts of the country with just plastic debris that comes right from the streams.
Susy (59:34)
So do you want to know the answer?
Barbara (59:36)
Yes, what is it?
Susy (59:38)
Burning polyester does not just release microplastics, it chemically breaks down plastic entirely, transforming the material into toxic smoke, hazardous gas, fine particulate matter, and ash. So not a solution by any means.
Barbara (59:56)
I am not going to go back to clothing that I have to iron every fucking thing. You know, my mother used
Susy (1:00:04)
Hmm, I don't even have an iron.
Barbara (1:00:06)
to iron our napkins. She used to iron my father's shorts. You know, she used to iron everything. She ironed it while she watched TV.
So it was okay with her because she got the entertainment and she just ironed away every night. She
Susy (1:00:26)
Ha ha
Barbara (1:00:27)
was standing there behind the iron. I'm sorry, I have lost my iron. I am not buying clothing that I need to iron. I am not going to buy. I I love cotton and everything, but I'd just as soon have a cotton blend.
has a little polyester in it, but y you know, like but back to grooming.
Susy (1:00:51)
Yes, sorry. I took a right.
Barbara (1:00:53)
Hey, I I I just
did want to assure you that a PEG
Ingredients are not
They're not bad. They're not, they're they're just associated nasties that and and I, you know, like the fact that the activist group uses the term nasties suggest that they're just picking up ingredients that are
labeled bad by other people and using them and adding them to their things they don't like and it whether it's really plastic or not. So and silicone is n not plastic. It's not it's not even vaguely related to plastic because
It's from its mate. So all silicones are derived from silicon.
Which is a of the earth and
Oxygen Si plus O. All kinds of different arrangements of Si, silicone plus oxygen molecules, and they can be polymeric and
it's the cyclomethicones that we need to worry about. Yes, Susie.
Susy (1:02:39)
Do the plastic bottles that we keep our shampoos in slough off microplastics and then we're we're exposed to that way?
Barbara (1:02:49)
I don't
Susy (1:02:50)
Okay.
Barbara (1:02:55)
I worry about plastic jugs and bottles going to the landfill. I
Susy (1:03:06)
Me too.
Barbara (1:03:07)
I worry about water bottles and I have and
I have to
Susy (1:03:10)
That's what I worry about most. Why? Why?
Barbara (1:03:13)
use water bottles but
These are water bottles that I've been using for three months now and refilling and putting them in my refrigerator because that tells me how much water I drank. You know, yeah, you have your water thing. and and
Susy (1:03:33)
Yep. well, it's an interesting topic at any rate.
Barbara (1:03:38)
you know, it is an interesting topic and it is a it is an important topic. And I
Susy (1:03:44)
And very
sciencey.
Barbara (1:03:47)
I think you Yes,
you're on board the science train.
Susy (1:03:51)
I'm gonna
I'm making my way over there. I'm like on the platform, waiting for the train to come in.
Barbara (1:03:56)
Yeah,
I love it. I love it.
Susy (1:03:59)
Good.
Barbara (1:04:00)
Please stay on board the train.
Susy (1:04:03)
I'm on the train.
Barbara (1:04:07)
I'll work up a little something to post I'm sure that this is not gonna calm down the person that was so worried about
but don't believe everything you read on the internet. It the whole business about microplastics is way more nuanced than we have been led to believe. It's not it it's not
Susy (1:04:32)
All right. That sounds normal.
Barbara (1:04:35)
so easy to identify exactly what's plastic and what can slide.
Susy (1:04:44)
Good enough. Okay, thank you for being here, everyone. We really appreciate you sharing your day with us. And I hope that getting more sciencey turns you guys on as much as it does Barbara and I. And
As soon as I get this edited, we'll record another show. So if you've got any ideas for topics, go to the discussion group and leave us a note there. Remember to support our sponsors. Thanks to everyone who donates and to everyone on Patreon. And happy grooming, everybody. See you next week on the groom pod. Bye.
Barbara (1:05:15)
Bye now, take care of yourselves 'cause we love ya.