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Quick answer: Because the person who would answer is usually the groomer, with both hands on a dog. Callers rarely wait: in a 2025 CallRail survey, only 42% of US consumers said they leave a voicemail, and 21% call another business straight away. Regulars rebook at pickup, but first-timers call around. Keep online booking, and make sure every call is answered and booked, including after hours.
A groomer is halfway through a doodle that hasn't seen a brush in two months. One hand keeps the dog steady on the table, the other works a dematting comb through a hip the dog would rather not give up. Clippers are running, there's water on the floor, and a second dog is drying in a kennel across the room. Then the phone starts ringing up front.
Nobody is going to get it. You can't step away from a dog on a raised table, and there's no one else in the building. So the call rings out, a first-time client hunting for a Saturday slot hears voicemail, and by the time that doodle is fluffed and bandana'd, the caller has already booked down the road.
People are spending more on their animals every year. U.S. pet spending hit about $152 billion in 2024 and roughly $158 billion in 2025, according to the American Pet Products Association, which expects the number to keep climbing in 2026. Grooming is riding that wave. Mordor Intelligence expects the U.S. pet grooming services market to grow from about $2.19 billion in 2025 to $3.23 billion by 2031, and The Business Research Company forecasts global grooming services growing about 7.8% a year through 2030, with vets increasingly recommending routine grooming as preventive care.
A lot of that comes down to how people see their pets now. Both reports point to "pet humanization": owners treating their dog or cat as part of the family and spending accordingly. APPA counts 71 million U.S. households with a dog in 2025, or 53% of households, up from 51% in 2024. That's good news if you run a grooming business. The catch is that more dogs and more demand mean more phone calls, and at most shops the person who would answer the phone is the same person standing at the table with clippers in hand.
Grooming is hands-on in a way that doesn't pause. A dog is restrained on a raised table with a grooming loop around its neck, and leaving it unattended to grab a ringing phone isn't an option. Most shops are also small. A solo groomer or a two-person team can't peel someone off the floor to staff a desk, a reality spelled out plainly in this rundown of the hidden challenges of running a grooming business and echoed across operations guides like this one from Picktime. Wet hands, soapy hands, hands holding a 40-pound dog still. None of them can pick up.
So the calls pile into voicemail, and the numbers on what happens next are not kind. Roughly 62% of calls to small businesses went unanswered in one widely cited 2016 study by 411 Locals. When a call does go to voicemail, many people won't leave a message: in a 2025 CallRail survey of 1,000 US consumers, only 42% said they leave a voicemail when a business doesn't answer. For a groomer, every one of those is a dog that won't be on your table next week.
Your regulars are mostly fine. They rebook at pickup, or they text you, or they know to try again later because they trust you with their dog. New clients behave nothing like that. A first-timer calling around is comparing you to three other shops in the same afternoon, and the one that picks up has the best shot at the booking. Many callers won't wait around: in the same CallRail survey, 21% said they immediately call another business when one doesn't answer.
A lot of owners assume a full voicemail box means the message gets returned eventually. From the caller's side it's the opposite. A voicemail greeting often reads as "we're busy, try someone else," and the next shop is one tap away. (More on why callers won't leave a voicemail.) Leaving the call to ring out doesn't preserve the lead. It hands it over.
Plenty of grooming businesses have added online booking, and they should. In GetApp's 2021 survey of 217 US consumers who had booked a service appointment, nearly 70% said they'd choose to book online if several options were available, and 94% said they'd be more likely to choose a new provider that offered online booking. A booking page that runs day and night catches the easy reservations you'd otherwise miss.
It just doesn't catch everyone. In that same GetApp survey, 22% still said they would choose to book by phone, and in a 2019 BrightLocal survey of 500 US consumers, 60% said they prefer to contact a local business by phone. Grooming generates a lot of questions before a first appointment. Can you handle a matted senior dog. Do you do a breed-standard cut on a cocker. What does a full groom run for a 70-pound golden versus a shih tzu. Is my reactive rescue going to be okay. New puppy owners often want to talk to a person before they hand over the dog. A booking widget can't answer any of that. A conversation can. Our guide to whether you still need to answer the phone with online booking covers the same gap for salons.
The flip side of missing inbound calls is the slot that quietly goes empty. No-shows and late cancellations hit grooming hard because appointments are long and the day is built in blocks, a problem laid out well in this guide on reducing no-shows and cancellations and in DaySmart's grooming scheduling resources. When a two-hour slot evaporates at 9 a.m., that's two hours you don't get back unless you can fill them fast.
The standard fixes work: confirmation reminders, a clear cancellation policy, a small deposit to make the booking feel real, and a waitlist you can pull from. These proven ways to reduce no-shows work for grooming too. The trouble is that working the waitlist means calling people, and you're at the table, not at the phone. The opening sits there because the one person who could fill it has both hands on a dog.
This is the specific gap an AI phone receptionist is built for. It answers every call whether you're mid-groom, mid-bath, or closed for the night, and it talks like a person rather than a phone tree. It can book the appointment, quote your prices by size and coat type, answer the common questions about matting, breed cuts and what to bring from your own information, and take a deposit, all without pulling you away from the dog in front of you.
It also covers the after-hours and weekend calls that voicemail usually swallows, and it speaks several languages for the clients your front desk might otherwise turn away. When a cancellation opens a slot, it can text clients on your waitlist. That's the idea behind CallPad, and it works for mobile groomers too: keep the phone answered so the schedule stays full, without asking a groomer to be in two places at once.
None of this replaces the part of the job that matters, which is the grooming itself. It just stops the first impression from happening on a voicemail greeting. A dog on the table is the reason you can't pick up the phone. It shouldn't also be the reason you lose the next client who calls.
CallPad is an AI receptionist for appointment-based businesses, from salons and spas to grooming shops. It answers every call 24/7 without adding staff hours, handles several calls at once and screens out spam calls. It answers questions from your own information, including your prices, and speaks several languages. It books, moves and cancels appointments in real time on supported booking systems, including multi-service bookings, and can take a deposit or payment on the call, sell a gift card, and suggest add-ons such as a nail trim or teeth brushing while it books. If you have more than one location, it asks which one the caller wants and books into that location's calendar. It also replies to texts and can book by text, sends missed-call text-backs, and texts clients on your waitlist when a slot opens up. When a caller needs a person, it can transfer the call or take a message.
Setup takes about 10 minutes, and you keep your existing number by forwarding it. CallPad also answers WhatsApp and email, and on WhatsApp it does everything the voice receptionist does, including booking, rescheduling and live transfer. Instagram, Messenger and TikTok are coming soon. Every plan includes all minutes at a flat rate, starting at US$150 a month in the US, £100 in the UK, A$200 in Australia and C$190 in Canada, plus rescheduling, reminders and reporting.
It books in real time with general booking tools many groomers use, including Square Appointments, Acuity Scheduling, Setmore, Zoho Bookings, Google Calendar and Outlook, as well as systems like Mindbody and Booker. If you use MoeGo, Gingr or DaySmart Pet, there's no CallPad MoeGo, Gingr or DaySmart Pet integration yet; contact us and join the waitlist. See all the booking systems CallPad works with.
Related: AI receptionist for pet groomers.
Groomers are hands-on with a pet on the table and can't safely stop to answer, so calls go to voicemail at busy times, often with no one else in the shop.
Many don't. In CallRail's 2025 survey of 1,000 US consumers, only 42% said they leave a voicemail when a business doesn't answer, and 21% said they call another business straight away.
It helps, but new clients often have questions about breed, coat, matting or temperament first, and those calls need an answer.
Use an AI receptionist. CallPad answers every call 24/7, answers questions from your own information and books, moves and cancels appointments in real time on supported booking systems.
Yes. When a slot opens up, CallPad can text clients on your waitlist, and it can take a deposit on the call to make bookings stick.
CallPad starts at US$150 a month in the US, £100 in the UK, A$200 in Australia and C$190 in Canada. It's a flat rate with all minutes included, so a busy month doesn't change your bill.
Want every grooming call answered and booked, even with both hands on a dog? Contact CallPad to hear how it would answer your shop's calls and get set up in about 10 minutes.
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