How Woofie's of Space Coast Built a Mobile Pet Grooming Business on Organic Google Leads
Glenn Ferron, Franchise owner ·Woofie's of Space Coast · Merritt Island, FL
Built Local Podcast with Clay Lawrence · · 37 min episode
The short version
Glenn Ferron spent 14 years as a director of learning and development in the veterinary industry before opening Woofie's of Space Coast, a mobile pet grooming, dog walking and pet sitting franchise in Florida. He picked the franchise with a coach, spent more than three months building local relationships before opening, and now gets most of his customers from organic Google searches, Facebook and community pet events. The business had 95 Google reviews when he added Review Harvest.
What other owners can take from Woofie's of Space Coast
- 1
Choose a franchise by your values and how you want to spend your time, not just the numbers. Glenn worked with a coach for about three months before picking Woofie's.
- 2
Start marketing before you open. He spent more than three months shaking hands and rekindling friendships so people were already talking about the business on day one.
- 3
Take the service to where pet owners gather. A pop-up with the grooming van at a pet event lets people meet the team that will care for their animals.
- 4
Offer to be the backup. When someone already trusts a neighbor or relative to pet sit, book a consultation anyway so they can call you when that person is unavailable.
- 5
Have someone watch neighborhood Facebook groups for people asking for a pet sitter, and answer every one.
- 6
Give field staff a back office so groomers and sitters can focus on the pet while someone else handles schedule changes and client messages.
- 7
Treat a four-star review as an action item: reply, tag the client in your CRM, and fix the rub on the next visit.
Who is Glenn Ferron, and what is Woofie’s of Space Coast?
Glenn Ferron owns Woofie’s of Space Coast, a franchise on Florida’s Space Coast that offers mobile pet grooming, dog walking and pet sitting. He has lived in the area for close to 38 years and spent his career in leadership and learning and development, the last 14 years of it as a director of learning and development in the veterinary industry.
A couple of years before the interview he found himself displaced from that job and began looking at entrepreneurship. Woofie’s, he explained, started in 2004 as a dog walking company and later added mobile grooming so it could offer everything except veterinary medicine. The model now runs in more than 60 franchises. His was number 25 or 26.
Averaged over a year, about 65% of his business is mobile grooming. Pet sitting peaks around May, July, November and December.
Franchise or start from scratch: how did he decide?
He let a coach walk him through it. Glenn spent about three months with a franchise coach who dug into what he was passionate about, his values and what he stood for, then matched that against his experience. They landed on four franchises. He looked hard at another one, but the model would not fit his area.
Woofie’s kept “shining above the others” because its vision lined up with his, and a large part of that was giving back to his community. His advice to someone comparing options is to think about how you want to spend your time and weigh doing it yourself against using a system someone else has already built.
What did the first months of the franchise look like?
They started before the doors opened. As part of his agreement, Woofie’s helped with PR, including press releases for the grand opening and ribbon cutting. Glenn was out “beating the streets” right after he signed, and he counts a strong three-plus months of laying the foundation before opening.
Most of that was relationships. “People have to like you,” he said. He shook hands, rekindled friendships and got people on his side, so that when someone in town asked for a groomer or a sitter, friends were already recommending him.
What do people get wrong about mobile grooming?
Two things. The first is that a dog will be lonely without other dogs around. In a salon, pets are dropped off for hours and moved through together. In a Woofie’s van it is one pet and one groomer, which Glenn says is a much better environment for many animals.
The second is that grooming is easy. Groomers handle behavior, coats that need work between visits (he gave doodles as the example), and dogs that pick up their owner’s tension about nail trims. If a pet gets upset partway through, the groomer slows down, because the goal is a dog that is more confident next time. That is why the company gives a 90-minute arrival window.
There is a convenience side too. After the first groom the owner does not have to be home. Everyone on his team is licensed, bonded and insured, since they are already in homes across the county as pet sitters.
Where do Woofie’s of Space Coast’s customers come from?
Mostly the internet, and mostly without paying for it. “Everything is Google,” Glenn said. A good percentage of his business comes from organic searches, and he has not done much Google advertising. He also has someone monitoring Facebook constantly: replying to people who respond to posts, reels and ads, and scanning neighborhood groups for anyone asking for a pet sitter.
Events are the other channel. He brings the grooming van to pet events, including one in support of a boxer rescue, so people can meet the team, and gives out samples from a pet food partner.
At a two-hour Halloween pet costume event he sponsored, two people told him they were wary of letting a pet sitter into their home. His answer was the one he always gives: keep the person you trust, and let Woofie’s be the backup. Book a consultation now, so there is a whole team to call when that one person cannot make it.
What keeps customers, he said, is the level of service. Groomers and sitters have a back office team that handles schedule changes and client messages so they can stay focused on the pet. A pet sitting consultation covers the animal’s routine and the house itself: blinds, lights, plants, packages and trash. “You’re not going to clean the client’s home, but leave it better than you found it.”
How does he handle reviews and feedback?
He asks everywhere and acts on what comes back. Staff ask in person, the request is printed on invoices, and it goes out through Constant Contact, which is how the business reached 95 Google reviews before he added Review Harvest.
When a review is less than five stars, his rule is to own it. Even a four-star makes him ask what happened. He responds, tags the client in his CRM with where the rub was, and makes sure the correction is made on the next visit. “It’s just a way to keep us sharp.”
Where does he think pet care is headed?
Up, but more slowly. Glenn said more pets live in homes than ever and that COVID accelerated it, but pet care has become more expensive and tight budgets force hard decisions. He expects the number of pets to dip more than the number of people who have one.
He is staying in the industry for the reason he has always been in it: “Pets make families stronger.”
In Glenn's words
“There are plenty to go around. What you have to do is shine above the rest.”
“People have to like you, and it's really getting out there and shaking hands and reigniting friendships.”
“You're not going to clean the client's home, but leave it better than you found it.”
“Pets make families stronger. And when you have stronger families, you have stronger neighborhoods as a result and stronger communities.”
Review Harvest Client
What Woofie's of Space Coast says about Review Harvest
Glenn says Woofie's of Space Coast had 95 Google reviews when it started with Review Harvest, earned by asking in person, on invoices and through Constant Contact. A little over a month in, he called the jump fantastic and had noticed a customer apologizing in a review for not saying something sooner. He treats anything under five stars as an action item for the team, and says the customer experience he got from Review Harvest matches the one he aims for at Woofie's.
“I think the system that you're using is working, because it's right there and it's easy to capture. They could be anywhere.”
Glenn Ferron on working with Review Harvest: “How This Pet Groomer Business Added 56 Google Reviews in 30 Days”
Questions this episode answers
Should you buy a franchise or start your own business?
Glenn Ferron, who owns Woofie's of Space Coast, says the answer depends on how you want to spend your time and whether you would rather build a system or use one that already exists. He worked with a franchise coach for about three months, narrowed the field to four franchises, and chose Woofie's because its vision matched his own values, especially giving back to the community. He also notes the franchise helped with early marketing such as press releases for the grand opening and ribbon cutting.
Why do pet owners choose mobile grooming over a salon?
According to Glenn Ferron of Woofie's of Space Coast, mobile grooming is one pet and one groomer in a van at the customer's home, which is a calmer setting for many dogs than a busy salon. It also saves the owner a day of dropping off and picking up. After the first groom the owner does not have to be home, because his team is licensed, bonded and insured and already works in clients' homes as pet sitters.
What are the biggest misconceptions about mobile dog grooming?
Glenn Ferron hears two often. One is that a dog will be lonely without other dogs around, when many pets do better one-on-one. The other is that grooming is just washing and clipping. Groomers deal with behavior and with coats that need care between visits, such as doodles, and Woofie's of Space Coast gives a 90-minute arrival window because each pet takes a different amount of time.
How does Woofie's of Space Coast get customers?
Glenn Ferron says a good percentage of the business comes from organic Google searches, and that he has not done much Google advertising. Someone on his team monitors Facebook constantly, including neighborhood groups where people ask for a pet sitter. The rest comes from community events, where he brings the mobile grooming van, hands out samples from a partner brand, and lets pet owners meet the team.
How does Woofie's of Space Coast ask for Google reviews?
Before Review Harvest, Woofie's of Space Coast reached 95 Google reviews by having staff ask in person, printing the request on invoices and asking through Constant Contact. Glenn Ferron then added Review Harvest, which he says works because the request is right there and easy to act on wherever the customer is, and he calls the jump in reviews fantastic. His advice is to own any review under five stars and treat it as something the team can solve.
Is the pet care industry still growing?
Glenn Ferron, who has worked in the pet industry for years, expects it to keep growing but not at the same rate. He says more pets live in homes than ever, a shift that sped up during COVID, but pet care has become more expensive and squeezed budgets force hard choices. He thinks the number of pets may fall more than the number of people who own one.
Need pet sitting & grooming in Merritt Island? Visit Woofie's of Space Coast at woofies.com.
