Managing Customers

Overview

Customers are at the heart of your grooming salon. Every appointment, animal, and invoice ultimately links back to a customer record. Check-in DOG provides a comprehensive customer management system that lets you store contact information, track communication preferences, write internal notes, and maintain a complete history of interactions.

This guide covers everything you need to know about creating, editing, searching, and managing customer records.

Adding a New Customer

To create a new customer, navigate to the Customers section from the sidebar and click the Create button in the top-right corner.

Civility

The first field you will encounter is the Civility selector. This is a predefined list of titles that cannot be modified (it is consistent across all salons). The available options are:

Civilities are displayed in the language of your salon's locale when used in customer-facing documents such as invoices and emails.

Name Fields

• First name -- The customer's given name.
• Last name -- The customer's family name.

Both fields are required. The customer's full name (with civility) will appear on invoices, appointment lists, and throughout the application.

Contact Information

Keeping accurate contact information ensures you can reach your customers for appointment reminders, follow-ups, and marketing communications.

Phone Numbers

Check-in DOG provides three separate phone fields to accommodate different contact preferences:

• Phone -- A landline or primary phone number.
• Mobile -- A mobile phone number, typically used for SMS communications.
• Email -- The customer's email address, used for sending invoices and other correspondence.

SMS Opt-In Toggle

Next to the mobile phone field, you will find an SMS opt-in toggle. When enabled, this indicates that the customer has consented to receive SMS messages from your salon (such as appointment reminders or promotional messages).

Important: Always obtain explicit consent before enabling SMS communications for a customer. Unsolicited SMS messages may violate local regulations (such as GDPR in Europe). The toggle defaults to off for new customers.

Address Fields

The address section allows you to record the customer's physical address. This can be useful for:

• Sending postal mail or printed invoices.
• Understanding the geographic distribution of your clientele.
• Delivery services if your salon offers pickup/drop-off.

The address fields typically include:

• Street address
• City
• Postal/ZIP code
• Country

All address fields are optional. Fill in as much or as little as you need.

Notes

The Notes field is a free-text area attached to the customer record. Use it to store general information about the customer that does not fit into structured fields. For example:

• "Prefers morning appointments."
• "Allergic to certain shampoo brands -- always use hypoallergenic products."
• "Referred by Dr. Martin at the veterinary clinic on Rue des Fleurs."

Notes are visible to all staff members who access the customer record.

Customer Memos

While the Notes field is a single persistent text area, Customer Memos provide a timestamped, append-only log of internal observations. Think of memos as a private journal for each customer.

How Memos Work

• Each memo is automatically stamped with the date and time it was created.
• Memos are displayed in reverse chronological order (newest first).
• They are strictly internal -- customers never see memos in invoices, emails, or any other communication.

When to Use Memos

Memos are ideal for tracking ongoing situations or conversations:

• "2026-02-15: Called to reschedule next week's appointment. New date confirmed for Feb 22."
• "2026-01-30: Dog had a skin irritation last visit. Vet cleared him for grooming again."
• "2026-01-10: Customer mentioned they are getting a second dog -- follow up in a few weeks."

The timestamped nature of memos makes them especially valuable when multiple staff members interact with the same customer over time.

Linked Animals

One of the most important relationships in Check-in DOG is the link between customers and their animals. Each customer can have multiple animals, and each animal belongs to exactly one customer.

Viewing a Customer's Animals

When you open a customer record, you will see a relation manager panel that lists all animals belonging to that customer. From this panel, you can:

• View any animal's full profile by clicking on it.
• Add a new animal directly from the customer page without navigating away.
• Edit an existing animal inline.

Adding Animals from the Customer Page

To add a new animal from within a customer record:

1. Scroll down to the Animals relation manager.
2. Click the Create button.
3. Fill in the animal's details (name, breed, color, weight, etc.).
4. Save -- the animal is automatically linked to this customer.

This inline workflow is the fastest way to set up a new customer and their pets in one go.

For full details on animal profiles, see the Managing Animals documentation.

Linked Invoices

The customer record also includes a relation to all invoices issued to that customer. From the customer page, you can:

• View a list of all quotes and invoices for this customer.
• See the status of each invoice (paid, unpaid, partially paid).
• Click through to view or edit any invoice.

This gives you a complete financial history for each customer without leaving their profile.

Searching and Filtering Customers

As your customer base grows, finding specific records quickly becomes essential. Check-in DOG provides several tools for this.

Global Search

The search bar at the top of the Customers list lets you search by:

• First name
• Last name
• Email
• Phone number

Start typing and results will filter in real time.

Civility Filter

You can filter the customer list by civility using the filter panel. This is useful when you want to:

• View only couples (Mr & Mrs) for joint appointment planning.
• Segment customers by title for targeted communications.

Column Sorting

Click on any column header to sort the customer list by that column. Click again to reverse the sort order. Common sorting scenarios include:

• Alphabetical by last name (the default).
• Most recently created customers first.

Editing a Customer

To edit an existing customer, click on their name in the customer list to open their record, then click the Edit button. All fields described above can be modified.

Changes are saved when you click the Save button. The application will validate required fields and display any errors inline.

Bulk Actions

The customer list supports selecting multiple records for bulk operations. Select customers using the checkboxes on the left side of the list, then choose an action from the bulk actions menu.

Deleting a Customer

Check-in DOG includes safeguards to prevent accidental data loss when deleting customer records.

Delete Protection Rules

A customer cannot be deleted if they have:

• Linked animals -- You must first delete or reassign all animals belonging to this customer.
• Linked invoices -- You must first delete all invoices associated with this customer.

If you attempt to delete a customer who has animals or invoices, the application will display an error message explaining why the deletion is blocked and what you need to resolve first.

Why These Safeguards Exist

Deleting a customer who has invoices could break your financial records and audit trail. Deleting a customer who has animals would orphan those animal records. These safeguards ensure data integrity across your salon.

Recommended Approach for Inactive Customers

Rather than deleting old customers, consider adding a memo noting that they are inactive. This preserves their history (and the history of their pets and invoices) while making it clear they are no longer active clients.

Best Practices

Keep Contact Information Current

Periodically review customer records and update phone numbers and email addresses. Accurate contact information ensures that appointment reminders, invoice emails, and other communications reach the right person.

Use Memos Liberally

Memos cost nothing and can save you significant time. When a customer mentions something relevant during a visit -- a new pet, a change in schedule preference, a sensitivity about their dog's handling -- jot it down as a memo. Future you (or your colleagues) will thank you.

Leverage the SMS Opt-In

If your salon sends appointment reminders via SMS, make sure the opt-in toggle is correctly set for each customer. This not only keeps you compliant with regulations but also prevents you from wasting SMS credits on customers who have not opted in.

Civility Matters

Using the correct civility in invoices and emails is a small detail that makes a professional impression. Take a moment to ask new customers how they prefer to be addressed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I merge two duplicate customer records?

Currently, Check-in DOG does not support automatic record merging. If you discover duplicate customers, you will need to manually move animals and invoices from one record to the other, then delete the empty duplicate.

Can a customer belong to multiple salons?

Each salon maintains its own independent customer database. If you operate multiple salons and the same person visits more than one, they will have a separate customer record in each salon.

How many customers can I have?

The number of customers depends on your subscription plan. The application tracks your current customer count as part of your salon's usage metrics, and will notify you as you approach your plan's limit. See the Subscription section for details on plan limits.

Next Steps

Now that you know how to manage customers, learn how to create detailed profiles for their pets:

• Managing Animals -- Set up breed information, photos, and medical details for every pet.