Great Clips Director of Communications Tammy Nienaber is an emerging leader and dedicated volunteer for the Minnesota chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). In fact, she currently holds the position of president-elect and will take over as president in 2018. Yep, that’s a big deal, and Tammy is a great example of how our company’s leaders and executives get involved in their communities (both geographic and professional).
In her job, Tammy leads a team that shares information with franchisees, managers, and salon staff. As the franchisor, it’s not our job to dictate or direct. Rather, our job is to give franchisees an understanding of the value of following a system that will lead to success. In the case of a walk-in hair salon, that means helping franchisees know the best ways to attract customers, train employees, deliver great service, sell product, support and promote the brand, find new locations, and anything else that will help grow their business.
In the world of franchising, the goal of any communications department is to help build trust between franchisor and franchisee. It’s not so different from the trust that’s needed in any two-way relationship, and especially with and among business colleagues.
Tammy wrote about this “currency of trust” in an article recently posted on the IABC-MN website. Her article was inspired by a seminar she attended at which David Kasperson, the director of FranklinCovey’s “Speed of Trust” program, presented to the Great Clips’ services team in Nashville. Tammy highlights several provocative ideas about the impact of trust on people and businesses, including this one that really stood out for me:
“Trust is an economic asset, not just a social value.”
In his presentation, Kasperson cited a study showing that organizations operating at a high-trust level outperform less-trusted companies in total return to their shareholders by 286%. Clearly, there’s a direct correlation between high trust and high performance.
In the business world, the so-called “soft” skills—like trust, kindness, patience—are often thought of as good-to-have, not necessarily must-haves directly connected to positive business results. But for an organization like Great Clips whose first company value is, “We are kind,” I would beg to differ. I believe it’s those “soft” values that help us create trusting relationships with franchisees, and, when paired with great operations developed at the corporate office and executed in the salons, help us continue to grow the largest haircare brand in the world.
And I’m glad to know that the research proves we’re doing it the right way.
Are you thinking about becoming a franchisee? Would you like to know more about how teams like Tammy’s support franchisees? Give me a call and I can put you in touch with any department you’d like to know more about.