Meet Rhoda Olsen
Employees: 35,000
Region: Minneapolis
Industry: Services
Success with Vistage
- Developed six powerful brand metrics to ensure franchise quality
- Nearly quadrupled franchises, from 1,000 in 1999 to 3,900 in 2016
- Achieved 42 consecutive quarters of sales growth through the recession
“You have a group of peers who will be honest with you. When you’re at the top of your organization, people aren’t willing to challenge you, but they are in Vistage.”
– Rhoda Olsen, CEO, Great Clips
Before Vistage
Rhoda came to Vistage seeking perspectives from outside her industry to help her expand Great Clips salons while maintaining company-wide standards. Though Great Clips was having no trouble finding new franchisees, Rhoda found it challenging to control quality for so many locations, which was damaging the Great Clips brand.
Compounding these issues were personal health problems, which prevented Rhoda from giving the business the attention it needed.
With Vistage
Rhoda’s Chair peer advisory board encouraged her to focus on her wellbeing. They also encouraged her to get outside help with her brand problem.
They drew on their collective experience to identify an effective growth strategy: They encouraged her to hire a brand specialist to help grow the company’s franchises while maintaining the uncompromising quality of the Great Clips brand.
Working with this specialist, Rhoda developed six powerful metrics to measure the brand strength at any time. These covered franchise quality areas including low wait times, consistent hours and repeat customer care.
Result
Rhoda’s brand strategy led to a consistent customer experience, which in turn resulted in Great Clips nearly quadrupling their number of franchisees, from 1,000 in 1999 to 3,900 in 2016. “Repetition and consistency are important,” Rhoda says. “We may get tired of these brand standards, but our customers and staff don’t.”