Featuring, Marc Rockquemore

Personally I have found that no matter how strong and healthy owners believe their salon culture may be, no matter how much education and benefits they provides to staff, and no matter how good they feels their relationship is with their employees…and yes, to answer your next question, even if they have had stylists sign noncompete agreements (I’ve been there), thoughts of a potential walkout always linger. Why? Because your name is on everything, it’s your livelihood, your retirement, etc., so naturally why shouldn’t it be? At the end of the day, you (as a salon owner) have EVERYTHING to lose, which is at the core of why that vulnerability exists in the first place.

 

All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.

–Walt Disney

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

Let me share with you my personal experience of the phenomenon known as a “walkout.”

Remember that the fact that I can sit here and tell you about this is living proof that you can not only survive it, but prosper from it! One of our salons lost as many as seven service providers in a ten-month period, yet sales remained unchanged…true! How did we accomplish that? By focusing on what we had rather than on what was lost. We also made it through this challenging time by being open to giving more opportunities to young professionals (i.e. Associates), planning a strategy of “intentional growth” with our Summit Salon Consultant, identifying areas of missed opportunity within our salons, and by running strategic promotions to both retain the current guests and recover those guests who had left. We developed a multiheaded approach that worked, and we came through the fire virtually unscathed; but hopefully a bit wiser. “Lucky”, you say? No, at all. I’d call it “intentional”!

 

Sometimes adversity is what you need to face in order to become successful.

–Zig Ziglar

 

BE PROACTIVE

So here’s the big secret: the best way for a salon owner to survive a walkout is to simply be proactive before a walkout has a chance to take root. Also, DON’T CHERRY PICK THE PROGRAM and BE SURE TO TAKE THE ADVICE OF YOUR SUMMIT SALON CONSULTANT!! You might ask yourself, what the heck is Marc talking about?? Well here it is in a nutshell:

* SUMMIT SALON ASSOCIATE PROGRAM:

* This comprehensive training program from SSBC is designed to bridge the knowledge gap between what students learn in cosmetology school and what they need to know to become “Level 1 ready” in a salon. Not too shabby! In the eyes of the salon owner, this program represents the future of your company. By growing new stylists right out of school, you are essentially creating a pipeline for achieving future growth ….ingenious!! Continually keeping people in your pipeline ensures you will always have a steady stream of new talent arriving by growing your own through this program!

* INTENTIONAL GROWTH:

* With the guidance of your Summit Salon Consultant, grow your salon intentionally by strategically evaluating the current picture of your salon, identifying areas of weakness or opportunity, and charting a very specific and intentional plan to reach the goals. Growth doesn’t normally happen accidentally, but rather as a result of hard work and focused effort. Whether you’re doing this as a proactive measure before experiencing a w...