1-855-55-GREAT
Helping Franchisees
Bill Urban and Corporate Combat is an invaluable resource to me as a Great Clips franchisee! I’ve subscribed to his service every year. We owe it to our industry to convict, rather than just fire thieves, who will just go find another unsuspecting victim. When I suspect we have a theft problem, Bill is the first person I call. Because he has worked with so many Great Clips franchisees throughout the years, he knows our systems and lingo. This allows him to coach our team through our specific issue to help us collect enough evidence that we know our chances of a conviction are strong. Once we have the evidence collected, Bill then coaches us on how to meet with the employee to attempt to get a confession. Bill will role play this discussion several times to ensure our management team is ready. Just before the confrontation, Bill has even had us call him from the parking lot to do a final role play before we enter the salon. This really helps us build confidence for this uncomfortable and scary task. That’s not where Bill’s support ends. He encourages us to go outside and call him throughout the confrontation process to see where we are and redirect us to ensure we get the confession. Just last weekend Bill gave up his Sunday evening of Labor Day weekend to coach us through a conversation with a thief. For the first hour, she would only admit to misunderstanding our family discount policy, which she conveniently though incorrectly, called our “friends and family discount”. When we got stuck, I called Bill and he gave us new statements and questions that moved her in the direction to build trust and open her up. By the second hour she had admitted to giving away haircuts to friends, friends of friends, and friends of her family members in exchange for a big tip. Bill then suggested we change from a soft tone to a strong authoritative tone, and he role played this with me as I stood outside the salon with the employee and my witness still in the office. As a result, in the third hour we finally got a confession that this person was also giving away haircuts to regular customers, people she felt were struggling financially, and women who agreed to go to her home and pay for color services, in exchange for a bigger tip. When we moved onto the confession writing phase, Bill coached us through this process to which resulted in the confession you will find below. This is the 4th or 5th time Bill has coached me through this process, and I thought I could do it on my own, considering it was Sunday night on Labor Day weekend, even though Bill encouraged me to call him. Then I got stuck. Bill not only took my call, but slowed our process down to ensure we were taking all the right steps to get a conviction. Never in a million years would I have ever been able to get a confession out of this thief if it hadn’t been for the coaching of Bill Urban.
Patti Robertson
Tidewater Clippers, LLC
Great Clips Franchisee Since 2000
To fellow Great Clips Franchisees,
Recently we discovered evidence that an employee was stealing from us. Rather than confront the employee we decided to use the services of Corporate Combat®. We arrange for Bill urban to conduct an interview with the employee. We were shocked at the confession he was able to attain. This employee admitted to stealing over $20,000 during a 5 year period. Armed with a new insight as to how this theft was committed, we received some salon statistics. Suspicions were raised about two other employees. Further research uncovered hard evidence that these two were indeed stealing money. Interviews were arranged and again we were shocked by the dollar amount of the confessions. One admitted to taking over $2000 in a 6 month period and the other $8000 in a 9 month period. A substantial amount of these thefts were covered by our insurance. All three were prosecuted and that this point two have been convicted and are paying restitution. Had we decided to deal with these employees on our own, we probably would have confronted them with the evidence and then terminated them. We would not have known the extent of their theft activities nor prosecuted and recovered any money.
Realizing that that is happening, we decided to be proactive and try to minimize this problem. We recently started a loss prevention program from Corporate Combat®, which includes a screening tool for new employees, training for managers on loss prevention and a hotline for reporting theft anonymously. Our anticipation is that the Corporate Combat® program will be as effective at prevention as their investigative services are at recovery.
- Dan Washburn, Springline Corporation - Florida
"Bill Urban with Corporate Combat was a godsend to us! When my GM and I realized we had a thief, he helped us gather evidence and coached us throughout the entire process. He spent hours teaching us how to interrogate her to get a full confession. Most of these hours he spent with us was while he was on vacation! He also made himself available while we were going through the interrogation so he could support us while it was happening. (Also, while he was on vacation.)
Not only did she confess to what we already knew she did, but so much more! It had been going on for months longer than we even realized. She wrote a full two-page confession! Shortly thereafter, the police came and picked her up! In total she confessed to stealing $26,000.00! Without Bill's help we would have thought it was around $2,000.00. I would have never believed it! Becoming a member of Corporate Combat was one of the best things I have ever done for my company!"
– Annie Beale - Owner, Coastal Clips - Virginia Beach, VA
"Bill Urban provided a first class, on-site, practical template to deal with in salon theft and interrogation. Bill took all the guesswork out of a process that is not fun for anyone. With Bill's coaching I was able to get a 2-page written confession from an employee and now will see profits reappear to the bottom line. It is foolish not to be a member of Corporate Combat®."
- Brian Stevens - Steven's Unlimited, Minneapolis
"I just wanted to share with any person interested in using Corporate Combat and the services they offer to "just do it." This has been one of the best investments we have made to our organization. The first week we installed our first video security system in our salon our sales jumped over $400.00 per week. Our efficiencies are up because we can monitor what is happening in the salon when we are not there. From someone propping open the front door in 80 degree weather with the air conditioning on to making sure the five step system is in force. We also watch the coupon redemption processes and have found theft. We also believe in the safety and security that it offers our staff and our business. Mike Bucy was wonderful to work with. They were professional on site and great with our teams at the salon level. Talking about service, there have been many times when we needed assistance when employees would accidentally unplug something on the system and it would go down. Mike would either talk the salon through fixing it or go out to the salon and fix it himself. Since we saw such great results in our first salon we have continued on to install 5 more of our salons. We believe in it and believe that the investment pays for itself in about 6 months. I recommend this to anyone who wants to keep a handle on the business. I am a hands on franchisee but I cannot be in 12 salons at once or every day. By using the cameras I can easily check on wait times, if the salons open or close on time, and on and on. Thanks to Mike and his team for all of your help. We look forward to the install of the next 6 salon systems."
- Renae and Gary Newport - Franchisees, Great Clips for Hair
Corporate Combat offers a systematic approach to resolving sensitive workplace issues such as theft. It is the right system, at the right time, at the right price. My experience with Providential Solutions and Corporate Combat has been best described as a partnership. Mike and Bill have always been responsive and effective.
The camera system installed has proven to be a real benefit in terms of safety, security and convenient to my staff and management.
Kris Barcelow - Franchisee, Great Clips for Hair
"I am firmly convinced that without the strong case that Bill compiled and I presented to the Sheriff, this case would not have even been prosecuted. The initial comment from the Detective was "it will just be your word against his." Once Mr. Urban completed the 55 page investigation, the Detective noted: "you have done our job for us."
Dan Zebert, Great Clips Franchisee
Just a quick note regarding the surveillance systems you have installed at our salons. I have found that having your system in place gives me peace of mind regarding the operation of the salons.
It is very simple to view each salon and be assured all employees are representing MPE, Inc. in a positive manner.
Personally, I have found working with your company to be a pleasure and look forward to doing business with you in the future.
Ginger Miller - MPE, Inc. - Franchisee, Great Clips for Hair
