IN October 2007 Paul and Jude McEwen moved to Australia with the dream of owning a hairdressing salon, having worked in the industry for a combined 20 years.
IN October 2007 Paul and Jude McEwen moved to Australia with the dream of owning a hairdressing salon, having worked in the industry for a combined 20 years.
After setting up shop in Sydney to manage separate ‘Toni & Guy’ salons, the couple relocated to Perth in September 2008 and opened the doors to their Murray Street salon three months later.
“As husband and wife, we both work full-time on the salon floor styling hair and sharing the administration and management duties,” Mrs McEwen told WA Business News.
“Passion has never been in short supply between the two of us.
“We both love hairdressing and helping people feel better about themselves; being hands-on and creative, we both enjoy the reaction from clients when they see what we have created.
“Starting our own salon was fuelled by years of working for others and soon enough we wanted to be our own driving force, together.”
Situated near the fashionable King Street, the salon’s location was chosen to attract the Toni & Guy target market – young part-time workers with an interest in up-and-coming trends.
The salon, which employs 11 staff, had been operating in Perth for almost 11 years, so when the McEwens bought the business, they inherited its clientele as well.
The couple opened doors just as the first waves of the economic downturn hit, which had an impact on the business’s flow of customers in its first year.
“Our mantra was to continue to give our clients the highest standard of service that we have always aspired to – we believe that this has carried us through successfully,” Mrs McEwen said.
The economic downturn meant fewer new clients were walking through the salon’s doors, while regulars were becoming more prudent in their discretionary spending, spacing out appointments over longer periods of time.
“Our figures demonstrated that our client base remained solid, which we are very proud of and believe is due to the standard of service received,” Mrs McEwen said.
“However, that being said, I do believe the hype of the media and the initial scare (of the economic downturn), made everyone more prudent with their money, meaning that they spaced out their appointments more.”
The McEwens’ strategy to overcome this issue was to create a loyalty program to entice repeat customers, while also developing a package to attract new clients.
Under the loyalty rewards program, points are earned on a loyalty card for each visit at the salon, which can be redeemed for gifts within 12 months. Points unused after this time are forfeited.
The more a customer spends on the program, the more points and gifts they can earn.
The time limit is a strategy to ensure clients reduce the length of time between appointments, which slowed customer traffic during the economic downturn.
“We value loyalty to the salon and have found that by rewarding our clients with our own program entitled ‘Loyal to us devoted to you’, they return to us more frequently in order to get their complimentary gift reachable after a few visits,” Mrs McEwen said.
“For new clients to Toni & Guy, we provide an exclusive welcome pack, which includes special offers for future visits at the salon and discounts on our own Label M product range.”
Before the program, regular customers were visiting the salon an average of every 12 weeks, but since its introduction the average has come down to every seven weeks.
“The clients’ reaction has been great; all feedback to date is very positive. I don’t believe that anyone else in the industry offers such a truly rewarding program, so it definitely sets us apart,” Mrs McEwen said.
“We have worked very hard in our first year to refine this and really service our clients 100 per cent.”
“We have increased our number of clients but, more importantly to us, the number of regular clients visiting the salon more often has increased immensely.”
