Focus on team culture reaps awards

John Miller (left), Natalie McGovern, Ashley Sterrenburg, Lorraine Miller and Greg Delon (Ballance).

Rodney Wayne Bethlehem has had a bumper year for awards.

This year, the Tauranga hair salon has not only won its own franchise awards, and the Westpac Tauranga Business Award for Retail and/or Service Excellence, but also both the Grand Salon of the Year and Fastest Growing Salon award at the New Zealand Association of Registered Hairdressers Awards.

Lorraine Miller runs the business, which is jointly owned with her husband, John, who built up Tauranga-based podiatry franchise Foot Mechanics, with 12 clinics nationally. They bought the Rodney Wayne Bethlehem franchise eight years ago with other partners, but became exclusive owners four years ago.

"We opened Rodney Wayne just before the global financial crisis, Psa and the Rena disaster," said Ms Miller.

"Those first years were extremely challenging. Four years ago, we set about to change, first, our team culture and, then, our service delivery. We have experienced strong year-on-year growth while focusing on these two things."

The couple had no background in hairdressing but, when they looked into the Rodney Wayne business model, they quickly made the decision to get into the franchise. It was especially rewarding to win this year's Rodney Wayne Salon of the Year Award, which for the first time in many years went to a franchise outside the major metro centres.

"We're not hairdressers, but business people interested in fashion. Franchising gave us the platform to run a successful business in a field that was not our own. Franchising is great, but it really is just a toolbox.

"Knowing and loving our customers has helped us give them more of what they want. We have a very high client return rate. I believe it's because we do what they need and want before they ask for it," Ms Miller said.

The Westpac awards judges said the owners had very good systems in place, including those from the head franchise, as well as their own systems, which provided real-time insights into the health of the business.

"They have really worked hard on the business in the past two-to-three years with very successful results."

Ms Miller said the Westpac awards process had been the most difficult of the three entered.

"These were true business awards in the sense that we were from all different industries and all vying for the same award ... analysing the business gave me an opportunity to look at areas for improvement and potential growth."

Award winners

Westpac Tauranga Business Awards 2015: Ballance Agri-Nutrients Retail and/or Service

Excellence Award (winner) and Cooney Lees Morgan Small Business Award (highly commended)

New Zealand Association of Registered Hairdressers Awards 2015: Grand Salon of the Year (winner), and Fastest Growing Salon of the Year (winner)

Rodney Wayne Salon of the Year 2015: (winner)