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Category Archives: Luxury Sales Training

Turning Returns into Opportunities

07 Thursday Jan 2016

Posted by Victoria Macdonald in Customer Complaints, Customer Experience, Customer Retention, Customer Service, Luxury, Luxury Sales Training, luxury service, Luxury Talent, Sales Coaching, Tiffany

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Customer Experience, Customer Service, Luxury, Luxury Brand, Luxury Fashion, Luxury Retail, Sales, Selling, Tiffany, Value Selling

RTT

Photo Credit: Tiffany & Co. For editorial use only

As usual, last Sunday’s New York Times featured the Tiffany & Company advertisement regularly found at the top of page 3. This time the  image was of the multi-heart Return to Tiffany (RTT)  bracelet (shown). Seeing as it was January 3rd, I wasn’t sure if someone in Tiffany’s advertising department might have a sense of humor. This particular bracelet, with all those little RTT hearts, and the timing of the ad made me think of all the post-holiday customers “returning” their unwanted presents to Tiffany. Though it’s hard to imagine someone wanting to return a Tiffany gift, it does happen. During my tenure there, we were especially concerned at this time of year about keeping up sales associates’ spirits while ensuring customers still received exceptional service. Continue reading →

GRACE: The Perfect Recipe for Luxury Customer Service

09 Monday Nov 2015

Posted by Victoria Macdonald in Brand, Customer Experience, Customer Service, Luxury, Luxury Brand, Luxury Sales Training, luxury service, Luxury Talent, Sales Coaching, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Customer Experience, Customer Service, Luxury, Luxury Brand, Luxury Retail, Sales, Selling, Value Selling

GRACEDaniel Humm is the chef and owner for the Michelin three-star restaurant Eleven Madison Park and The NoMad in New York City. He’s also the recipient of six James Beard Awards, four stars from the New York Times and the S. Pellegrino Chef’s Choice 2015 award. Mr. Humm was recently interviewed by New York Magazine and asked how me keeps his team motivated. He replied:

We treat every service as if it’s the only one that matters, the same way a sports team prepares for a championship match. Everything we do is done with intention and the desire to make the guest’s experience the best it can be.

Continue reading →

Sharing Infographic: 9 Customer Service Phrases That Pressure Cook Problems ( and what to say instead!)

09 Monday Nov 2015

Posted by Victoria Macdonald in Customer Experience, Customer Service, Luxury, Luxury Sales Training, Luxury Talent

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Tags

Customer Experience, Luxury, luxury service

This great infographic came into my LinkedIn feed and I thought it worthwhile to share with you. Hope you think so too!

9 Customer Service Phrases That Pressure Cook Problems ( and what to say instead!)

Coach the Coach: A collaborative coaching technique for sales managers

01 Monday Jun 2015

Posted by Victoria Macdonald in Customer Complaints, Customer Service, Luxury Brand, Luxury Sales Training, Sales Coaching

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Coaching, Customer Service, Jewelry, Luxury, Luxury Brand, Sales, Sales Coaching, Selling

coachA few years ago I headed up a training team for a high-end jewelry brand. We were asked to create a learning initiative to help promote diamond sales. The blended program integrated different learning methodologies including e-learning, videos, webinars, games, support tools and in-store activities. The program required sales management teams to coach their local sales teams through a multi-week agenda. While the initiative did improve diamond sales, it unfortunately brought to light a mistaken belief that our sales managers were good coaches.

We looked for a way to help our sales managers improve their coaching skills. We needed a design that was both low-cost (we had exhausted our budget) and time efficient (sales managers were bogged down with daily operational tasks). In addition, we had other programs running simultaneously and could not afford to invest a lot of resources into designing a formal coaching program. Our solution was to create a program where the sales managers became coaches for each other. Here’s how it worked:

  1. We scheduled 30-minute phone calls with groups of no more than 10 sales managers at a time.
  2. We wrote a few scenarios of sales interactions “gone wrong.” I played the role of sales associate while another team member played the customer (you could also role-pay with one of the callers if you send out the script in advance. Each scenario lasted 2-3 minutes and focused on an issue such as being rude, giving wrong information, or not asking open-ended questions.
  3. Prior to the call, we asked one of the sales managers to role-play as the sales manager in the scenario. Once the scenario concluded, we asked the sales manager to provide feedback to the “sales associate” (me).
  4. After the sales manager finished coaching the sales associate, we asked the other sales managers if they’d experienced a similar situation and how they’d handled it. We questioned whether they believed the sales associate’s behavior would change as a result of the coaching. If not, why not? If so, then why had the coaching been effective?
  5. We encouraged the sales managers to coach each other (hence “Coach-the-Coach”). We allowed this process to happen naturally; our role was simply to guide the conversation back if it went off track.
  6. We spent the last 5 minutes of each call reviewing key learning points and emailed a summary to all participants afterwards. Several sales managers offered suggestions for future scenarios.

One unanticipated benefit of the program was that the groups learned over time to trust and depend on each other for advice. The Coach-the-Coach program proved to be a quick, interactive, fun, and convenient way for our sales managers to hone their coaching skills.

Please don’t be rude!

20 Monday Apr 2015

Posted by Victoria Macdonald in Customer Experience, Customer Service, Luxury Brand, Luxury Sales Training

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Customer Experience, Customer Service, Luxury, Luxury Brand, Luxury Retail, Sales, Selling

rudeMilton Pedraza, CEO of Luxury Institute recently confirmed, “Luxury brands lose half of their top customers every year. The biggest reason why a consumer won’t come back is not the product—it’s a rude or inattentive salesperson” (The new face of luxury: breaking down the myths and stereotypes of the luxury shopper). On the surface this statement seems to contradict the finding of a recent study titled, Should the Devil Sell Prada? Retail Rejection Increases Aspiring Consumers’ Desire for the Brand (October 2014 Journal of Consumer Research). The study (co-authored by Dr. Darren Dahl, a marketing professor at the Sauder School of Business and Prof. Morgan Ward of the Cox School of Business) found customers who receive poor treatment from sales associates in a luxury retail environment are more likely to make a purchase.

Luxury brands lose half of their top customers every year. The biggest reason why a consumer won’t come back is not the product—it’s a rude or inattentive salesperson

Continue reading →

Once Upon a Time: Telling Luxury’s Story

11 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by Victoria Macdonald in Brand, Customer Experience, Customer Service, Fashion, Helping Customers Envision, Luxury Brand, Luxury Sales Training

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Brand, Chanel, Customer Experience, Customer Service, Dior, Fashion, Luxury, Luxury Brand, Luxury Fashion, Luxury Retail, Sales, Selling

story“Only 19 percent of consumers believe sales associates have relevant information,” says Adam Silverman, principal analyst at Forrester Research, San Francisco. “That’s very shocking and that’s clearly an indicator that the sales associate role needs to change.”

One way in which you can change that role is to perfect the art of telling luxury’s story. A good story engages and excites the listener. Stories create emotions and those emotions, in turn, drive desire. We buy luxury items not because we need them, but because we desire them.

Continue reading →

The Rarity of Platinum Service

08 Sunday Feb 2015

Posted by Victoria Macdonald in Brand, Customer Experience, Customer Service, Fashion, Luxury Brand, Luxury Sales Training

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Bergdorf Goodman, Customer Experience, Customer Service, Fashion, Leather, Luxury, Luxury Brand, Luxury Fashion, Luxury Retail, Luxury; Handbags

platinumPlatinum is more expensive than gold because it is rarer. Similarly, a platinum level of service is more precious than the “gold standard” of service offered by most sales professionals. The Golden Rule states: “Treat other people as we would wish to be treated ourselves.” It is the rare sales professional, however, who knows and lives by the Platinum Rule: “Treat other people as they would wish to be treated.” The difference comes down to a small, but meaningful, change in perspective.

Continue reading →

Should We Try to Exceed Customer Expectations?

03 Wednesday Dec 2014

Posted by Victoria Macdonald in Customer Experience, Customer Service, Luxury Sales Training

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Tags

Customer Experience, Customer Service, Luxury, Luxury Brand, Luxury Retail, Sales, Selling, Value Selling

Happy CustomerYesterday someone told me there’s no point in trying to exceed customer expectations, because once you do, the bar is raised and the exception becomes the norm. It creates a never ending spiral upward. All I can say, is “poppycock” (yes, people used to say “poppycock,” probably the same folks who used to say “balderdash”). Anyway, you get my point. Continue reading →

Finding Luxury Talent

21 Friday Nov 2014

Posted by Victoria Macdonald in Brand, Fashion, Luxury Sales Training

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Brand, Luxury, Luxury Brand, Luxury Fashion, Luxury Retail, Selling

interviewMy last post talked about educational institutions that now offer Luxury MBA degrees. This led to the question—what happens once you have such as degree? Interestingly, I just ran across an article from the Boston Consulting Group titled, “Minding the Talent Gap: Fashion and Luxury’s Greatest Challenge for the Next Decade.” The article reveals that luxury companies are struggling to find the right talent.  What a perfect time to evaluate whether those Luxury MBA programs provide the same skills and knowledge that luxury and fashion brands seek today. For example, needed skills at the executive level are: analytical and creative skills; retail, product, and brand expertise; and international experience. Continue reading →

The Luxury MBA – Is this really a thing?

19 Wednesday Nov 2014

Posted by Victoria Macdonald in Brand, Customer Experience, Customer Service, Fashion, Luxury Sales Training

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Brand, Customer Experience, Customer Service, eCommerce, Luxury, Luxury Brand, Luxury Fashion, Luxury Retail, Sales

MortarboardBack in October I posted a blog entry titled: “Should Sales Training Differ for Luxury Brands?” The post generated quite a bit of discussion around whether the luxury customer’s higher expectations for service required a different level of training for sales associates. Now it seems educational institutions are beginning to recognize the luxury sector as an industry that demands a specialized curriculum. Continue reading →

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