The word ‘return’ can make even the most seasoned sales associate quiver with fear. Yet the returning customer presents a golden opportunity for luxury associates to foster the customer relationship. Your mindset can play an important role in cultivating customer relationships. If you view “returns” as a hassle or something that causes you stress, then customers will sense your aggravation. But if you treat the return as an occasion to build and strengthen the connection you have to your customers, you will have laid the path for them to return again and again.

Jon Omer, Vice President Wholesale Distribution at Fabergé said:

Someone once told me it takes about nine times as much as to make a new customer, as it does to retain an old customer.

How much time do you spend fostering existing customer relationships versus attracting new customers?  And how do you get customers to return again and again?

Information is key to cultivating customer relationships. Not only do you want to collect information about your customer, but you want to reciprocate with your own contact information. Make sure you rehearse how to present your business card or contact information in a manner that inspires trust, even if customers are not so forthcoming to share their own data.

To help you develop on positive perspective of the word ‘RETURN’, consider this acronym:
Readiness – Expertise – Trustworthiness – Understanding – Responsibility

Readiness – Be ready for your customers by preparing open-ended questions in advance to help you establish an emotional connection. Be prepared to take note of important dates, celebrations, preferences, and personal details. Ensure you are practiced on how to present your contact information to the customer gracefully.

Expertise – Be an expert on your product and services. Share what new items or features may be debuting that might be of interest your customer. Offer to be available to answer any questions or concerns they may have in the future.

Trustworthiness – How many times has a sales associate asked to you provide a phone number or email address without first establishing a level of trust? If you take the time to create an emotional connection, customers will be more likely to share their personal information. In addition, if you explain why you’re asking for contact information – for example, to keep them informed of new products, upcoming events, sales, etc. – you will provide an incentive for customers to share their data.

Understanding –  It’s not the number of questions you ask, but rather the kind of questions you ask that will help you build trust in your customer relationships. Asking open-ended and strategic questions will not only increase your warmth factor, you’ll also learn what your customers like and what features are most important to them. This earlier post will help you learn what questions to ask: “Good Salespeople Have Great Answers, but Great Salespeople Have Great Questions.”

Responsibility – As a luxury associate, you are responsible for cultivating the client relationship. Consider all the reasons you may have to reconnect with a customer once you’ve made the sale: a handwritten thank you note, a follow-up call to make sure everything is working, a check-in to ensure the gift was delivered, a service reminder, or an invitation to an event.  Additionally, clienteling software can help remind you of upcoming service appointments, special dates, and what’s on customers’ wish lists.

Nurturing – Any relationship requires nurturing and attention in order to grow. Luxury associates need to demonstrate genuine care and concern for their customers. Care needs to inform everything a luxury associate does: caring about the customer, caring about the customer’s needs, caring about the luxury experience, and caring about the presentation. Recently a Gartner Group study found 80 percent of your sales will come from just 20 percent of your existing customers. This is why it’s so important to continually nurture the customer relationship.

What occurs in a typical sales transaction is the associate invests time, energy and emotion into the pre-sale relationship. But once the customer “signs on the dotted line” the relationship ends for the sales associate, and he or she then focuses on the next sale.  Interestingly, Owen and Miller (2004) found that the customer’s interest in the relationship actually increases after the sale. (“I can’t wait to show everyone that new jacket I bought.”) This creates a relationship gap:

For luxury associates, this “gap” can become a fertile time frame in which to build and nurture the customer relationship

If an unhappy  customer comes back to exchange or return an item, to have something serviced or replaced, or even to voice a complaint, then treating the experience as a way to strengthen and develop an ongoing relationship will ensure they’ll return with smiles on their faces next time.

Why we must drop the word “sales” from all business dialogue.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-we-must-drop-word-sales-from-all-business-dialogue-graham-hawkins

https://www.luxurydaily.com/tiffany-procures-retail-solutions-for-trump-tower-related-security-measures/

Last week I was invited to hear Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson talk about her new book No One Understands You and What To Do About It. Dr. Grant Halvorson is a social psychologist who writes about the science of motivation. In this book, she explores intentions versus perceptions. For anyone in a sales or customer service position this is recommended reading. If you’ve ever felt that you just weren’t getting through to someone or you weren’t getting your message across the way you intended to, then Dr. Grant Halvorson has some suggestions for you.

There is so much in this book that can be applied to everyday social interactions, business meetings, and customer conversations. But there is one area in particular that I’d like to focus on – and that is developing trust. Anyone in sales will tell you that trust is at the core of the sales process. The customer must trust you before they’ll buy whatever you’re trying to sell.

Dr. Grant Halvorson breaks down trust into two components: Competency and Warmth. You already know how to be competent; this blog won’t help you there. You must know your product and know your competition. But “warmth” is definitely something we can talk about. Warmth helps you creating connections with your customers. Any sales associate can be competent; not all can be warm.

So how does one come across as warm? Dr. Grant Halvorson suggests smiling, looking at people when they’re talking, nodding as they talk. All pretty easy stuff. But sales associates must work against a negative bias that comes as part of the job. Since customers know that salespeople are trying to sell them something, how can a salesperson create trust? This very question was asked at the end of the lecture.  Her response was “People who are good in sales always open with a ton of questions.”

That response reminded me of a post I wrote way back called “Good Salespeople have Great Answers, but Great Salespeople Have Great Questions.” It’s not just the number of questions you ask that will distinguish you as a trusted sales associate, but it’s the kind of questions you ask. Asking open-ended and strategic questions will not only increase your warmth factor, you’ll also learn what your customers like and what features are most important to them. With that in mind, below is a re-post of the article.

Good salespeople have great answers, but great salespeople have great questions

It happened again! I walked into one of those posh, ultra-luxurious shops on Fifth Avenue and the smartly dressed, beautifully coiffed sales associate asked “May I help you?” I’m sure she’d been trained on the company value proposition and was knowledgeable on all the new product lines, but what she didn’t know is this is one of the worst ways to greet a customer! Too often this question is met with a polite “No thank you. I’m just looking.”  That’s because “May I help you?” is a closed-ended question—it can be answered with “yes” or “no.” The next time you go shopping, listen to the number of closed-ended questions you’re asked: “Do you like this one?,” “Do you have a budget?,” “Is this the right color?,” “Will that be all for today?”

It’s been said good salespeople have good answers, but great salespeople have great questions. So, what are the great questions? That’s easy! They’re the same questions journalists use to write a great story: Who, What, When, Where, How and Why. By using open-ended questions, you will encourage your customers to talk more. Studies have shown the more a customer talks, the more engaged a customer becomes, and the more likely he or she will buy. It also means you’ll talk less and have the opportunity to listen more. And listening more means you’ll get the right information you’ll need to make the sale.

Now, let’s get back to those great questions. Asking a simple open-ended question such as “How is your day going?” may get your customer talking, but it’s unlikely to generate much useful information for the sale. To be effective, you’ll want to ask questions that will help you understand your customer and his or her needs.

Greeting
Many closed-ended questions can easily be turned into open-ended questions by starting with the word ‘how’. Rather than risking a negative response to the question “May I help you?,” try opening with “How may I help you?” or “What brings you into our store today?” You may still receive the “I’m just looking” response (a topic for a future post), but you’ll avoid having the first words out of your customer’s mouth be “No!”

Reason
Understanding why your customer is in your store is one of the most important things you need to know. A simple “What are you looking for today?” can get the conversation rolling. If you sense they may be a new customer, ask how familiar they are with your store or your product. Asking whether the item will be a self-purchase or a gift is also a great place to start. If the item is a gift, you’ll want to know the sentiment behind it: “What occasion are you shopping for?” or “What sentiment would you like this gift to convey?” are good questions to pose.

Style
Understanding your customer’s style will help you determine what items might most appeal to him or her. Here the frequent “do you” question (closed-ended) can be converted to an open-ended question by using “what” or “tell me about.” For example, “Do you have a favorite color?” becomes “What is your favorite color?” or “Tell me what colors you like.” If someone is struggling to explain their own style or someone else’s, you can help them along by asking which designers they like, what do they enjoy wearing when at work or at home, or which actors they like. Even asking what type of music someone listens to can offer clues into their personal style. Of course you can still use “do you” paired with “prefer” for comparisons, such as, “Do you prefer silk or satin?”

Price
One of the most inane questions you can ask is “Do you have a budget?” 99.99% of customers have some idea of how much they’d like to spend on their purchase. By asking, “What price range do you have in mind?” customers should be able to give you an idea of what they’d like to spend. The price question can be tricky and should be treated with care. For additional ways to handle this sensitive question, see my previous post “The Perils of the Price Question.”

There are a myriad of questions that will help you help your customer, such as: when will they need the item by, how often do they intend to use it, how did they hear about your store, when may you follow up with them, etc. There may also be questions specific to your product. The smart salesperson knows how to use the right question at the right time, and maintains a well-balanced dialogue with the customer. Start by listening to the questions you’re asking and think about how to turn them into open-ended questions. It’s not as easy as it sounds, and it will require some conscious practice. But soon you too will be asking great questions!

Timetrade’s recent whitepaper, Personalization in Retail: A Reality Check says that only 26 percent of consumers feel they’re receiving a customized +shopping experience even though 69 percent of retailers believe their delivering a personalized interaction.(Timetrade’s website says they help companies deliver on their brand promise of a truly personalized customer experience.) Since 90% of retail transactions take place in brick and mortar stores, it’s shocking to learn that consumers rank stores as the second worst channel for customer experience.

The whitepaper reminded me of my own “de-personalized” shopping experience a few years ago that led to the birth of this blog. In Missed Moments in Customer Service, I told the story of a luxury sales associate who missed several opportunities to connect with me. The post offered suggestions that would have turned a disappointing interaction into a luxury experience. A year later I was asking the same question in Luxury Service: Why is it so hard to get it right?

Timetrade’s whitepaper suggests that retailers are committed to closing this gap in customer expectations making training in-store associates their top priority:

The good news is that the retail decision makers surveyed cite the physical store as their top priority in terms of personalization, and training in-store associates as their top initiative to improve customer experience.

The study concludes the best approach is to leverage technology and automation to create a consistent personalized experience:

There are many proven technologies that retailers can use that will help automate processes for store associates and also the consumer. Simple automation and self-service can enable consumers to have a seamless experience and help them engage sooner with associates for more prompt service.

While mobile devices and integrated systems can certainly facilitate the customer transaction, it is the  knowledgeable sales professional who creates the personalized experience. Luxury brands need to understand the many different dimensions, values and priorities of their customers and then use that understanding as a platform to build a  lasting brand connection. Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute says:

Technology today presents an immense opportunity for targeting potential customers, but it is ultimately the intimate humanistic relationships that sales professionals form with customers that keep them coming back.

It is the luxury sales associate who holds the key to building those connections.

For sales associates to deliver extraordinary and remarkable experiences to luxury customers, they must have the right tools and training.  According to Laurent Ohana, Senior Advisor at Ohana & Co.:

The investment in stores and sales associates is turning out to be a major advantage and differentiator for luxury brands.

Luxury sales associates must be knowledgeable about and be able to speak the language of luxury. They need to stay current by subscribing to luxury magazine, blogs, Instagram and Twitter feeds. Their gestures and vocabulary should also resonate with the tone of the brand they represent.

Luxury associates must be passionate brand ambassadors. In turn, they can ignite brand passion in consumers by sharing stories that reflect customers’ values. Using descriptive and evocative language they can paint a picture and help customers envision. “Can you see yourself in this car?” instead becomes “How will you feel driving down the Pacific Coast Highway with the top down and the ocean breeze wafting through your hair?”

Luxury associates can create magical moments for customers. Sales associates at Louis Vuitton don white gloves before presenting a handbag. Harry Winston offers customers a glass of champagne as they peruse diamonds, and Disney Cruise lines leaves folded towel animals on guests’ beds each night. Every luxury brand has multiple opportunities to create moments of magic for its customers.

Technology offers luxury brands a variety of new ways to create immersive experiences. But it is the customer-facing associate who is the brand agent—he or she is the direct line of contact to customers—and it is the luxury associate who ultimately determines the success or failure of the customer experience.

This month’s post is written by guest blogger Gretchen Shaw. Gretchen is an author, blogger and entrepreneur with a penchant for baking. She is passionate about communication, continued learning and connecting people. You can follow her on Twitter: @shawgret

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If you tell a friend who labors in an unchallenging 9 to 5 job that you’re going to pursue your Luxury MBA they might think you’re pulling their leg (or acting annoyingly pretentious). They might also have a laugh guessing what your courses will be—Mink Fur Gowns 101 anyone?

In reality, luxury brand management MBAs, majors and certifications are actually incredibly useful; they sharpen your business skills and nurture your understanding of the growing luxury management sector.

Business schools such as HEC Paris, London Business School and ESSEC have created tailored MBA programs, degrees, hands-on training and clubs that prepare tomorrow’s leaders in the high-brow and frenetic luxury management sector so that they are well-equipped to deliver exactly what their clients desire.

Students learn how to properly manage creative projects, launch products, develop marketing strategies and cover communication campaigns just to name a few of the skills that are covered. Thriving in the world of luxury is no mean feat, which is why pursuing such an MBA can be vital to your success.

Let’s take a closer look at what some of the best business schools have to offer:

ESSEC

ESSEC offers an 11-month MBA in International Luxury Brand Management at their campus just outside Paris, France. The program was first established in 1995, and is currently partnered with the likes of L’Oreal, Gucci, Christian Dior, Swarovski and Calvin Klein.

Students are taught to look at issues in the industry from a global perspective, and get to study complex situations from financial, business and cultural angles. There are four parts to the program:

• Business Knowledge & Market Trends;
• Luxury Brand Management and Semiotics;
• Luxury Sector Management; and
• A two-month consulting project at a prestigious company.

Field trips are an important part of the program as well, and recent trips have included jaunts to Dubai, Italy and Hong Kong.

HEC Paris

HEC Paris is one of the world’s leading business schools. Located in one of Europe’s capitals of luxury, HEC Paris offers a rapid-fire two-week luxury program that is aimed at people who already work in the sector and want to take their game to the next level. The course takes place across three cities:

• Paris;
• Milan; and
• Florence

Students who attend the course usually already have solid experience in the world of luxury brands, and the course is known for its exclusivity. Lasting just two weeks, it seeks to endow its students with the right kind of skills, mindset and understanding that will help them succeed at luxury companies and brands around the world.

The course is super hands-on, very demanding and focuses on an all-round vision of luxury that takes a look at all its various sectors and facets.

London Business School

London Business School’s Global MBA (Luxury Brand Management) program is offered in three stages:

• Stage I encompasses marketing and business environment, accounting and managerial finance, systems and operations management, as well as research methods.
• Stage 2 moves to strategic management and leadership, luxury brand management, global marketing management and research methods.
• Stage 3 includes an online dissertation and research methods and is worth as many credits as the first two stages combined.

The program seeks to endow the student with a firm understanding of luxury brand management practices. Skills learned by the student include strategic, marketing and research skills, while intimate knowledge of this specialized industry is also a desired outcome.

SDA Bocconi

The leading business school in Italy, SDA Bocconi offers both a one and a two year MBA. When it comes to the luxury market, their Executive Open Course schedule allows you to update your skills through the Strategic Management of Luxury Business class.

Luxury Connect Business School

Other schools are built entirely around luxury brand management. India is home to just such a school in LCBS (Luxury Connect Business School). This school boasts a unique experience while you train and works in collaboration with the International University of Monaco to offer a diploma or post-graduate courses.

Special Events

When you don’t have the time or resources to devote a full year (or even two weeks) to a luxury training program, other top European business schools such as IMD invite executives from luxury brands such as Hublot to Discovery Events geared toward fueling discussions, sharing knowledge or best practices and experience in luxury marketing and innovation.

There is certainly no wrong time to pursue an MBA or major in luxury brand management. Rather, there is always a right time. Luxury companies are growing all the time, with some recording growth of 27% in the last three years. If entering the world of luxury is something you’ve been thinking about, getting on board a luxury MBA, or major at a top school, is a great start.

In the excellent article “Luxury Institute Reveals 7 Major Improvements Store Managers Recommend to Drive Sales Performance Right Now,” Milton Pedraza, CEO of Luxury Institute, LLC, shares results of an intimate focus group he conducted with  store managers of premium and luxury brands and shares their best practices and recommendations to improve sales. Continue reading →