“People always want to dream and luxury can help transport them to a place of happiness.”
Luxury isn’t a product or service, but a mindset. Luxury is not a set of techniques, or codes; it is a complete culture, everything the brand does should aim at making it incomparable, from the products themselves, the stores, the service, each single act of communication. The core values expressed and delivered by the brand must connect the company and its staff’s dedication to quality and service with the customers’ values and aspiration.
It is these people, not the product that make a luxury brand.
The Changing Luxury Consumer Landscape.
In recent times, the luxury sector is seeing a transformative change. The post covid consumer behaviour, the rise of gen z, the digital disruptions, the shortening attention spans and the emergence of re-commerce as an option, are all necessitating a fresh approach towards the often-ignored aspect of Luxury Training.
Ironically, Luxury training has always been an area of importance & focus for brands across categories. However, most brand trainings have been centred purely around their product, current collections as well as their well laid out standard operating procedures. Whilst this is necessary, it also limits the sales associates from thinking out of the box there by restricting them into a mechanised ‘sales process’. With the changing luxury scenario, this no longer can hold true.
Need of the hour – Luxury Training Today
Any luxury training should ideally revolve around key ingredients of:
- The Luxury mindset – Mindset is very important because without a proper luxury mindset, you’ll give little to nothing out of a luxury service. Luxury understanding and expression comes from within and not because an item displays a logo or tells you it’s luxury. True luxury begins from within the mind and emotions, it is not started solely from something external. Developing a luxury mindset is a self-learning process. Be a self-learner.
- Brand story telling – Sell the brand story – the product is just a bye product of the brand. Narrating the brand story, its DNA, its country of origin and its legendary creator are the most essential elements that draw a customer towards the product. After all, the ‘little black dress’ by Chanel is different from other black dresses simply because it is by ‘Chanel’!
- The client’s dream story – A luxury brand is incomparable to none! It says – choose me since I am the only one that can fulfil your desire. Understanding the clients dream & attraction towards the brand is the beginning of a relationship. Help the client relive his dream. The client then see’s you as a participant of the same dream and desire as his.
- The product story – Every luxury product has a great story around its inspiration, creation, features, details and manufacturing process. Use that as a story to entrance the customer.
- Beyond just transactions – It is widely true – build relations, business will follow. The luxury business is all about going beyond just transactions. Think long term & invest in building relations.
- Empathy & emotional intelligence – A luxury client does not ‘need’ the product. Yet, there is a rationale behind his irrational purchase. Once you get there through active listening, empathy and emotional bonding, you have a client for life.
- Experience & Engagement – Luxury clients seek exceptional product and service experience. The perfect touch, the perfect word, the perfect environment, the perfect engagement and perfect service. There is no shortcut in this business. An intelligent engagement leads to a satisfying and long lasting relationship.
- Secrecy and privacy – In the current age of deception, credibility matters the most. Luxury customers expect privacy and data security. They demand transparency regarding the use of their personal information and the ability to exercise control over it, especially given the heightened risks they face in the event of a data breach.
- Credibility – In order to be credible, you must be authentic, true & consistent in what you believe & deliver. Trust is the most preferred currency in luxury service.
- Exclusivity – A key driver of most luxury purchases, luxury helps one to stand out, be unique, be recognised and yet be comfortable and elegant. A uniquely curated exclusive experience and engagement help build an exclusive relationship. Personalisation, need anticipation and understanding client preferences can help create exclusive experiences.
- Digital skills – In a digitally disrupted world, the client expects seamless communications and experiences across all channels. Being digitally savvy and not just literate is the order of the day.
- Grooming, manners & etiquettes – Being polite, soft spoken and well behaved with the highest level of etiquettes, personal hygiene and elegance are core elements. There is no room for arrogance and rudeness. Luxury, a zero tolerance zone can be unforgiving for impoliteness if any.
- Substance with style – A Luxury professional, just like a luxury product is an equal & perfect balance of uncompromised tangibility with seductive intangibility. A wonderful combination of 60% substance and 40% style, that helps the client elevate their style quotient with extremely comfortable functionality.
To conclude, for something to be a luxury, people must be surprised, mind-blown, and awe-inspired by it. They have to feel “wow” and, frankly, should crave for more. A luxury brand goes beyond the tangible product and creates a deep rooted emotional, mental, psychological and almost romantically inclined desire-based relationship. Good quality, impeccable service, top notch materials, sound production and a more than attractive sales environment are the given ingredients of this relationship. The hero is the product but the heroine is the emotional experience that keeps bringing back the customer always seeking for more. The story is incomplete without the romantic angle of pampering, wooing, seducing and courting the customer. This can only be done through immersive and engaging personalized experiences, servicing and storytelling. With the advent of tech tools, a constant drama can evoke desire.
