Tuesday, June 1, 2010

A few days ago... at the DLF Emporio...


The other day I was in Delhi with my parents for my cousin’s  wedding. We had some free time before we had to head back for the airport so I dragged them to the DLF Emporio, just to look around ;)

My mom liked a LV patent leather bag and a bright red Bottega Veneta... but my dad didn’t seem to be particularly interested. After checking out a few more stores, we ended up in front of a Harry Winston timepieces store. That was the 1st time since we’d entered the Emporio that I saw my dad’s eyes sparkle. He saw this brilliant watch in the window and went in. A young lady – very much Indian - dressed in a pink western formals greeted us with a smile. My dad, looks like an average middle-aged Indian man, very down-to-earth, with a radiant, stern expression on his face and like most Indian men of that stature, a growing waistline. My mom on the other hand has an enigmatic elegance about her which instantly would identify her as a luxury consumer. I am a mixture of both, and on that particular way, was dressed more like a junkie in a ‘Hare Krishna’ top.  My dad, though didn’t know the details about the brand Harry Winston, knew that the watch he liked would be priced around Rs. 25 lakhs. And so it was. I was mighty impressed with his guess though he seemed pretty focused on that watch he’d set his heart on. The young girl in pink rattled off her sales pitch, about Harry Winston being the best and the watch being in 18 Karat rose gold with a certain number of VVS quality diamonds and automatic movements...etc...etc...

Just then, a question that my dad asked... stumped both her and me! “What’s the re-sale value of these diamonds?!” His question was genuine and I knew from his expression that he expected a straight answer, just as straight and innocent as his question was! But in response, he got a flabbergasted, almost disrespectful, “You don’t resale a Harry Winston! People who buy it buy it for the brand... how can you even say that you want to resale the diamonds!!!!” Not that she was wrong... she was probably trained on the product and didn’t know the answer, but she failed to understand the sentiment behind that question. The question wasn’t meant to ask the resale price, it was meant to get the true value of the item that he was investing in... and Indians are verrry good at this! But the European training that was given, didn’t tackle these simple, innocent but extremely smart questions that only a moneyed Indian businessman would ask!

Anyways, WRONG ANSWER + WRONG TONE & MANNER = Daddy not impressed = Lost sale!

Moral of the Story: Unlike the Europeans, Indians and especially the first generation Indians, are very particular about whether they are getting their money’s worth. They do not go by the reassurance of the brand name only; they also want to know their product equally well, especially in the case of watches and jewellery. As I have often mentioned... A watch to a man is what Jewellery is to a woman. Indians are used to getting the price break-up on jewellery and sub-consciously the same applies to anything else that involves gold, diamonds or precious materials like in the case of that watch. 

When entering the Indian market and training their staff for the Indian market, luxury marketers must train their staff in a way that they can handle the Indian sensibilities. These nuances can make or break a sale and at the point of sale, not being able to anticipate questions and not having the right answers or presence of mind can be disastrous! 

6 comments:

  1. So true ! india is still new to the idea of luxury brands even when we have more international brands opening with pretty faces ( these perhaps the only thing we relate to ).
    Luxury is liberty. It is the necessity that begins where other necessities end.
    Sales personnel cannot get away with replies implicating, its the style, finesse that costs the clients exorbitant price !

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  2. I believe this links back to listening to the consumer - sales staff very often are so robot-like in their approach that building any sort of customer relationship is almost impossible.Which is also why Indians prefer the Tribhovandas and Waman Hare Pethe formats as compared to international jewellers due to the sense of mutual respect,trust and a genuine heart to heart conversation.

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  3. I have posted this link on Harry Winston FB page - hope that is fine ;)
    Liked this v much

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  4. Of course Jiju! I'm glad you did that!! :D

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  5. Hi Sonal I am currently working with a luxury watch retailer at their HO. I jst keep looking for articles and write ups which can help me stay updated on this industry and the consumer mindset while buying watches..came across this blog on internet.. trust me you have brought about a very genuine problem we face while selling these super luxury time-pieces.We are striving to place these products as investments..cant disclose our plans but yes its an on floor problem where we tend to loose sales..Learnig the art and science of marketing to the affluent is still not completely known in India but yes we will soon hit the right nerve .. !! Cheers agin to a nice article..

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  6. Wohooo...I need to confess, I am impressed!!! Love the tone,flow and message of the article. An extremely well written passage,which in its a own way was a short sweet story depicting Indian sentiments and values for its reader. Keep up the good work!!!

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