Why is the Luxury Marketing Space Different?

When something we purchase is a need, we have a certain set of parameters we commit to muscle memory. As long as the paper products we buy get the job done, we may be inclined to save a little and not go high end. Something in the mid-range that still gets the job done is our choice. The same for cleaning supplies and often we’ll go generic on meds, or grocery store brand on some food stuff. Saving but getting something that still will suffice is a frugal way to buy perishables and things that have a shelf life. 

Now let’s list a few items that don’t have a shelf life, some things that don’t have an expiration date and may stay with us for quite a span of time. Items such as: boats and collector cars, instruments, jewelry, and heirlooms that can even out-live us and be passed down to the next generation. Items that can be considered lifestyle or statement or recreational in nature. That is often a purchase made with a different set of criteria in mind. Criteria changes dramatically if it is the house, piano, motorcycle or horse of your dreams. Why? Because “the want” is stronger than the need. The emotions are on steroids if they are being applied toward the opportunity to buy that special thing you, or you and your loved one, have been working toward or considering for a while, until the time was ripe. 

This is why the luxury marketing space is different.

It needs to be approached differently than you would if you were merchandising everyday commodities. Dare I say, “and shame on those who would rain on the parade of us buying something special by treating it less than special and commoditizing it!” What a nefarious way to market: commoditize something of value to make price the priority in the decision making process. Why, there oughta be a law against that!

Allow me to identify the item which scares most mortal sales representatives away from the luxury market arena and toward washers, dryers, furniture and hardware: the gestation period. When folks walk into an appliance, furniture, or everyday retail or hardware store, the need has, for the most part, been identified and the intent to purchase has been determined. Your job when selling these items is greatly enhanced by product knowledge and your experience so that you can give good advice. Sure there are “be-backs” and the best floor sales pros are organized and follow up for a little while, but after a couple of weeks it's a foregone conclusion that if a prospect has quit engaging, they have most likely purchased elsewhere… time to hope for new blood. Feelings are always important and you should play to emotions and benefits, but by and large there isn’t a need to dig deep into the relationship well. A decent amount of product knowledge will get you through because, as I stated, in many, many instances they are coming in to buy. 

The best luxury marketing sales pros take time to create messaging that captures “magic moments", those moments when the customer walks onto the bow of the boat of their dreams and a smile breaks out because they can see their life being on the water, with the wind and sun on their face as they leave the daily business grind behind for a day or a week. That customer, who has taken a ride in several cars until they found the right package, ride, and feel of their dream off-roader, and can then see themselves loading up the tent and the gear for some time away from the city. That look of satisfaction when a guitarist finds their new best musical friend because the look, feel, and sound they have just experienced will give them the opportunity to express themselves the way they’ve always longed to. The body language of someone in that magic moment of discovery or delivery when receiving that special something that is a lifestyle changer. THAT is what makes luxury marketing the most fulfilling adult sales playground to play on - you get to help make someone's life a better place. Pretty cool, right? THOSE are the moments to capture and use in your marketing and sales toolbox. Can agencies recreate them? Yes, to a certain degree and with a pretty stiff price tag, but if you get in the habit of capturing and creating them for yourself and your company, the volume and authenticity will make buyers want to have that feeling. Authenticity will also help them believe that you are the best way to achieve it. Not everything needs to be Hollywood quality; semi-professional and believable social posts will get the job done. 

Now back to the enemy: “Quick and Easy.” Manufacturers worldwide do a less than inspiring job in painting the picture of the benefits of the enhanced lifestyle their products offer. Thank goodness there are exceptions to the rule, and it's not my place to list them but you’ve seen them - the seclusion of renting the right cabin in the woods and the smiling wet faces of the pretty people in the pool on vacation with the umbrella in their drink. Some ads do hit the mark. The benefits make luxury items special and people shopping for them want to feel special… never forget that. The enemy I refer to? The weak sales attitude and culture that says we drop the price to sell more when there is no need to tum a thing of value into something mundane. Dropping the margin and forcing yourself to sell more to hit good sales numbers is simply devaluing something and selling price over value. That is poisonous and strict supply side thinking. “GO SELL A COMMODITY AND LEAVE US LIFESTYLE-ENHANCERS ALONE!", I say.

Allow me to end with a story that illustrates how people buying something allow benefits to rule over price. It is the best place to start with any luxury item prospect. Even bargaining with vendors in the local market is best done “top down.” The hard working Hispanic in the border town instinctively knows to start high to end up selling goods at an acceptable price so they can make a profit. For decades, world leaders have gone into trade negotiations, asking for the moon and the stars before landing in an acceptable place. EVERY good horse trader knows to go top down unless you want to be the volume dependent Walmart of your market area. So here’s the story: 

I was sales training a newbie named Jack (oddly enough) on the showroom floor of a luxury marketing retailer. Jack was fresh out of college and had lots of technical understanding, so I went to work coaching him on sales psychology and how best to engage with prospects on a more personal level, how to care about them (even if they were hard to like) and get them to open up, as good relationship sales professionals do. He was a great student. At first, he wanted to regurgitate all the product knowledge he had worked very hard to learn and impress folks with how much of a specialist he had become. After a couple times of allowing that approach to fail, I jumped in and “took an up” myself and he saw first hand how I made it about how grateful I felt to be working there, what a special place it was and how the owners were great at stocking exactly what people needed and on and on and so forth establishing credibility then making a friend before getting to the discovery. The young man was likable and had an engaging smile, and before long he was making friends then asking questions they were more willing to answer truthfully because they liked and trusted him. He understood that the term “relationship selling” starts with the word “relationship” and not the word “selling.” He began to sell at the rate of a more experienced sales pro and I was proud of him, the way he took to coaching, and his development. He was obviously on his way and I was feeling good about things until that fateful day when I was called into the owner’s office.

It was a husband-wife ownership and he summoned me in with great consternation on his face and in his voice. He started the meeting with, "We’ve got a real problem here Jack, with the way you’re training young Jack. I’m afraid he doesn’t have any negotiating skills and we’re wondering why you left that critical skill out of your training sessions.” I knew we had gone over the major recurring objections, how and when to compromise the price or TO (turn it over) to the supervisor on site, so this surprised me.

Young Jack had been writing 1.5 avg deals per week which was above average for a new sales associate (about double) and I thought he was coming along nicely and that the owners would be pleased, so the tone of this meeting was a surprise to me. I assured the bosses, him and her, that the territory they were concerned about was indeed covered and inquired why they thought it wasn’t in and I was replied to with the most amazing complaint: “Because he has written every piece of business at MSRP (manufacturer suggested retail pricing) and I’m afraid he doesn’t know how to drop the price to close a deal!” 

This was an experienced retailer who had fallen into the trap of selling price instead of value because he believed that if you didn’t you would lose more deals. It took me a while, and a lot of going over sales interactions and notes with young Jack involved, to get the bosses concern addressed, but the answer was simply that young Jack didn’t drop the price to close any of these prospects because he established value and referred to the price as extremely fair. He compared it to the other decisions the prospect could make to buy others things that would not provide all the benefits that what he was selling them could, i.e. : if he was selling a piece of jewelry, he would be selling how unique it would be and effective in making a fashion statement vs. buying a less expensive piece that could easily be seen walking down the street on someone else’s wrist or around their neck. If he was selling a used premium guitar, he would sell the fact that it was a vintage instrument that would probably never be available again, and that the miles on it made it sound better than a new one, where the wood hadn’t received the benefit of the aging; how that gave it its own, personal sound. Benefits vs. other options is a value oriented A-B comparison, as opposed to price vs. price for the same item. Remember that you are not always competing “head to head” with the direct competition but many times ALL the recreational options the world has to offer. IF you establish the value of your product, brand and expertise in advising people early in the process and have the prospect’s trust, using price to close a deal becomes less and less necessary. Price never goes away but value most often trumps price in the luxury market arena. 

I say all that to say this, ”Young Jack” had learned the proper chronological order with which to sell a fine item, therefore, he had yet to need to drop the price to get a deal done. It always happens, sooner or later, but it can be the exception and not the rule. I’ve seen many sales professionals that could never get comfortable with selling something they couldn’t afford or justify themselves. They couldn’t go “top down” because they couldn’t separate the capability of customers who could buy something with a higher price tag than they could ever afford. In their psyche they couldn’t justify the cost weighed against their own personal income earning power, so they could never do a good job of selling that which would be too expensive for them to buy. Selling to someone who made so much more than them was difficult and the irony is that getting over that hump would help them make as much as the person they couldn’t sell. Pretty counterproductive, right? Here’s the thing, if you can’t see yourself being a certain way, chances are you won’t ever get there. You almost always have to have the vision before the dream can come true. 

The last sentence of that paragraph is profound in that luxury marketing sales will allow you to reach personal performance heights that typical retail sales folks never will. Let’s face it, there is only so much you can make selling run of the mill patio furniture at the Home Depot, but handmade pianos? Diamonds? Yachts? RV’s?  Million dollar homes? Well “that’s a horse of a different color”, to quote a classic film. The luxury market space is different and it takes more selling technique studying and people skills than many other things you can sell or be an “order taker” for. 

My suggestion? Embrace it!

You are doing a service no matter what you sell but if you sell luxury items, you can help change people’s lives in a special, more satisfying way. Is one more important than the other? Maybe not; furniture, washers and dryers, lawn mowers and tires are all necessary, actually more necessary for day to day living than luxury items, but the dimension of happiness, mental health and memories you can give people access to, I would argue makes everything a luxury sales professional sells more satisfying. And then there’s this - it’s more fun and more profitable. It is a different space but it’s where some of us just plain belong. My final thought: “have fun selling, lots of fun, sell special stuff. “  

“Luxury takes many forms nowadays, but one thing doesn't change: luxury is about desire and the ability to create dreams.” - Antoine Arnault