NLP and Retail – How High End Brands Let Themselves Down

Retail is detail and so is NLP. High end retail brannds spend crazy money on being at the high end of the market so that they can justify the prices they charge and make huge profits.  But they tremendously let themselves down at their core. How?  The NLP coach explains.

1. Inappropriate sales staff

They employ sales staff that is too young to underline the integrity of these well established brands. Many brands have centuries-long traditions. Yet the major proportion of the sales staff are Millennials. Albeit the Millennials can earn good money, they’re unlikely to frequent high end brands for personal shopping.  Most have enough challenge to manage living expenses and the cost of all the fun they want to have. Let alone laying out several thousand for a handbag etc.

The clientele that has the financial predisposition to do it is mostly in the older years of age.  If we picture a scenario in which a couple in their late 60s looking for a gift on travels enters a Dior boutique and an assistant in her early 20s who can’t fluently speak the language and probably knows less about Dior than the couple assists them, we will imagine where any high end brand’s integrity fails. It would be equally strange to see a sales assistant in his or her 60s in a Lululemon store!

Does the 20-something years-young assistant support the integrity of the brand that markets its products primarily to older clientele?  One NLP view is that these brands would exude far more credibility if they employed staff of an age similar to the age of their clients. With tradition comes age and with age comes experience. Older sales assistants would likely learn more about the brand and sell better to clients of similar age to theirs. And older sales assistants would exhibit far more elegant interpersonal skills and passion for the brand than most Millennials.

2. Language cheapens the brands

Most brands employ staff whose linguistic skills are underdeveloped for the high end environment.  Underdeveloped linguistic skills mismatch the high end environment, therefore undermine the integrity of the brand. They also seriously cheapen the luxurious image of the brands. There’s a lot to be said for equal opportunities, but retail is detail. There’s nothing more embarrassing than a CEO of a global company walking into a Dior boutique to buy a gift and the assistant not properly understanding him. Or not having the linguistic capability to clearly converse with him. If I were that CEO, I’d feel insulted for the brand wanting to charge me thousands for a bag, yet giving me an assistant who can’t clearly communicate.  There goes the luxury again, doesn’t it?

3.  Retail staff doesn’t sell

Sales assistants do not sell the brands’ services to clients.  If a client walks into a fashion boutique and is expected to pay thousands for something, the client has the right to expect service.  In fact, the service is included in the high price of the products. Assistants should actively sell all the brand services as unique selling points.  They should proactively inform clients about product repairs and maintenance, personalizing of products, ordering and delivering options, and options of looking products up at other boutiques.  All this in synergy would increase high end brands’ credibility in the eyes and hearts of clients who, being in their older years of age, know a few things about life and have expectations of what luxury should represent – comprehensive service.

NLP and high end retail

have a lot of synergy. As a coach in retail I can help you discover and use that synergy to your (brand’s) best benefit. Shall we have a conversation?