Watch sellers and client expectations

François Thiébaud is absolutely right: those who sell watches to the end-customer should be experts in the field.

To sell is to fire up the customer's imagination

Horology brands proudly boast the exceptional quality and technical sophistication of contemporary timepieces and claim that they are the direct result of five centuries of research in many different fields, technology, metal science, mathematics, physics, astronomy and arts. This, they state, has resulted in today's extremely high quality levels, which no one would have dreamt of only twenty-five years ago.

However, the most sophisticated pieces will only end up in the hands of a few collectors who keep abreast of developments in horology. And this will most definitely not be thanks to sales personnel, who do not usually have the knowledge required to promote them as they should be. Logical, isn't it? In order for the most sophisticated items to be sold, they need to be presented in a way that unleashes our wildest dreams.

Customer expectations keep growing

The reality is quite different, actually. Whilst there are some experts in Switzerland and in other places who are able to sell a complicated watch while providing their client with its minutest details, they are rare. The majority of salespersons working in horology retail or brand boutiques are unable to do that. All they do is repeat what their brands have told them to say. And you can consider yourself lucky if, heaven forbid, they don't make up a series of ridiculous facts in order to clinch a sale. You think this is just a pessimistic or defeatist point of view? Well, it is sadly true in 2013.

I can assure you this gloomy conclusion is not rooted in a lack of intelligence on the part of sales personnel.

No. It is the reality of an entire economic segment which, in most cases until today, has not deemed it necessary to provide training for their sales staff. Demand was high and brands were happy to supply watches to move. Retailers were making good money and all they had to do was finish their golf match on Saturdays and go back to the shop to pick up the receipts.

But that's in the past now. Today, clients want accurate and convincing information before buying. It is only natural. Nevertheless, many retailers still refuse to provide their sales personnel with the necessary training. Why? Well, some of them may just be stingy; others may lack the expertise themselves and therefore do not want their staff to be superior to them in knowledge. Still others, perhaps, would rather avoid investing in training a clerk who might then go work for someone else. In short, they give a profusion of lame excuses for their refusal to be part of an unavoidable future, which lies in development. It’s a lemming mentality, all heading in the same direction and then over the cliff. What's happening in watch retail is exactly what happened in photography and perfumes.

The Watch Sales Academy: training for the future

And yet there aresolutions. Take the Watch Sales Academy, for example. The AMS (Association des fabricants et détaillants en horlogerie, marché Suisse), an association regrouping  manufacturers and retailers, with François Thiébaud as vice-president, took matters into their hands. They paved the way for the creation of a professional school that trains sellers, giving them at the end of their studies an official Swiss diploma (the brevet fédéral) in horology sales consultancy. The 42-day postgraduate course is aimed at the staff of watchmaking companies that work in the markets, and more specifically at retail sales personnel who are in direct contact with consumers. For the moment, the course is offered in French and German only.

Due to the growing importance of this training course and to the fact that it is an extremely positive asset, the AMS decided to expand its scope. A public-private partnership was created between the canton of Neuchâtel, the town of Le Locle and the CIFOM (Centre de formation des montagnes neuchâteloises), a professional training centre.  The outcome was an extraordinary institution, namely the Watch Sales Academy, which was set up in a building right in the centre of Le Locle, at the heart of the Neuchâtel mountains.

A similar training course leading to an equivalentof the brevet fédéral  will soon be open to foreigners interested in acquiring fundamental knowledge leading to the Swiss made label for watch selling. Tuition will be offered in English or other languages, if need be. Some of them can even be downloaded from the official website.

Thanks to Salva Magaz for pictures. More info: www.magaz.com