Book review: The Art and Psychology of Selling Brand Name Watches
Know thine enemy …
The Art and Psychology of Selling Brand Name Watches
[A training handbook for successful salespersons, sales supervisors and instructors.]
By Jurgen Uhle.
Publisher: Scriptar SA, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1982
When I saw the title of this handbook I thought it might be fun. Written by a management and sales consultant to increase the success of watch salespeople, it describes an interesting game of cat and mouse.
The techniques recommended essentially boil down to the following:
Be enthusiastic and pleasant and establish a favorable emotional relationship.
Don’t pre-judge or jump to conclusions based on your prior knowledge of customers.
Ask open-ended questions to pull the customer into the sales conversation.
Be credible and avoid controversies and never directly contradict the customer.
Relate the watches features back to what the customer wants and avoid technical jargon.
Use a tray to show off the watches to their best advantage. Never more than 7 watches, and place the watch in question in the middle of the group. Start with the most expensive and move down. And explain why there are price differences. Put any rejected watches out of site, leaving only 2 or 3 models on the tray for the final decision.
Recommend the model that the customer asked the most about or put on his wrist the most.
Present your reasons to purchase that particular watch from the customers’ perspective.
Don’t bring up the price too early in the conversation because it establishes a price ceiling nominated by the customer.
Never use the word “expensive”. Talk about “exclusive” and “value” instead.
When finally giving the price, say it with assurance – don’t hesitate or be nervous like you are charging too much.
And as soon as you give the price, tell the customer why the watch is worth the asking price and move to neutralize any objections.
Does any of this seem familiar to you? Have some of the salespeople you have dealt with read this handbook?!
I think back over some of the most pleasant interactions I have had with watch salespeople and now wonder if they were just telling me what I wanted/needed to hear!
But armed with knowledge, who’s going to be the cat and who’s going to be the mouse next time? J
Andrew
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result …”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War
I've had a few remarkable encounters . . .
I am a little surprised that ...
... American English hasn't changed the spelling to audiofile for clarity.
Poor salesman! I hope you were gentle.
Andrew
"Audiophile" is pronounced . . .
"The Art..." is correct...
Different approaches
Not quite the latest sales 'tactics', Patrick. This handbook was published in 1982, but I guess human psychology doesn't change too much.
I agree that customers don't always follow their own 'handbooks', and different approaches work better on different customers. We certainly see that on our day-to-day interactions with people as well. But I also think that readers of PuristS and other horology sites are quite a self selected customer type and respond to somewhat different approaches - generally we want access to product, information, and an understanding salesman. But reading the various suggestions in this Handbook, I can see some of the strategies that I have encountered walking into dealers. And no, I don't believe they have ever worked on me.
Regards
Andrew
The Magical Number Seven
It is really about technique in selling...
I must buy a copy! It's not that I wish to sell...but to know how I bought.
You might like this additional quote:
This is my favourite quote from the book, Bernard, but perhaps it cuts a little close to the bone.
“Give the customer arguments that he needs to justify his choice to himself ... and to justify his choice to others.”
almost everything in there is redundant and does not work on me
neither does smooth talk and sweet sales ladies. my top 3 sales persons are all either underweight or overweight unattractive middle age men. since this book was written, there have been three big trends - 1) rise of internet sourced information on the 3Ps - Pricing, Promotion and Product, 2) massive increase in prices leading to increasing number grey dealers and parallel importers, and 3) rise of brand owned boutiques reducing the need cross compare brands and makes.
interesting book still, basic skillsets never change, whether selling watches or fishes.
best,
Horo
The playing field ...
... has definitely changed, Horo. Once the Authorised Dealers were the only source for these pieces. And we were at the mercy of the salesman. And it is also true that we have 'educated' and 'collected' our way out of the typical customer mould. But the psychology of dealing with customers face to face still largely holds.
Great comments. Thanks!
Andrew
Very Interesting
That's true but ...
... the best salespeople try to understand your needs and tastes and guide you to watches you didn't even consider. That has opened my eyes a couple of times. But it's rare.
And what I have appreciated from salesman is a balanced discussion of the watches they are selling and compatison with other pieces in the horological world. That is very pleasant and often leads to me wanting to buy a watch from them!
Andrew
selling dreams
www.youtube.com
Best regards,
Jack Freedman
But isn't it rare when the seller knows more
Smarter, taller and better looking?
I thought that was why we bought these things?!
Like you I usually visit dealers with a specific agenda and I have done my 'homework', but there are also times that I just want to see what's new and interesting. So I am happy to learn and be 'guided' by the salespeople. But of course very few salespeople live up to our expectations - in fact I can count that number on the fingers of one hand! :-(
Andrew
Like any product, art or machine
I think we buy because they invoke emotions. Maybe it's just me. Value is a factor but a relatively absurd term for the hobby or luxury goods in general. Today, with so much literature at our disposal on every model conceivable rarely do we learn of something unknown and new once in production and available for sale. My only recent fresh experience was the devon tread this past winter. I agree with you that good salespeople are rare. The salesperson who sold me my first JLC was a true gentleman who knew his products inside out 
. I always think of him fondly and he was a true professional. Whether he read the training manual or not, he was sincere and passionate about watches. Your post makes me appreciate him more. Thank you for the interesting post. Best regards,
Interesting Andrew
I think most of that hasn't been applied to me before. (not knowingly anyway)
I find the most interesting visits to watch shops usually end up with long conversations about the technology behind manufacturing today. Some of the best conversations have been in London surprisingly, (a lot of places in London have been so negative to customers in the past, in my experience) Certain shops and chains really do seem to train their staff well, including visits to the factories. A conversation about column wheels, escapements, and even recently sapphire glasses have all been great fun.
These conversations do not often result in a sale to me, but will certainly make me consider using that place to purchase in the future. I visit London occasionally, being from the frozen wastelands of Northern England, so it is also great to see many of the 'unaffordables' shown in these pages from time to time
Regards
Tim