jimmyhooker

The Art of Selling an Expensive Watch

When a man in a Cartier watch stepped into the IWC Schaffhausen boutique in Beverly Hills recently, salesman Hua Huynh sprang into action. He led the customer to a case of Aquatimers, the Swiss brand’s line of self-winding dive watches. “What’s the damage?” asked the customer, pointing at one model. “The value is $5,800,” replied Mr. Huynh. “Would you like to try it?”

Hovering nearby, Jean-Marie Brücker winced.

After the gentleman replied, “Nahh,” and left, Mr. Brücker closed in on the salesman. Instead of asking a yes-or-no question, he chided, “next time, you say, ‘I invite you to try the watch. Please take a seat.’ ” He pantomimed swiftly laying the watch on a suede-lined tray, leaving the customer no easy out.

Mr. Brücker, a former Xerox salesman, is training IWC Schaffhausen’s sales force to sell expensive watches in a recession. After years of double-digit sales growth, sales of Swiss watches have fallen off drastically. Watchmakers like IWC—a 140-year-old company whose watches are considered collectors’ items and generally cost between $3,000 and $300,000—are having to re-learn the old-fashioned art of salesmanship.

Source: youmightfindyourself