patrick_y[PuristSPro Moderator]
28279
So... Here's another thing you probably didn't know...
Jul 18, 2022,16:27 PM
There are hundreds of Duty Free stores in airports run by DFS (Duty Free Stores) which is an LVMH company. LVMH's DFS-branded stores carry brands from all the major groups, including competitors to LVMH. In fact, many DFS stores carry tobacco products, Richemont made its fortunes initially off tobacco! Richemont sold off the Tobacco business decades ago, partially to fund an expansion in the luxury business. So... A Richemont store doesn't have to be a Richemont only store. Just saying this and citing DFS as an example. And here's what Lange wants... Lange feels that their brand is so special and so technical, they want some super smart and strategic person (these kinds of people are rare, retail doesn't always attract the smartest people in the world - not like investment banking or lawyering or doctoring does - there are very smart people in retail, but there are probably more dumb ones - yes there are also dumb doctors and lawyers too, but hopefully fewer) who isn't only mensa-level IQ intelligent, also EQ compatible with most clients, but also a watch lover to be a huge expert on Lange. They don't feel that their expert could be an expert at Lange and multiple other brands, without some reduction of expertise of how Lange watches are made. And generally... You don't realize that this is a limitation.
I once said something in a meeting filled with McKinsey consultants that showed how out of touch those untouchable McKinsey consultants were. This team of half a dozen McKinsey consultants had charged this company around $600,000 for a two week gig and we were at the end of it, in a meeting where they were making a final Powerpoint presentation of their findings and suggestions. I was a free consultant, simply sitting in the meeting on the client's side, I got some free BBQ sauce and vinegar out of it. These McKinsey consultants were telling this retailer that sold high end pots and kitchen tools to adopt a computerized CRM system that was very advanced and to go onto a Salesforce platform. These consultants were fairly young, idealistic, smart kids who all came from good families and went to good East Coast schools. I knew some of them, I've had dinners with them, even had drinks with two of them; but I was there in my capacity for the client. But their idea for adopting a complex Salesforce system was wrong for the client and I said very simply, "your idea to implement Salesforce won't work, in the week you've been observing the client's retail stores, you didn't see that the retail staff has a hard enough time remembering to ask all the clients to sign up for the store's credit card and loyalty program - now you want this team to enter Opportunities and Accounts into a complex Salesforce platform?" The McKinsey people were stunned. They didn't know what else to say after this. They had no choice but to continue their presentation that was almost entirely based on Salesforce and how business percentages would increase after adopting Salesforce.
So again... My point is... Don't overestimate the abilities of the person. Lange wants a small team of people to do an EXCEPTIONAL job in all things Lange. Not a big multi-brand store with people all doing an "adequate" job for multiple brands. The clients - watch savants like us - are going to have a harder time though. We will have a much harder time making a relationship with 3-4 different stores. Imagine you having to maintain a relationship at the Patek Philippe store, the jeweler, the Lange store, and the Vacheron Constantin store... Goodness... What a first-world problem, but still a huge problem. Lange's hope is to dazzle their clients with such amazing product, service, and expertise, that you'll gradually wind up at one store - theirs.