patrick_y
[PuristSPro Moderator]
33547
That's true! Although a lot of ADs really don't invest enough in training...
If I were to focus on the training portion, a lot of ADs really don't invest in training. They'll build a multi million dollar store, no problem. They'll spend about 2% of their revenue on advertising! But how much will they spend per year on training? Generally, especially for non corporate stores, well under 1%. You go to most Patek Philippe ADs (I'll admit, I haven't been getting long conversations lately, due to COVID and due to low inventories) and they don't feel they have to earn your business - they just clerk. And when you start asking questions, they generally don't really know the answer - or they make stuff up - the more a salesperson talks is often indicative they don't know the real answer. I've gone to Patek Philippe stores in many parts of the world and I would say a huge portion of them, maybe a majority worldwide doesn't know which spring is the mainspring and the hairspring. As many often interchange the two or use them synonymously either on accident or due to a lack of knowledge. This makes me really roll my eyes. To say training suggests a pretty advanced analysis of the situation as done by BARD. You ask a typical business school student or even a McKinsey consultant who knows nothing about the Patek Philippe world and after a two week research study, they'd likely suggest training but I'm not even sure that they'd feel the need for that. SURELY, MANY SALES PEOPLE HAVE NOT REALIZED THEIR OWN INADEQUACIES, OR ELSE THEY WOULD SELF TRAIN THEMSELVES ABOUT THE TOPIC AND IMPROVE. And salespeople are at these stores for years! And they haven't realized their weaknesses - or they don't see their weaknesses as a major fault.
Asking Google's BARD (Google's Artificial Intelligence) Questions About Patek Philippe
I recently asked Google's Artificial Intelligence computer questions about my favorite topic! Watches! Patek Philippe is closing 30% of its dealers in an effort to become more exclusive. What can existing dealers do to show their value to Patek Philippe? ...
Good job BARD!!
I think that the system does quite well when presented with questions of a more logical, reason-driven nature. I'm not expecting it to be able to remotely accurately predict or incorporate the extremely delicate and layered nature of human psychology and ...
Yes! The brain is amazingly complex!
But BARD is definitely doing a great job! I'm really impressed.
BARD is going to take over the world!
I think BARD will eventually take over the world. It has enough charm and knowledge to run for some small political offices. It's going to be less corrupt, and it will basically play the game of politics like chess, making sacrifices here and there if it ...
Very impressive....
I would, for one, totally agree with replacing politicians with BARD! It would definitely bring better outcomes, no doubt about it....
Not to get too political...
I'd agree. I'd be willing to give it a try. Let them start off with some positions in the city council or something. See what they can do.
Politics and robots is a no no
Let me explain, in theory it’s very nice how you explained everything, but let’s imagine bard decided that one human or a million kids in Africa dying is a better move, it has no feelings and yes human beings are not calculated when it comes to saving liv...
It'd work within the confines of the role...
We'd put AI in charge of some small position in City Council or even lower first. Not where it's making cross continental decisions. Sure, AI would have to make that kind of decision if it were put in a role at the UN or IMF or some major global policy or...
We shall see!
BARD would probably not want me as its campaign manager. It'd look at my resume and say, "unfortunately you don't have enough campaign management experience, we should be able to find someone better." Lol, I'm out of a job thanks to the logic of AI! I can...
Reminds me of the movie Equilibrium!
I'm getting some dystopian future vibes in this post!
Love it -- these things are scary and fascinating at once! ;-)) The only line that sounds a little odd is "Dealers should only sell to customers who [...] can afford to pay the asking price," but in the end great job!
For sure, BARD seems to know Patek Philippe better than many experts and ADs!😂😉
Agreed. That was odd!
I didn't want to doctor BARD's response. But yes, that was exactly how BARD said it. Overall, BARD knows what the watch community needs. BARD probably even knows that the average consumer is now very knowledgeable - probably knows that the average consume...
Therein lies it's weakness, though
BARD is trafficking in ideals, rationalities... human nature is hardly either which will always be the deficiency of AI
Maybe BARD had a deeper meaning...
A lot of ADs sell these watches to people who can't afford them... There are people who buy Pateks solely to flip them for a profit. They can't really afford to hold onto them long-term as the funds are earmarked for investment, not enjoyment. There was a...
Sounds like a book report written by a child who didn’t read the book…
Obligatory Simpsons clip Bart’s Treasure Island Book Report
I had to look that one up!
I thought it did a pretty good job! It's not perfect, but I'd give it a B grade. Better than a C for sure. Not quite an A. And for it to have mentioned "Training" I thought was a pretty advanced bonus! EXTRA CREDIT!
Hummmm, just plug in the brand name "Patek Phillipe", or for that matter "Rolex", or "AP", or "VC", etc., etc.
and you will get basically the same answers IMO. This to me reads like a horoscope that is written in such generalities in order to cover everyone. Not saying it doesn't make sense, just saying its output that can apply to all brands.
Hmm, you're probably right... Good analysis!
That's true. Horoscopes kind of apply to everybody. The artificial intelligence does feel better than a Horoscope though. Something about it has this je ne sais quoi quality that shows it understands much more than a horoscope. But you're right, I should ...
Nice to hear from you. It's an interesting idea to see what happens if you test AI with other brands.
If you do, please share the results if you can. It will be interesting to see.
For a B-school student, and in the abstract, sure. A nice textbook response.
As advice to a Patek dealer, I rate it near zero. Ask any dealer who recently lost its AD relationship with Patek and I think they'd say almost none of those things would have made any difference whatsoever. The AI answer is more geared toward a situation...
ADs don't get it. They should invest more in trainings...
The problem with non corporate ADs is that they're often family run, and family run business keep a tight eye on the profits. Every cent being spent is one less cent going into the owner's pocket. Also, retail is often a transitional industry, even at the...
That's true! Although a lot of ADs really don't invest enough in training...
If I were to focus on the training portion, a lot of ADs really don't invest in training. They'll build a multi million dollar store, no problem. They'll spend about 2% of their revenue on advertising! But how much will they spend per year on training? Ge...
I wish training made a difference. In this environment, except perhaps for the Salons, it doesn't, but it should.
Almost any genuine enthusiast is more knowledgeable than most salespeople -- true of cars, often wine, and many other luxuries. But a minimum of training should be had if for no other reason than to impassion would-be enthusiasts.
Here's the beauty about wine... There are standardized tests for wine experts.
Wine is easy to identify the trained people. They have Sommelier certifications. Either they've passed some WSET course or they've got a Sommelier Pin from the Court of Master Sommeliers. This is a clear standard. WHERE IS THIS in the watch world? Today, ...
Agree with you re wine in the case of a certified Sommelier.
I was thinking more along the lines of wine stores that sell genuinely fine wines. Enthusiasts often know more. The best Sommeliers are of course mostly confined to the finest restaurants or auction houses for economic reasons.
Maybe I just know too little about fine wines...
But the really upper end wine stores I've been to - the smaller ones - not the big box retailers. Say Wally Wines in Beverly Hills, K&L wines in Silicon Valley, the salespeople generally have a decent grasp. Then again, maybe that's because I know so ...
I think the wine stores do fine (well, even) in recommendations at that level.
But to get into the minutiae of, say, the Burgundy Domaines, there is less knowledge of the wines than many enthusiasts have. The stores obviously focus on what they can access and have available at the time. No surprise there. I'm in California as well, ...
It's been too long since we last met!
But yes, every store can do better in the training department. I have a feeling that K&L people aren't on a commission, looking at their jobs posting it implies it's an hourly. So they're probably not incentivized to sell desperately, which means they...
Yes! They've grown fat and lazy the past few years!
Now, they should take a breather and reinvest in themselves!
And yes, when there's a huge global demand for fancy watches, training doesn't make a difference...
But when things go back to normal... Training will make a huge difference.