How well are you being served?

The luxury goods market, according to a new report out on the sector titled Luxury: Considered by de Beers and authored by Ledbury Research, will see a shift due to the current worldwide economic downturn. The report makes many valid points such as how consumers will leave “fast luxury behind for fewer, better things”. The report also makes the point that the India and China markets will become important to the future of the luxury business sooner rather than later.

While all this is great, the report makes one critical admission: that service that a consumer gets while shopping is important. Says the report, “Many of our commentators cited the level and quality of service afforded to a luxury customer as a critical differentiator between luxury brands today. Despite this, and clear evidence that service can help to make a shopping experience pleasurable, research shows that 53 per cent of luxury consumers are dissatisfied with the service they receive, often citing rude staff.”

In India, I say the problem of rudeness is further compounded by pure ignorance. Staff hired by luxury goods companies to man their stores in India are often clueless about what they are selling. Luxury goods companies have complained that getting people with the right skill set (presentable looking, good communication skills, knowledgeable) in India has been very difficult. But that excuse just doesn’t hold as the primary job of a luxury goods company is to source what isn’t easy to source, be it in the product they offer or the design sensibility. The ordinary and everyday stuff is ordinary and everyday as it is easily and routinely avilable.

A premium can be demanded for a service or a product that is extraordinary. The primary promise of a luxury product is to deliver at every level of the luxury experience to provide the superlative. As the report notes, time has today become the ultimate luxury as it is so scarce. By inflicting poorly trained staff on Indian luxury consumers, these companies are reneging on their commitment of upholding the highest standards. If India, as the report projects, is going to be one of two countries that will provide maximum revenue for these companies, opening stores with badly trained staff is a remarkably short-sighted and foolish policy.

Before the current recession hit the world, every visiting senior executive of a luxury goods company to India would claim to be serious about the Indian market and talk about their plans to expand rapidly. My message to all these heads of these companies is that even if there are fewer stores selling their labels, it’s much better than being ill-prepared with badly-trained store staff. It’s not rocket science that store staff are the first point of contact for any consumer and even one bad experience can ruin a budding and lucrative relationship. This would without any doubt be detrimental to the company rather than the consumer who can just move on to another label.

So all you gentlemen who run both niche as well as large luxury companies, focus on this as far as the India market is concerned. A small presence is better than a large but shoddy chain of stores. Exclusive and good service goes a long way in building long-term relationships, bad service just leaves a bad taste in the mouth.