Luxury Sales Force Management

Sales teams can often make or break the success of a new luxury brand or product. As competition between retailers and brands grows, it becomes increasingly important to stimulate the sales team's motivation for higher sales performance and stronger commitment to their own organization. It is the most influential communication vehicle for launching a new product or brand and should therefore be considered even prior to consumers. In Luxury Sales Force Management, Michaela Merk examines the strategies that allow managers from luxury organizations to win their sales team's hearts and minds, enabling higher sales performance. Based on new research into luxury sales teams worldwide, Merk explores how salespeople's relationships with brands they sell emerge, how they can be characterized and what top management should do to strengthen these in order to use the sales force-brand relationship as a strategic tool. Merk shows that these relationships have the power to increase salespeople's selling motivation, their commitment to both the organization and its brands, and ultimately the success of the company. * One of the first books to focus on strengthening the bond between the sales team and the brand. * Based on 4 years of intense research in which over 600 salespeople and top managers in the luxury industry were interviewed. * Contains 18 management strategies aimed at reinforcing the five key emotional facets that help build strong ties between a brand and its sales force: Love, Identification, Trust, Pride and Recognition. * Contains easy-to-use checklists, models and frameworks that can be applied in any company. * Illustrated by 150 quotes from salespeople and managers of over 50 premium and luxury brands, such as Cartier, Prada, Fendi and Hermes. * Features innovative graphics and humorous illustrations, drawn by well-known cartoonist Albert Dessinateur