Clienteling is a technique used by retail sales associates to establish long-term relationships with key customers based on data about their preferences, behaviors and purchases. Sales associates gather insights about the client and keep notes about their needs, wants and interests.
Shifting toward new ways of retention and engagement
Luxury brands are seeking to rethink how to re-engage with their clients to maintain their high level of personalized and first-class experience in this modern retail landscape. As our physical and digital worlds continue to blend, consumers are craving authentic and exclusive experiences beyond the products and services they buy more than ever.
To harness the digital experience to their advantage, sales associates should be available on multiple platforms for customer communication. Brands have the opportunity to mobilize their sales advisors to communicate with the clients online and keep a channel of communication open between the client and the brand. Through this proactive approach (clienteling), advisors can recommend items they know suit their clients interests, send them videos of products, give personalized recommendations and provide online appointments from anywhere, anytime. This offers the client a direct experience of the product, an aspect of online shopping that is often excluded. Direct communication with the client also gives the sales advisor the opportunity to upsell and recommend different products that can personalize the sales experience, ultimately building a relationship with the client.
"Transactional selling is a threat to client acquisition and retention” - Martin Shanker, Luxury Daily
Isn't customer service the same thing as clienteling?
It's actually not. Both identify the needs of the client and deliver a solution. However, customer service is more of a reactive way to address customer issues. Whereas, clienteling is a proactive approach which also seeks to establish meaningful relationships with the customer.
What's the best way to clientel?
Establishing authentic relationships using the BSPK iOS app enables sales associates to remain relevant in the digital era. As the consumer mind-set shifts towards mass media, brands need to harness all channels to retain clients and stay competitive. BSPK is the top rated clienteling app because of its ease of use and its high adoption rate.
Check out our Ultimate Guide to Luxury Clienteling here.