BOUCHERON has upper-class and older customers. Recently, customers in their twenties and early thirties have been increasing thanks to the increased demand for wedding ceremonies. Also, new employees with diverse backgrounds have been joining our company lately, including the head office in Paris. The attendants' style needs to be renewed. As of this year, the company has been in business for 160 years. A global project to refurbish the sailing ceremony that is common all over the world was initiated, starting with the renewal opening of the head office at 26 Place Vendome, Paris. BOUCHERON JAPAN LTD. shall localize a part of the manual developed by the head office in Paris based on the Japanese market. So, we used BRUSH's service.

There are many training agencies that have advantages in hospitality such as in manners training. BRUSH provides the know-how dedicated to sales skills and the know-how for how to respond when a customer complains or argues back, leveraging the experience of the instructors, all of whom have worked in a manager position and sales position and as a mystery shopper. In addition, BRUSH is in charge of the new employees' training for the KERING Group, which has been very well-received. The company fully understands the service quality that the KERING Group requires and they understand our competitors. Comparing to several agencies, we came to the conclusion that iDA has become a very strong partner that has abundant knowledge from a diverse point of view about the luxury industry and they have lots of ideas.

We requested BRUSH to implement the training according to the original manual sent from the headquarters. We received the manual in February. I took the course in Paris in April and was asked to start the training from the next week. After returning to Japan, we only held a couple of 3 to 4 hour meetings. Ms. Kumiko Uchida, the instructor who is also a partner of the KERING Group, prepared effectively and quickly. She suggested several ideas to solve the problems faced by BOUCHERON JAPAN and established a two-day program with me. The pilot session was implemented based on the program and further amended. Then, she started the training following the Golden Week Holidays (a cluster of national holidays in Japan), mastering the content. Ms. Uchida and I traveled to about 22 shops across the country within about four months, like a cross-country tour. It was hectic.

She instructs attendants, including about the psychology that attracts and persuades customers. Her training is not always classroom training. Sometimes participants play a game, discuss with teammates, and present what they learned in a role-play. Every attendant was very lively. Actually, we heard from the participants saying, “This is the first time that I took a seminar without feeling sleepy all the way to the last session” and “The instructor was pretty good. I appreciate the company for providing such training.” Everyone said, “Very nice.”

We've had remarkable results thanks to the training. The average unit price of sales and the decision ratio increased. Major boutiques got a perfect score from mystery shoppers. A staff member reported, “Customers visited the shop looking for accessories for a wedding. They said they wanted to compare to those of competitors. But they returned to us soon after and made the purchase.” I think this proves that staff are practicing what they learned in the training and the service quality has been enhanced. The other day, I received a comment from a customer who bought one of our accessories and took a picture with the shop manager and posted it to her/his SNS, saying “I became a big fan of BOUCHERON thanks to the manager. I will buy something from the manager for each anniversary.”

The training dedicated to the sales technique was the first trial because we have mainly implemented product training. For me, it was the first time to be in charge of training. Honestly speaking, I felt a lot of anxiety. BRUSH helped me so much. The sales skills follow-up training will be launched next year. I would ask Ms. Uchida for well-rounded training.