I worked at SANEI-INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD. At this company, Mr. Masatoshi Hirose, the President of Four Ambition, was my boss, and Ms. Eiko Yamada, the director, was my subordinate. They've been my colleagues. So, I have seen their commitment to a brand and their philosophy regarding sales. Then, I outsourced the shop operation in 2010 to Four Ambition, about two years after the establishment of the agency.

I entrusted them with the responsibility for recruiting, services/sales, product control and management of customers, and placement of orders at exhibitions. Currently, 12 shops within the Kanto and Kansai areas are under Four Ambition's operation. I rely solely on the company because they can secure a wide range of human resources since half of the shops are outlets.

　It's just the quality of the salesperson. A salesperson with the quality I request is someone who understands a brand fully and can convey the designer's concept to customers, shows the appeal of a brand with only their clothes, and serves customers, understanding the customers' feelings and can sell our products. Four Ambition has been appointing extremely high-level staff.

ANGLOBAL's originality is very strong, and our business aims at a niche market while targeting suitable customers. Therefore, it's very hard for us to find a suitable salesperson for our brand. We often fail to find someone even though we went to great lengths for matching. But the company clearly grasps what we want and places the proper staff in our shops. Their matching accuracy is very high.

Many companies say, “We understand your request,” but only a few companies can fulfill it. I feel a strong attachment to a brand. So, I place emphasis on whether human resources harmonize with a brand or not. Four Ambition is a very trustworthy partner.

Mr. Hirose and Ms. Yamada have been developing a “sales-first strategy.” I guess they strongly consider the benefits for the company's employees, which attracts talented employees, I think.

The shops' sales outsourced to the agency are doing well. We are increasing the shops for outsourcing. Some shops that were experiencing difficult conditions were reconstructed by the company.

The characteristics of the shops with poor performance are basically few customers, low number of purchases, and the unit price per customer is low. The sales consequentially will rise by increasing visitors and the turnover of customers. That's because various services are required. The staff from Four Ambition often have a broad perspective thanks to their various work experiences with many brands, I guess. However, I don't want them to deviate from our brand policy, which is very important. The staff from Four Ambition, who are true sales specialists, have achieved strong sales performance with a precise understanding of my intention.

We'll hold a meeting soon, because many shops must be bolstered. Certainly, I will discuss about opening new shops. Currently, we are adequately planning our brand policy and outsourcing the sales to the company. If they would like to perform upstream jobs or a new task together, we might consider this. Four Ambition has been taking on challenges in their business just like we have. I hope that they remain unchanged in their business attitude as much as possible.