Luxury Academy: Insights

Is your online presence doing your actual business justice? In this interview, Sandra Baas of Baas Studio reveals why most websites and LinkedIn profiles fail the "3-second test" and how founders can fix it.

Learn why you must narrow your focus, how to use AI to find your unique tone of voice, and a step-by-step priority list to upgrade your digital footprint this weekend even if you have zero budget.

Connect with Sandra here:

What we discuss in this video:

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Premium and luxury aren't the same thing, and most of the businesses calling themselves luxury are running a premium model. Which is fine, and a good business, right up until you start pricing and talking like the other one.

In this video I go through what premium actually commits you to, why high end is a fairly stupid thing to say about your own business, and what's become of bespoke, curated, artisanal and the rest of the words the sector has worn out.

There's a real difference between bespoke, made to measure, customised and personalised, and it's worth knowing because they don't cost the same. There's also the 2008 Advertising Standards Authority ruling that lost Savile Row the word bespoke, which most people in the trade have never heard of.

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A marketing chap looked at my business a few years ago and told me, with enormous sympathy, that my problem was I had no visual assets.

He wasn't wrong, I don't make anything. I can't photograph a client, most of them would prefer I didn't confirm they've heard of me, and there's a limit to how many times you can post a photograph of himself standing next to a lectern.

His suggestion was case studies. I said I'm contractually not allowed to write those. He said ah. Then we both studied the table for a while. Me thinking "I'm paying you a fortune for nothing", I've no idea what he was thinking, that I was being difficult probably.

The trouble is he'd misread what my idea client was doing. Nobody who hires me is looking for a list of logos of companies I've worked with, besides they couldn't verify it even if they tried.

What I sell is a credence good. You can't judge the quality of it before you buy, and if we're honest you can't fully judge it immediately afterwards either, which is equally true of surgeons, solicitors, and a host of other service providers.

When somebody can't assess the output, they assess the reasoning. It's the only thing actually available to them.

So they listen to you think about a problem that isn't theirs, and then decide from that whether you'd be of any use helping them on one that is.

Which is why the confidentiality is never the obstacle. I can't tell you who I was with last week but I can tell you what I reckon happens in the two seconds after a salesperson hears an objection and starts talking too quickly, and you'll have formed a fairly firm view of me by the end of that sentence.

Same for the private office, the close protection outfit, the divorce solicitor, and anyone else whose entire working life is unphotographable.

Confidentiality doesn't stop you posting. It just stops you posting about the client.

A boutique architecture practice wrote in with a problem. They can't look at a new enquiry for a month, and they're worried that telling someone who's just spent $7m on a house will lose them the job.

A month's wait won't lose you the client but a month of silence most certainly will.

An enquiry is really three separate jobs, acknowledging it, then the first conversation, and finally the full review itself. Only the last one needs an appointment in your diary, and let's be honest, the first two take no more than about half an hour between them.

In this video I discuss what to say on that call, and what a buyer is actually feeling in the fortnight after they've committed a fortune to something they can't judge yet.

There's also some homework you should be setting them while they wait, which makes sure they don't get antsy waiting, idle hands and all that!

Although there are also two situations where none of this applies where you're better off handing them to somebody else.

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You'll happily pay £95 for afternoon tea at The Ritz, which is sandwiches, scones and a bit of cake. You would not pay £95 for the same sandwiches, scones and cake on the counter in Pret. You'd think somebody had lost their mind.

The food isn't the difference. What's changed is what you're comparing it to. Before anybody looks at your price, they've already decided what sort of business you are, and they're checking whether your number is normal for that sort of business. Not whether it's fair, or whether the work is good. Just whether it's normal.

That's the problem most small businesses have. The work is excellent, the price is reasonable for the work, and it still reads as a cheek because everything else about them looks like something much cheaper.

In this video I explain how that judgement gets made, the two things that decide which group you get put in, and what to say when somebody tells you you're too expensive.

More at luxuryacademy.co.uk.

#PricingPsychology #PremiumPricing #ConsumerBehaviour #LuxuryBrand #BehaviouralScience #Pricing

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My mother can judge a bolt of cloth by rubbing the corner of it between her finger and thumb, and the maddening thing is that she can genuinely do it.

There's a fabric merchant, who must be knocking 300 by now, in Mumbai my family used for years, a man of quite heroic patience, and the ritual never varied. She'd take the corner, rub, hold it up to the light, hand it back, and deliver the verdict. He gave up disagreeing with her fairly early on.

So naturally I copied her. By about eleven I had the whole performance, the rub, the light, the considered pause, and not the faintest idea what I was feeling. The merchant would nod along gravely and then look at my mother.

Which is roughly where I stayed. Twenty odd years later I dismissed a bolt as far too coarse for a shirt, then admired the same bolt rather warmly some weeks after he happened to mention it had newly come in from Coimbatore.

I bought six yards of it. My mother, who missed nothing, said nothing at all, which was worse.

It's called need for touch, and it splits in two. There's instrumental touch, which is handling something to find out a fact you actually need, how solid the clasp is, how the weight sits in the hand.

And there's autotelic touch, which is handling something because handling it is lovely, and which carries no information whatsoever.

Her hands were gathering evidence, mine were simply enjoying themselves.

Most of what goes on in a shop is my version masquerading as hers, and the actual deciding was being done somewhere else entirely, by a man telling me where the cotton had come from and that it would make lovely shirts, just to trust him.

He was correct by the way.

So when someone tells me they can't sell online because the client can't feel or touch the product, I think they've misread what's gone missing. It isn't the cloth.

It's the merchant and that's a role that can be filled by lots of other things.

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This week's newsletter episode is on exactly this, selling seriously expensive things to people who'll never set foot in a shop. Link in the comments.

This week, Helen and Paul dive into the fascinating concept of brand narcissism and how it can negatively impact luxury brands. They chat about how some brands seem to get caught up in their own image and status, almost like they're gazing at themselves in a mirror all day. This obsession often comes with a worrying lack of empathy towards their customers.

They can't ignore the growing importance of inclusivity and how the expectations of luxury consumers are evolving. People want to feel valued and appreciated when they indulge in luxury, not superior or excluded. A luxury experience should be about making customers feel wanted and cherished.

Helen and Paul also explore the vital role of sales associates in crafting these luxury experiences. It's all about creating moments that resonate with customers, and the fallout when brands fail to do so can be significant.

Their discussion moves on to how some brands prioritise exclusivity and elitism, which can lead to a negative experience for customers. But it's not all doom and gloom. They share some personal stories and examples of brands that have struck the right balance between maintaining a healthy sense of self and being inclusive.

They touch on the difference between heritage brands and luxury brands, underscoring how crucial it is to offer a memorable and inclusive experience for everyone. So, join them as they unravel the layers of brand narcissism and discover what truly makes a luxury brand shine.

In this episode, Helen and Paul discuss the concept of affordable luxury. They explore whether luxury can truly be affordable or if affordability compromises the exclusivity and scarcity that define luxury.

They examine examples of brands like Michael Kors and Ted Baker that started as luxury brands but became more accessible over time. They also discuss the impact of collaborations between luxury designers and high street brands.

The conversation touches on the importance of price perception and the sacrifices that may be made when luxury becomes more affordable. The conversation explores the concept of affordable luxury and its implications. It discusses the idea that affordable luxury is a contradiction because true luxury is exclusive and scarce.

The hosts share their experiences with luxury brands and highlight the importance of quality, craftsmanship, and the relationship between the brand and the consumer. They criticize brands that use fake scarcity and fake exclusivity as marketing tactics, as well as those that try to be inclusive without understanding the true essence of luxury.

The conversation concludes that affordable luxury is not a valid concept and that luxury should be reserved for those who appreciate and value it.

The conversation explores the subjective experience of luxury and how it varies across cultures and individuals. Different people have different views on what constitutes luxury, and it can change over time as well. The discussion touches on the concept of scarcity and how it makes things more attractive. The hosts also discuss the idea of luxury in travel, such as business class versus first class.

In this episode of 'The Luxury Mind,' hosts Helen Villers and Paul Russell explore the critical role aesthetics play in luxury branding. They delve into a listener's question about how visual elements like labels, packaging, and website design affect customer perception.

Helen and Paul discuss the psychological principles at play, such as the halo effect and anchoring effect, and share practical tips for small luxury businesses to enhance their brand aesthetics.

They also examine how renowned luxury brands successfully use aesthetics to tell compelling stories and build lasting emotional connections with their customers.