Luxury Unfiltered: Why transformative training is luxury’s last hope

October 30, 2024

Daniel Langer is the founder and CEO of consulting firm Équité

The most recent quarter proved challenging for the luxury sector, with numerous brands reporting slower growth and shrinking revenues across key markets.

The usual culprits – market volatility, economic headwinds and geopolitical tensions – provide easy explanations, but in truth, the underlying reasons for these declines reveal a critical gap: luxury brands are failing to meet the significantly higher expectations of today’s clients. Much of this demand shift can be attributed to Generation Z, whose discerning eye and high standards for exceptional, immersive experiences redefine what they seek from luxury brands.

Surprisingly, many brands still underestimate the fundamental paradigm shift in client expectations.

Traditional training falls short
There will be no “coming back to how it was.” Expectations will further increase disproportionately.

Additionally, with prices at an all-time high after unprecedented increases, clients expect a parallel escalation in the quality of service, storytelling and engagement.

The lesson is clear: to return to steady and significant growth, brands must rethink their client engagement strategies, beginning with the foundational step of transformative training.

As I said in a recent luxury training to the participants: “You don’t want to be the ones who, in the eyes of clients, waste their time.”

Luxury training is the critical enabler that too many brands are underutilizing or misapplying, as they settle for standard, routine programs that do not move the needle. But today, effective luxury training is one of the single most powerful levers brands can pull to recapture growth and loyalty in times when every client interaction counts.

For years, luxury training has often focused on sales basics: repeating clients’ names for a personal touch, maintaining eye contact and following conversational scripts.

These tactics might work in other sectors but fall flat in luxury, where clients expect the intangible. They want an aura of prestige, the seamless fusion of personalized engagement and the emotional pull of a compelling brand story.

Fundamentally, they want to be treated as a human and feel valued. However, there are two key reasons why traditional training fails to deliver.

First, these methods become schematic, producing interactions that feel scripted rather than genuine. In a market where authenticity is highly valued, robotic interactions are a deterrent, not a draw.

Second, they miss the larger goal of cultivating long-term relationships and genuine client engagement.

Luxury clients seek a sense of belonging, a deep connection to the brand story and interactions that inspire. Traditional training does little to address this need, as reflected in widespread mystery shopper data.

Despite high compliance with the minute details of training protocols, client satisfaction remains stubbornly low across numerous brands. When I have 1:1 interactions with sales staff in the real world, I hardly come in contact with an associate who is excellent at emotional brand storytelling.

I recently audited luxury jewelry, fashion and automotive brands in this area and the results were a disaster across the board. Further, despite completing these training programs, the confidence of many employees in their ability to deliver a true luxury experience remains surprisingly low.

The root cause? A training approach that teaches mechanics but fails to instill meaning.

Transformative training: The only path to lasting client loyalty
In an industry facing heightened demands, transformative luxury training is no longer optional.

Luxury training must go far beyond the checklists of client name repetition and sales scripts. Instead, it must take a deep dive into the foundational essence of luxury and ignite a fundamental understanding of why clients are willing to pay a premium.

Transformation in luxury training is the art of empowering staff to become ambassadors of the brand’s story, making every interaction an inspiring encounter.

To this end, transformative training must include modules that examine the very definition of luxury, as the concept itself is often misunderstood, even by those working within the industry. It is shocking how frequently I encounter disparities in luxury training sessions regarding what “luxury” truly means.

With diverse interpretations among staff, clients encounter a disconnect, ultimately leaving them unimpressed. The importance of servicing the client as a team is often underestimated.

Moreover, sales associates rarely live the lifestyle of the ultra-high-net-worth individuals they serve, creating an empathy gap that prevents them from connecting meaningfully with their clients.

Understanding the Psychology of Luxury: The Secret to Building Authentic Connections

One of the most impactful elements of transformative training is an exploration of the psychology behind luxury purchases.

For most clients, the drivers of luxury purchases extend far beyond status symbols. My decades-long academic research shows that they are driven by complex multidimensional motivations that lead to the anticipation of a significant positive perception shift.

This level of understanding enables sales teams to tailor experiences that resonate on a personal level, going beyond the transactional to build a lasting emotional connection with the brand.

It’s critical to underscore the data. Statistics revealing how long it takes to cultivate client loyalty in luxury and how swiftly it can be lost are often eye-opening for employees. These data points offer context for why luxury experiences need to be carefully curated, inspiring salespeople to see each interaction as a moment that can either strengthen or weaken the brand’s relationship with the client.

Transformation is not achieved in a single day nor in a single training session. While traditional training often consists of a one-time event - whether two hours or two days - transformative training must be an ongoing process that reinforces its lessons over time.

Brands need a multi-step approach that includes pre- and post-session learning, allowing staff to apply and refine their knowledge continuously. I even created a digital training platform that allow participants to deepen their understanding of each topic after the live sessions at their own pace, helping to make ideas stick.

In my experience, combining in-person sessions with follow-up training, including digital modules over a span of months, yields significantly better results. This phased approach enables participants to practice their skills, make mistakes, learn from them and refine their approach, cultivating a mindset where growth and adaptation are constants.

Transformation as luxury’s critical success factor
In a time when client expectations are at unprecedented heights, transformative training is not just about “upskilling” employees.

In my point of view, the luxury confidence level must increase significantly, otherwise a training means nothing. Training must clarify the role that salespeople have in inspiring clients and provide hands-on tools to be more successful on day one after the training and then even more so as they apply and refine learnings.

Brands today face intense pressure to differentiate, not just through product offerings but through the human touchpoints that bring these products to life. When employees can convey the emotional depth and heritage of a brand, clients feel a resonance and appreciation that goes beyond the transaction, anchoring loyalty and sustaining interest.

The message is clear: for luxury brands seeking growth in 2024 and beyond, the path forward depends on human impact. Training that is meaningful, deep and ongoing is not a luxury.

It’s a necessity, and it is much more cost-efficient than any other measure. It’s the most critical investment for any luxury brand other than developing a client-centric brand story.

Transformative training is therefore one of the most strategic assets in a landscape where the only constant is client expectations rising higher and faster than ever.

For brands that dare to elevate their training, the reward is profound: teams capable of delivering the extraordinary experiences that luxury clients demand and a brand that is truly unforgettable.

Luxury Unfiltered is a weekly column by Daniel Langer. He is the CEO of Équité, a global luxury strategy and brand activation firm. He is recognized as a global top-five luxury key opinion leader. He serves as an executive professor of luxury strategy and pricing at Pepperdine University in Malibu and as a professor of luxury at New York University, New York. Mr. Langer has authored best-selling books on luxury management in English and Chinese, and is a respected global keynote speaker.

Mr. Langer conducts masterclass management training on various luxury topics around the world. As a luxury expert featured on Bloomberg TV, Financial Times, The New York Times, Forbes, The Economist and others, Mr. Langer holds an MBA and a Ph.D. in luxury management, and has received education from Harvard Business School. Follow him on LinkedIn and Instagram.

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