Maintaining an H relationship

[papertiger]

Please focus on the title of this thread rather than each other, TY

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[jimmyshoogirl]

That definitely does happen! I know my SA tries to convince my SM sometimes by pointing out certain things in my profile (the one specific time I heard was mentioning a watch I have on order).

This goes back to how different stores can be ran but at my store the proposals go in from all the SAs who want a bag (for one of their clients) at a certain due date, then my SM decides by looking at them. The smartest thing H has ever done is making these bags somehow “prizes” of a competition amongst clients.



Resellers (and influencers) also like to push and hype colors in waves (normally in sync with how many of those colors they have in stock, curious heh?) - Craie was being hyped so, so much for a bit and they seem to have now moved on to new colors. One of my friends who would never get a light colored bag was even swayed because when she did the “research” on social media there were so many beautiful posts of Craie enticing her (I firmly reminded her that she’d never use it and dragged her to decline). They like to do it on the seasonal colors too - man I’m getting fed so many RED posts about how beautiful Bleu Jean is right now.

Most of my bags are light colored and have been over the years so I will be glad if they move on. I actually don’t like black or dark colored bags at all so this popularity has been disheartening to say the least! When I see someone stressing over color transfer I know they personally don’t use light bags because once it happens to one bag you know how to get rid of it and keep it moving

 

[Byunnie]

This thread has me both hopeful and stressed haha.

My SA at least replied to my text asking to come in about shoes! However, she did not reply to a specific appointment time, just mentioned her day off during the week. The text felt distant; I am worried I may have to switch SAs if this next appointment/visit does not go well. Sigh.

Just like how others have pointed out how this feels like dating. My SA is definitely more similar to this, I usually just text back 1-2 timeslots that work for me and typically an appointment email was sent right after. There are so many ways that we can interpret SA behaviors. I have been shopping with my SA for a little over a year now and I never once get offered items outside of what I explicitly mentioned. Typically, I would screenshot items and get response right away availability of those items. Text response time is great and we got along well. It doesn’t feel transactional and feels like I could trust my SA’s opinion (who often would suggest against buying certain things that don’t quite fit my style—which I appreciated).

Although one might say knowledge is power. This is not true with H. I was frustrated at the beginning as it felt like I would never get QB/non QB bags since I would never be able to hit pre spend due to low availability and that I didn’t get push offers from my SA. Especially after reading this forum, it’s easy to compare our experiences (for example someone mentioned that once you’re served coffee then your QB bag might come soon, lols). I never once was served drinks without me asking and let alone a coffee. But it turned out I was able to get non QB bags ask within 1-2 months and again got my first QB offer with the exact top combo I asked for….just wanted to share my experience that you just get to enjoy the journey and not feel pressured about the milestones.

 

[shopinlovet]

Honestly, I think this take makes the situation seem more malicious than it actually is. Yes, resellers are a large part of the problem, but that’s only because they are the ones most willing to “overspend” for the bag, knowing they will profit in the end. I don’t believe any SAs are out there thinking “wow this goes for 3x on FB, I can totally get another finesse bracelet out of Susie before offering it to her”. It’s more “wow I have this awesome bag to sell. I like Susie and she shops every few months but KarentheReseller just bought 37 pairs of Orans from me yesterday so there’s no way BobTheSM lets me offer this bag to Susie first. But maybe if Susie comes in tomorrow and finally buys that bracelet she’s been eying, I’ll be able to convince Bob…”

Oh definitely I can see it from the SA’s perspective of that happening. And it’s a shame that Susie still does need to spend to potentially convince the SM. I think that’s the problem that they’re always having is how do you filter out brand loyalty from resellers, and maybe what we’re seeing nowadays is a new tactic from Hermes to try and filter out the resellers by increasing spend ratio?

 

[momoc]

IMO, herein lies the problem with resellers: Susie - and many a regular client - simply can’t compete; buying in bulk, if you will, is just not an option. (Yes, I know, your 37 pairs of Orans was an exaggeration, but high volume is rewarded, which is, I suspect, at what you were getting.) While I understand a QB should be a reward for brand/store/SA loyalty, the increasing prespend requirements are pricing out many. The commission model exacerbates this, since it essentially encourages SAs to reward resellers who buy those 37 pairs of Orans instead of Susie, the loyal enthusiast with a far lower spend, but who keeps, wears and treasures her purchases. I do wonder what would happen if the commission model went away?

I really don’t think it’s just about commissions. Deliberately pricing out customers is, sadly, a thing for luxury houses that want to maintain an image of exclusivity and desirability. I’m not assuming malice and I hope Hermes never does it to that extent but…it’s not something that’s never happened. Just take a look at what Chanel has been doing quite blatantly for years with their price increases (which has driven a non zero number of customers out of their brand, some deciding to come start at H).

 

[acrowcounted]

IMO, herein lies the problem with resellers: Susie - and many a regular client - simply can’t compete; buying in bulk, if you will, is just not an option. (Yes, I know, your 37 pairs of Orans was an exaggeration, but high volume is rewarded, which is, I suspect, at what you were getting.) While I understand a QB should be a reward for brand/store/SA loyalty, the increasing prespend requirements are pricing out many. The commission model exacerbates this, since it essentially encourages SAs to reward resellers who buy those 37 pairs of Orans instead of Susie, the loyal enthusiast with a far lower spend, but who keeps, wears and treasures her purchases. I do wonder what would happen if the commission model went away?

Yes, absolutely that was exactly my point. (And I’ve seen individual FB sellers with more than 37 pairs of Orans/chypres/Oasis in sizes varying from 36-40 over the course of a couple of months so truly not that much of an exaggeration). I think the resellers work just fine for the company and the SA and store and despite Hs public stance that they don’t like resellers, privately they don’t really care and are happy to accept the profits. One way to stop this would be for people to stop buying from these resellers but folks seem to prefer to save $50 while complaining that it’s become so hard to get a bag from the store…

 

[DME]

Yes, absolutely that was exactly my point. (And I’ve seen individual FB sellers with more than 37 pairs of Orans/chypres/Oasis in sizes varying from 36-40 over the course of a couple of months so truly not that much of an exaggeration). I think the resellers work just fine for the company and the SA and store and despite Hs public stance that they don’t like resellers, privately they don’t really care and are happy to accept the profits. One way to stop this would be for people to stop buying from these resellers but folks seem to prefer to save $50 while complaining that it’s become so hard to get a bag from the store…

Yes! Agreed! If consumers would stop patronizing the resellers, then there would be no incentive for the model to work this way. If all those who complained about resellers would stop and think before they hit Buy Now… Then maybe we could go back to business, as usual. I steer clear of FB, so am not in the know there, but when FP is charging two to three times the going H rate for a Birkin, BNIB, and those are selling well, then that’s contributing to the problem we see discussed in this thread time and again. Hands down, those bulk buyers win every single time - as long as buyers let them.

 

[lilflobowl]

Perhaps one tactic that might be able to appease the masses, which H really shouldn't have to do since it's a luxury house, is adopt a similar approach which Lululemon has. Ambassadors/trainers get a discount which is only applicable to their gender and within a size range tolerance, i.e. if you're a size 4 you can only get a discount for items in size 2-6.

Application to H, in the case of shoes or RTW, only if they purchase items sizes +/- 1 size can that be added to their profile to qualify for any bag offer. Anything outside of the threshold they can still purchase but it would do nothing to their profile. This way the SAs still retain a customer even if they know it will get flipped, the resellers still get to purchase & the masses stand a better chance to buying a QB earlier.

 

[DME]

I really don’t think it’s just about commissions. Deliberately pricing out customers is, sadly, a thing for luxury houses that want to maintain an image of exclusivity and desirability. I’m not assuming malice and I hope Hermes never does it to that extent but…it’s not something that’s never happened. Just take a look at what Chanel has been doing quite blatantly for years with their price increases (which has driven a non zero number of customers out of their brand, some deciding to come start at H).

While I wholeheartedly agree on the desirability point, I’m less certain about the exclusivity one. Luxury today is a shadow of its past and is more profit-driven than anything else. I would love a study of the timing of those “leaked” price increases and the impact of them to their houses’ associated bottom lines; I’m guessing the correlation is pretty strong. That, to me, says this is far less about who is carrying the bag than how much product a house can sell. It’s all about pleasing the shareholders, and those shareholders couldn’t care less who owns the bag.

And to stay explicitly OT, that translates to the relationship between buyer and SA.

 

[momoc]

While I wholeheartedly agree on the desirability point, I’m less certain about the exclusivity one. Luxury today is a shadow of its past and is more profit-driven than anything else. I would love a study of the timing of those “leaked” price increases and the impact of them to their houses’ associated bottom lines; I’m guessing the correlation is pretty strong. That, to me, says this is far less about who is carrying the bag than how much product a house can sell. It’s all about pleasing the shareholders, and those shareholders couldn’t care less who owns the bag.

And to stay explicitly OT, that translates to the relationship between buyer and SA.

I said “an image of” for a reason

ETA:
There has been many studies and data that suggest focusing on the top percent “whales” instead of trying to appeal to more people may actually be the more profitable approach. In many industries as well. At least in the short term. And we all know how that is often valued over long term sustainability in a profit driven world. The long term can be someone else’s problem to deal with.
Also, the shareholders may not care who is carrying the bag, but a lot of the people carrying the bag however tend to do (if you just want me to count how much gatekeeping I see everyday on this forum we’d be here forever). And again not exclusive to luxury brands - happens with car owners too for another of many examples. And these people are the ones providing the profit. So in an indirect way, I think it still matters in the end. Hence the point of an “image”.

 

[acrowcounted]

Perhaps one tactic that might be able to appease the masses, which H really shouldn't have to do since it's a luxury house, is adopt a similar approach which Lululemon has. Ambassadors/trainers get a discount which is only applicable to their gender and within a size range tolerance, i.e. if you're a size 4 you can only get a discount for items in size 2-6.

Application to H, in the case of shoes or RTW, only if they purchase items sizes +/- 1 size can that be added to their profile to qualify for any bag offer. Anything outside of the threshold they can still purchase but it would do nothing to their profile. This way the SAs still retain a customer even if they know it will get flipped, the resellers still get to purchase & the masses stand a better chance to buying a QB earlier.

H could easily stop the semi professional independent resellers if they wanted to. It’s not hard to identify these people. Rather than some convoluted “this doesn’t count” method (which resellers would simply work within and happily only buy size 37 or whatever), simply take their purchases of non bag items and then don’t offer them bags…but then the resellers would stop buying and H’s profits would decline. The only people whom resellers “hurt” are the clients who cannot keep up monetarily with them, who arguably H doesn’t want/need as clients anyway.

Anyway, as always, my best advice to succesful shopping at H is to be strictly loyal to one SA at one store, shop often, and be as easy to work with (no crazy demands, no badgering, no returns, no complaints) as possible to hopefully be top of mind when the coveted items arrive.

 

[GabrielleS]

I really don’t think it’s just about commissions. Deliberately pricing out customers is, sadly, a thing for luxury houses that want to maintain an image of exclusivity and desirability. I’m not assuming malice and I hope Hermes never does it to that extent but…it’s not something that’s never happened. Just take a look at what Chanel has been doing quite blatantly for years with their price increases (which has driven a non zero number of customers out of their brand, some deciding to come start at H).

It’s not only about pricing out customers but making it that the store/brand is doing the consumer a favour by allocating product to that consumer. A consumer should be worried about their “profile” with the store and shop whether they want to or not to keep up the “profile” when in fact, H should be concerned with their profile with the consumer especially the long term ones. My H shopping has really decreased and it’s not because of their prices.

 

[momoc]

It’s not only about pricing out customers but making it that the store/brand is doing the consumer a favour by allocating product to that consumer. A consumer should be worried about their “profile” with the store and shop whether they want to or not to keep up the “profile” when in fact, H should be concerned with their profile with the consumer especially the long term ones. My H shopping has really decreased and it’s not because of their prices.

I’d argue that’s totally ok for H (at least in their viewpoint). Not that I agree with them.

 

[GabrielleS]

I’d argue that’s totally ok for H (at least in their viewpoint). Not that I agree with them.

They can run their business as they want and they are wildly successful. I had a great experience recently in Paris but I had a pretty terrible customer service experience at a store I shop at regularly and since then generally I am not so keen to shop there even though there are plenty of non bag items I’d like to buy.

 

[fice16]

They can run their business as they want and they are wildly successful. I had a great experience recently in Paris but I had a pretty terrible customer service experience at a store I shop at regularly and since then generally I am not so keen to shop there even though there are plenty of non bag items I’d like to buy.

@GabrielleS, my recent experience is same as yours. I am a long time client at my local boutique; for some reason, I feel the customer service/relationship has changed recently. At the same time, I had good experiences at overseas boutiques, which has prompted my rethinking of my relationship with my local boutique... and I plan to slow down or cease shopping at my local boutique in the near future.

 

[addiCCted]

but it irks me that they are missing out on so many beautiful things that they could have in addition to the bag if only they would within the boutique's offerings

Came for the bag, stayed for everything else.