The luxury customer experience has long been summed up in one place: the boutique. The jewel box, the welcoming ritual, the advisor who recognises customers and remembers their last purchase.
This era is changing: a growing part of the relationship is now played out outside the walls of the boutique. According to the Converteo barometer, more than one luxury consumer in two now prepares his or her visit to a boutique online. A customer who wonders how to repair his or her bag before visiting the store. Another is looking for a made-to-measure piece. A third hesitates between two models and asks to see them remotely.
For the major luxury brands, the contact center is becoming a territory ofexcellence in its own right, where the brand promise is extended. And this new terrain has its own rules.
Contact Center: the red thread in an exclusive relationship
From after-sales service to customer care: extending the magic beyond the point of purchase
Luxury is distinguished first and foremost by the lifespan of its products. A bag or a watch can be handed down for generations. The purchase is therefore only the starting point: the relationship is built up over the years that follow.
This continuity changes the nature of after-sales service. It has to be on a par with the buying experience, otherwise it tarnishes the brand promise. A customer wishing to have a bag repaired must be able to know, before visiting the store, whether the operation is possible. Another may be contacted by the company some time after his purchase to offer maintenance advice or anticipate an overhaul.
Also, resolving the case on the first call in luxury is not an indicator but a posture. And when this is impossible, the implicit rule is never to say “call me back in a fortnight”, but “I’ll get back to you”.
The guardian of scarcity and desire
Where retail seeks to sell to the greatest number, luxury maintains scarcity. The contact center plays an active role in this staging. Managing a waiting list for a flagship product, announcing a private sale to a selection of customers without frustrating the others, refusing a request while at the same time rewarding the person making it: these are all situations that require very specific training for advisors.
Rather than sales, highlights are punctuated by holidays, the launch of new collections, or simply customer desires. And yet, even if business peaks, the quality of our listening never falters.
In these contexts, the contact center does more than simply resolve requests. It helps build the myth and privilege that make a brand valuable.
Combining customer knowledge and technology: luxury’s ambition
For a long time, luxury brands refused to industrialise their customer relations, fearing it would distort their promise. Today, they are imposing their condition: a technology that must be discreet, at the service of the advisor and the customer.
Customer knowledge as a reflex
Data is the starting point. 360° vision, purchase history, preferences, past hesitations, birthdays or wedding dates are all elements that enable the advisor to be proactive and personalize each interaction. This can go as far as calling a customer simply to maintain the link, without selling anything. A gesture that would make no sense in traditional retail, but which takes on a whole new meaning in luxury.
In fact, we’re not talking about an agent here, but an advisor. The nuance is not insignificant: it reflects a more consultative profile, where relationships and emotions take precedence over call handling.
Key features of a luxury contact center
The demands of luxury rely on tools that do their job without showing off too much. L’integration with CRM for example, enables customer data to be tracked across all channels and terminals. Added to this is intelligent routing by local number and language, capable of recognizing the caller without intrusive qualification.
Omnichannelity has become essential: a customer who switches from e-mail to phone should never have to repeat himself. The challenge is all the greater in that usage varies from region to region. Asia, for example, may favor certain digital channels, while Europe is still largely attached to the telephone.
Finally, there are the building blocks for proactivity and the moment of experience: outbound campaigns to orchestrate reminders and invitations, videoconferencing to show two models to a hesitant customer or diagnose a repair remotely, and irreproachable voice quality, because on the voice channel, the clarity of the exchange is the first reflection of the care the brand takes of its customers.
Odigo, a partner to the luxury industry
Odigo knows this equation well. Today, we support over 350 companies operating in some 100 countries, with infrastructures deployed in Europe, the Americas and Asia. Our presence is a direct response to the needs of major brands with international customers.
Odigo is a software publisher, integrator and telecom operator. This triple role enables us to provide a turnkey solution, capable of covering dozens of countries with the best voice quality on the market.
In terms of integration, Odigo is one of the pioneers of the Salesforce ecosystem, with one of the first Service Cloud Voice connectors on the market.
The human element remains. In addition to the platform, dedicated consulting teams support the Houses in the particularities of their sector, from the sizing of contact centers to the specific uses of each zone and each business.
The contact center is therefore a brand asset in its own right. Making it live up to the promise of luxury requires partners who understand its codes. Talk to our experts to find out how Odigo can help you.
