Last week I caught a nice break. I was able to take the time and tag along with our Sales Director Damien Hubert on his annual tour of our retail locations in Switzerland. To me, this was an intelligence mission, and an opportunity to ask a lot of questions.  I’m in contact with end customers on a daily basis. But it’s really interesting to get perspective from Swiss store owners who’ve been our boots on the ground for years now. We toured for two days hitting Lucerne, Bienne, Geneva and Zurich. Here are a few interesting tidbits:

Pay to Play
It is very hard in this economy and given market pressures for retailers to carry smaller brands. For one thing, the big brands are busier than ever trying to squeeze the smaller guys out. There’s major consolidation going on. What’s more, cash-strapped buyers seek safety in well established brands.  Additionally, retail square footage is at a premium. In this market, a small unknown brand needs to pay the lease from day one. Extended trial periods are out the door. You don’t produce from day one, you’re gone.

The Chinese Are Coming
No surprise there, but the cash-flushed Chinese have replaced the traditional American and Japanese tourists in numerous Swiss locations. They spend hours discussing every detail of every watch from rotor to bracelet. Why? Because they’re used to getting ripped off back home. And they are naturally skeptical about anything professed unless backed up by solid proof. Preferably in Chinese. In one shop, I saw pocket-sized Tissot booklets in Chinese explaining every technical and historical detail of the brand. Win them over, and they’ll buy 20 pieces in one shot.  Cash down. They buy classical design brands with heritage (history is crucial to this market segment). Their favorite Marvin ladies model: the M111.

Support Means Communication
Most retailers (and sales people in general) are path-of-least-resistance people. If you carry Rolex, Tag or Omega, there’s almost zero sales effort involved. Because people will walk in looking for a specific model. They’re already sold. So if you’re a smaller less known brand, there’s a huge effort in communication support for the retailers. And I don’t just mean fancy marketing brochures and displays. The message must be very clear, very simple, and very consistent. A new brand is in the business of manufacturing customers. The kind who walk in and go “hey, I read about the Marvin Malton 160, can you show it to me?”

Location, Location, Location
There is privilege and mystique attached to buying a Swiss watch in Switzerland.  In this now global market, with online sales kicking off, I hadn’t realized how important location still was to the buyers’ perception. A Swiss watch bought in Geneva has higher value than one bought in New York or Hong Kong. It’s a destination purchase for the privileged few.

So I hope next time you’re in Switzerland (or if you live here) you’ll go out and visit these places and talk to the folks managing them. You’d be surprised how much insight you can gather simply for the asking. These guys are sharp, experienced, resilient and very technical. Oh, and tell them Jerome from Marvin sent you