THE KEY GOALS OF A PROFESSIONAL PROPOSAL

Your proposal must communicate your company image and level of professionalism. Because you are selling to high-end clients, your own proposal style should stand out from the others. The artistic style, color, graphics, binding, paper quality and presentation create a vital first impression by which you will be judged.

While word-of-mouth marketing may still be the number one form of getting more business for independent dealers, there is still something to be said for direct mail marketing whether it be electronic or the old fashioned way, via mail. But retailers are finding that casting a wide net isn’t always the best way to catch a customer, so they are tuning to companies like Revenew Systems to help them target their messages more effectively.

If you want to talk about a hard sell, talk about selling boats. These high-ticket items are a huge investment of time, money and dedication, even for the wealthy. And for the mega yacht crowd, it’s even more complicated, having to deal with crews, docking fees and security. It’s akin to running a small business. Still, many are attracted to it because of the glamour and the adventure this category has to offer.

Last week, I attended the Mega Yacht Show in Monaco. At this annual event of extravagance exists some of the finest examples of true professionalism, uniqueness, customization, physical dreams, passion, craftsmanship, engineering, architectural and design talent, sales, marketing and, of course, millionaires and billionaires.

One of hottest topics and quite possibly the most insidious challenges confronting us in our lives and businesses in these tumultuous times is the state of the global economy. In my many discussions with friends, colleagues and associates in different luxury industries and consultancies, both domestically and globally, it appears that the turmoil is pervasive.

I am passionate about what I do. For more than twenty years, I have traveled to over twenty countries, ardently educating and supporting incredible, wealthy, and famous clients, helping them add value to their lives and dream projects—ultra high-end homes, mega yachts, large aircraft, recording studios, and outdoor audio/video projects. In the past I traveled anywhere from 300,000 to 500,000 miles per year educating the clients on the benefits and value that ultra high-end A/V systems can bring to their lives.

There are few auto dealerships that carry the notoriety or distinction that Rolls-Royce Motor Cars (RRMC), Beverly Hills enjoys. The luxury automotive dealer of Olympic Boulevard draws in some of the most popular celebrities and wealthy customers to look at the top models in luxury automobiles, from Bentley to Astin-Martin to Rolls-Royce itself. However, its address pedigree and proximity to a large concentration of wealth aren’t the only reasons behind the dealership’s success.

In a recent issue of Luxury CE, an industry expert quite properly made the point that high-net-worth prospects will respond more favorably to proposals that are similar to thedocuments they see in their own workplaces: Executive Summaries. Long onbrevity, short on minutiae. Describe the destination, not the journey.