11.05.2008 — Luxury clients need to be handled differently than most of your other customers, from expectations to needs to even methods of payment.

That's according to "Serving and Selling to the Luxury Market," a session held Tuesday at EHX Fall in Long Beach, CA.

The presenters, Jason Moulden and Joe Lucania of Trestle Software, offered up a number of tips on handling luxury clients from their experience working with atheletes, CEOs, bankers and more.

How to Identify Luxury Clients

For these clients, luxury means wants and desires -- it's the opposite of necessity.

Identifying a luxury client can be as simple as spotting signs, including:

• What watch they are wearing
• What kind of car they drive
• The country club they belong to

When you've found luxury clients and decide to try and get their business, there are a number of factors you need to consider.

Don't Make Financial Assumptions

You can't assume how much money the luxury client is going to want to spend on a system.

"At the end of the day, it's not your money," says Lucania. "Don't make those decisions."

Just because your client has a lot of money doesn't mean you can spec out the system you'd install in your house. Remember: it's not your house.

Personal Service is a Requirement

"When you're dealing with people of wealth, everything is personal," says Lucania.

These customers are used to having personal customer service -- from personal shoppers on. You've got to be prepared to offer that same level of attention.

Lucania says that you're "married" to luxury clients; they'll be with you for a long time, assuming you can provide the service.

Competition Can Breed Business

Keeping up with the Joneses can go a long way for your luxury business.

Moulden tells a story of two neighbors -- both customers of his -- trying to keep up with each other. One would call him every few months to see what the other had recently installed. Then he'd sell him up.

Then the other neighbor would call to inquire about what the first neighbor had ... and he'd upgrade, too.

Lucania says that his bond and commodities trader clients thrive on competition. "It's like drugs to them -- they compete on everything," he says.

"Ego is huge for certain individuals."

The Expectations are Higher

Luxury clients, even moreso than your regular clients, expect three things:

• 100% system reliability
• a single contact person
• extended and immediate availability

Odd Requests and Methods of Payment

You have to be prepared for a few oddball and out-of-the-ordinary requests for luxury clients.

Lucania says that, while bidding on the project for former Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen's house, the NBA All-Star came in at the 11th hour with a payment change: instead of paying cash for the system, Pippen would allow Lucania to market that he installed Pippen's system.

Lucania declined the offer.

Other out-of-the-ordinary requests include a systems babysitter for luxury events and "exclusive" items like custom interfaces and monogramed home theater furniture.