In this deluxe episode, Elizabeth Solaru, Founder of Luxury Business Emporium, shares how she, through creativity and sheer hard work, built her company up into a world-renowned luxury brand and how she can help you do the same thing for your business.
You will discover:
– How to sell to high-net-worth (and ultra-high-net-worth) clients
– The mindset shifts you need to make to sell luxury
– A step-by-step process for moving your product or service “up-market”
Episode Transcript
Scott Ritzheimer
Hello Hello and welcome. Welcome once again to the secrets of the high demand coach podcast. And I’m here with yet another high demand coach and that is the one and only Elizabeth Solaru. She’s a former scientist and Headhunter get this turned business coach and strategist, she has honed her expertise in understanding luxury clients, having successfully set up and run the world renowned and multi award winning Elizabeth’s cake Emporium, and the luxury business Emporium. Elizabeth is the co host of the luxury business podcast and luxury news weekly podcast and is considered to be a leading expert in the world of luxury selling, and she’s here now we’re joking ahead of time because it’s been like a year and making trying to get she’s a very, very busy woman. And we finally got her on the show. So Elizabeth, I’m so excited to have you on I’m so excited to dive into this world of luxury selling. But before we get there, I’d love to just kind of take a step back and say, tell us a little bit about what you were doing before getting into the world of selling and how did that ultimately lead you to make the leap?
Elizabeth Solaru
Gosh, a potted history again started as a scientist, I worked in a lab, I was doing research, diagnostics, etc. I worked in a lab for about 13 years, and then decided one day to go into the world of business as you do. So the logical thing for me to do was maybe do an MBA, I did that. And I then fell into headhunting because somebody through networking, someone who, who was very prominent was setting up his own company. And he asked me to join it. So I became a headhunter. And I began to understand C suite executives, how they think, how their lifestyle, how they manage people, leadership, etc. And that was a fun job to do. So I did that for several years, then got seconded to a government department. And after that, I then decided to set up my own business because I, you get to a milestone birthday, and you think it’s now or never. So I decided to set up a Cake Company, which was my dream when I was a child. And I did not think that selling cakes would land me where I am today. Because I was literally selling cakes to billionaires and royal families and people I never would have imagined in my wildest dreams. So that got me closer to understanding how very high net worth ultra high net worth, people think. And then I began to notice that there are distinct types. Because too many people, when you talk about high net worth people, they think they’re all the same, or they define them by money. I chose to define them by psychographics and psychological behaviors. I am not a psychologist, by any means. But putting my scientist hat on, I was able to look through my data, and then come up with different types and different definitions. And that’s how I landed where I am today.
Scott Ritzheimer
Fascinating, fascinating. And so now you’re in this world of helping others to sell into luxury spaces. And so tell us a little bit again, you use this phrase luxury selling, and this goes right into the the point you made about there’s different types here. So give us a definition, what what is what separates luxury selling versus kind of your standard sales.
Elizabeth Solaru
Okay, with luxury selling, it’s more of a relationship. So it’s actually not selling. And I know, it sounds like an odd thing to say, you’re actually not selling so you’re not giving them the hardcore sales or the patter because many of them before they come to you because they’re so time poor, they are actually pretty motivated. So if they’re not motivated, don’t even bother selling, don’t even bother showing them anything because they don’t want to waste their time. And you’d certainly don’t want to waste their time. So by the time they come to you, they would have come through certain either through word of mouth referral, or via social media, yes, they are on social media, if you know what to look for, or they would have come through some random ad, a not Not, not a lot of them, but if you have them will come through some random ad. So they will come through something to get to you. And by the time they ask for a conversation, they’re pretty motivated. It’s just a question of, can we trust this person? Are they who they say they are? Is there a chemistry etc, etc. So selling doesn’t really happen. As such. It’s more of can I see this person in my circle? Can I see this person in my sphere? So it’s more about that? Essentially, so that, in a nutshell is the difference between ordinary selling, where you’re trying to convince people say you’re a double window sales glazed glazed salesman or something, and you’re trying to convince people to buy from you. That’s not the case at all. People would have made up their mind to do that. Do I trust this person? Do I believe this person? Can they deliver? And if the questions are yes, and there’s also a question of, depending on the luxury client, this item that I’m buying, is it going to make me look good? Is it going to give me cachet amongst my friends, is going to make me comfortable is going to make me feel safe? So those are some of the questions. And that’s some of the difference between ordinary selling and luxury selling?
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah. Yeah. And what would you say are some of the most common mistakes that folks make early in their journey of trying to sell in the luxury space?
Elizabeth Solaru
They make it all about them or their product? So what do I mean by that? Yes, you’ve got to have a good product. And it doesn’t necessarily have to be the best product in the world. And I know, people are surprised when I say that, because people think they’ve got to make the product as perfect. And as amazing as possible. It’s not about that. So some of the mistakes people make is not knowing the client type. So if somebody’s in front of you, and they are. So let’s, I’ve identified about seven different types, but let’s take a couple of types, for example. So let’s take what I call a comfort first, they don’t care about the money, it’s more about, Am I comfortable with this person selling and am I comfortable with the product. So there’s comfort first, or safety first. And if I buy from this person, will they keep their mouth shut about selling to me, because there are times I’ve sold to clients, and I’m not allowed to. Again, I’ve signed NDAs, I’m not allowed to talk about them, I’m not allowed to talk about what I sold. Even if I sometimes I travel, I take my, my cakes and I travel abroad, I’m not allowed to see where I am, I have to turn off my geolocation because then there’s a real risk, there’s a real security risk. Now contrast that the safety first type of client with an aspirational type of client, so aspirational client, yes, they have a little bit of money, they’re not as rich, but they have the heroes might be influences, their heroes might be a business tycoon. So they’re trying to aspire to that kind of lifestyle. So the language is completely different. So how you sell to them is you might say, Oh X, Y, Zed has something similar, or you’re able to boast about people they look up to, that you’ve sold to. So again, is a different is a completely different way of selling. So those are, those are a couple of examples of how you sell to the different types of luxury clients.
Scott Ritzheimer
Right. Right. That’s fascinating. So a question that I have, and I think your story is very helpful. And then some of what you’re doing now, but how do you how do you move up market? Right? Was your first cake to a billionaire? Or? Or was there a process of kind of getting into those circles? And how do you how do you make that transition?
Elizabeth Solaru
Okay, um, there definitely is a process of making that transition, you have to make it happen. So I said earlier on, you’ve got to have a good product. But the problem is, is not enough to have a good product. It’s the marketing. It’s the it’s the elevation. So there are times so this is what I say to people, the first thing you need to do is create because you don’t have don’t wait for demand in order to create your product. So create the product. I get asked a what’s the most expensive cake you’ve ever sold? That’s the wrong question to ask, you should ask me what’s the most value you’ve created for eight clients. So what’s the most value you’ve given? So some ways in which I did that was to literally create the most outrageous cake you’ve ever seen. I use the principles of a couture house. So a fashion couture house will create a range of these incredible menswear, women’s wear for the catwalk, knowing fully well that the couture range, there are probably only 50 women or 100 women in the world that can afford the couture, but they create this range in order to draw attention. But they also create other products so your lipsticks, your perfume, your aftershave, etc. Your your your accessories, it’s actually what funds the couture line. But without the couture line. You don’t get that publicity, the PR the marketing, the branding, which positions you really really well. So that is how you do it. You create something. haute couture for whatever it is you’re doing something really, really high and just create that, even if you don’t sell it, and then you look at other products you can sell, that will generate the money that will generate the cash, because at the end of the day, it’s about cash flow. And this is where the bigger brands, the bigger luxury brands, because they have the money, they can actually pump a lot of money into creating the mature into the marketing that PR, and then when you created that amazing product, you need to get the marketing around it right, the branding around it right. And you knew you may need to get some sort of influencer, some sort of Ambassador to really promote your product. And then lastly, even amongst your colleagues in the industry, you need to be able to get them to say amazing things about you, because that’s where your recommendations are going to come from. So that in a nutshell, I mean, there’s a lot more to the process, but that is a cherry picked, little bite size of how you go about innovating.
Scott Ritzheimer
And yeah. And that can it’s, you know, it’s a lot of work. It’s worth it. But the question that I have is, is it worth it for everybody? Should everybody move up market? Or how do you know if it’s right for you, and and the business that you’re trying to build?
Elizabeth Solaru
That’s a brilliant question. Because if we look at the different levels of any business, some people are, it might be worth it, if you’re a service provider, etc, etc. Or if you produce a certain type of product to just be in the middle, or to be or even to be in the volume market. Because if it’s not in it, it’s not too much trouble. It doesn’t take too much time, and you can really whip out your products or your services, there’s no point in moving upstream, because upstream is a lot difficult. Yes, it’s worth it. Because it’s worth it because not just the money, but the cache, etc, etc. But you need to really, really be honest with yourself and we say is it worth the return on investment? Is it worth it? Because with a luxury brand, you might not see return for a few years? And can you hold on while that’s happening while you’re trying to make that happen. However, if there’s at a lower level, if you can get the volume, and you can literally get the money and it’s easy, and I was talking about ease, then definitely do that. Because the client expectations at a lower level is not that high. And by adding one or two little things by doing some tweaks, you can give the impression of a high end product when it actually isn’t. So something I call masstige. Because I’m writing a book and I’m talking about the different luxury brand types. Some people stay at the masstige level, and don’t go to the premium or ultra prestige level. Because the message if you can then do it, it’d be like Nike, Nike is masstige Yes, some are more expensive than others. But any average person can still walk into Nike, Nike and get a good quality sneaker. So again, it’s the same principle.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah. And so let’s say someone’s made the decision, they’re gonna go into it. What kind of mindset shifts do they need to make about the process, that that will help them accelerate their movement forward and keep them from getting tripped up along the way?
Elizabeth Solaru
That’s again, another brilliant question. Because it’s all to do with mindset and confidence. And one, you need to believe so much in your product. But you also need to know the flaws of your product. And you need to be very open about In fact, you can actually make a virtue of those flaws, because in luxury, things are not necessarily perfect. It’s not about attaining perfection, it’s about sometimes making a virtue of those flaws. So you need to have a mindset shift with that. So that’s the one area I coach clients on the second area is on price, because many people still price too low. And then many people go the other way and they over price. So again, I teach about the different types of pricing, there are seven different types, and I’ve tried all seven and the most important pricing is the value based pricing. And there’s a saying that luxury sets the price and to many people is a scary thing to suddenly add another zero to your pricing. So how do you feel you need to feel very comfortable about it so that when you tell people your price, you do not blink. So even if people are trying to get you to justify your pricing, which some clients will and you have to be ready to To justify your pricing, and the value that you’re providing, etc, etc, but you have the confidence to do so. But when many people fall down is that they haven’t got the confidence to do so. So those for me to briefly answer your question the other two mindset shifts that people need to make when it comes to selling luxury.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, I’m fascinated by this concept of making virtue of making a virtue out of a flaw. Could you give us an example of that maybe from your past, or one of the clients you’ve worked with?
Elizabeth Solaru
Oh, absolutely. And I’m lucky because I, what I do is artistic. So because what I do is artistic, even when I’m making mistakes. So it’s a reminder that I use the principle, the Japanese principle of I think, can Kintsugi it’s called. And it’s essentially, when you have a broken plate, you glue it together, but along the crack line, you line it with gold. And then you have this incredible, beautiful looking plate. And people don’t even know that actually, it was where, where it cracked or where it broke. So that’s the that’s the easiest explanation. So I’m not saying the product that you produce must be functional. In fact, super functional. But in terms of everything else, any, any, any little, any little flaws. You need to make a virtue, so you need to not hide them away, but highlight them with gold as the Japanese do.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah. Well, fascinating. Fascinating. So there’s so much in here. And I wonder if you could just kind of bottle it up for us. I’m going to ask a question, I like to ask all of our guests. And it’s this, what’s the biggest secret that you wish wasn’t a secret at all, especially in this world of luxury selling? What’s that one thing that you wish everybody knew?
Elizabeth Solaru
I really wish people knew that. All you have to do is pick up the phone and ask people, because of technology, we slide into people’s DMS, we send them emails, we don’t do the things that we should do ie pick up the phone, because when you pick up the phone and speak to a human voice, there is when people call me or when I call people, you can hear people’s either people are happy, or they’re sad or fearful, or they’re nervous, etc, etc. There’s a connectedness there, that makes people sometimes they will say yes to you, because they know it’s, it’s brave to pick up the phone and call somebody you don’t know, to ask. And I do that if I want to collaborate with someone who is way bigger than me. And I’ve done that I’ve collaborated with massive brands, massive luxury brands, the best thing to do is pick up the phone and do that. And I have an amazing story of how I ended up working for the late Queen Elizabeth, I ended up working with her cousin, who is lady her her name is Elizabeth by the way, Lady Elizabeth, I ended up working for her. Because I literally picked up the phone. And I was it was right place. Right time, they were looking for a cake maker, they tried several cake makers, I just happened to call. And then I delivered samples a couple of days later. And I ended up having a relationship and working with her. And she was a friend’s cousin. And that’s how I kind of got into, again, the high end world, one of the ways I got in so my point is is don’t be afraid to pick up that phone and just talk to someone even if it’s a no, it’s not the end of the world.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, yeah, so true. So true. The last question that I have, and then I’d love to make sure folks know how they can get in touch with you here before we wrap up. But before we get there, I’m going to have you take off your coach hat for a moment your strategist had put on your CEO hat, Gonna jump down into the ring with the rest of us and talk to us. What’s the next stage of growth look like for you and your business? And what challenge Do you think you’ll have to overcome to get there?
Elizabeth Solaru
Gosh, um, for me, right now, I’m thinking about automation, because I do want to grow the business. I’m thinking about automation. I’m thinking about writing a book about all this, because there are amazing luxury books and luxury out there. But they’re written from the perspective of a massive luxury brand of people who have lots of money. But for people like me, who started from nothing, there’s literally nothing out there. And nobody hardly talks about luxury clients. So there’s so that’s another stage of growth for me, within myself out there. And we might, you know, having my thoughts that are going to be on paper judged. So automation, there’s that and then my speaking career is also taken off. So again, that’s another stage of growth for me because there’s no CEO, and again, I know this from being a headhunter. There’s no CEO or C suite executive that does and give speeches are present. Because that’s how you inspire. That’s how you grow your team. That’s how you train your team and coach your team. So there’s something about going out there speaking, having your thoughts out there. That again, signifies another stage of growth for me. So that, in a nutshell, is what I’m thinking about in terms of my growth.
Scott Ritzheimer
That’s fantastic. That’s very exciting. Can’t wait to hear more out of the world as you get this hopefully his book out there, get on your speaking tour, become by the side of the pond, please look us up. We’d love to connect with you then. But before I let you go, there’s some folks that are listening. It’s like this is just opening up idea after idea after idea for them. And and they know it’s exactly what they need, how can they get in touch with you?
Elizabeth Solaru
And if you can find me on LinkedIn, Elizabeth Solaru,
LinkedIn, and connect with me there and because that’s the platform I’ve chosen this year to share a lot of my thoughts and articles and ideas on the luxury business. So yeah, that’s that’s where I would love for people to connect with me.
Scott Ritzheimer
Fantastic. And as well, Elizabeth, thank you so much for being on the show. It’s just an absolute pleasure having you here and for those of you listening and watching today, you know your time and attention means the world to us. I hope you got as much out of this conversation as I know I did. And I cannot wait to see you next time. Take care.
Contact Elizabeth Solaru
Elizabeth Solaru is a former a scientist and headhunter turned business coach and strategist. She has honed her expertise in understanding luxury clients having successfully set up and run the world-renowned and multi-award-winning atelier Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium and the Luxury Business Emporium. Elizabeth is the co-host of the Luxury Business Podcast and Luxury News Weekly Podcast, and is considered to be a leading expert in the world of luxury selling.
Want to learn more about Elizabeth Solaru’s work at Luxury Business Emporium? You can connect with her on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-solaru-1ba901/ and check out her website at https://www.luxurybusinessemporium.com.
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