From Cartier to Van Cleef & Arpels and from Singapore to Guangzhou, Jeff's journey has been full of wonderful surprises. Five years ago, he joined the group as a Sales Associate and had the opportunity to balance his professional life with his personal objective to return to his hometown.
My career journey…
I joined the Group in 2017 in Singapore. Richemont is well-known worldwide, so I was super happy to join the Group. I started at Van Cleef & Arpels in the Marina Bay Sands boutique as a Sales Associate. I had been working for a luxury brand prior to this role, but I was delighted to join the jewellery industry.
After some years in Singapore, I decided to return to my home country, China. The human resources were super helpful and gave me a lot of advice for the move. I first came back to work as a Sales Associate for Cartier in Guangzhou. After one year, I changed to re-join Van Cleef & Arpels in the flagship boutique in Shanghai. Then I had a chance to return to my hometown because a new boutique opened and I came back to Guangzhou with Van Cleef & Arpels. I felt lucky to experience both Cartier and Van Cleef in different places.
What motivated me to go back to China…
There are two things that motivated me to return to China. Firstly, the market is growing rapidly, and the luxury demand is increasing. I believe that China will become one of the leading markets for the industry, so its super exciting! The second reason is more personal, I wanted to be closer to my family again. Also, I was missing the food so much!
What I have learned…
There have been so many learnings – especially in multi-cultural countries and with multi-cultural clients. In Singapore, they are many different clients from all over the world and in China, its huge! It is local clients, but from different provinces. Each province has its own personality. It almost like 86 different nationalities. You must learn how to adapt and provide an excellent service to each individual person.
What surprised me…
China is getting stronger and the demand is huge. It is super impressive. The locals love luxury and now they must wait outside just to enter the boutique. The challenge is to serve the client inside the boutique, while catering to the client waiting outside. We need to make each client feel taken care of.
Another thing that surprised me is the CRM in China. It is super strong, and we have many loyal clients. I tell my clients to let me know before they will visit the boutique, so they don’t have to wait in line, and I can have their favourite drink prepared for them. I want them to feel at home when they visit the boutique. Another thing is that we are using WeChat as the main tool to communicate with the clients. We are in constant contact with the clients to answer their questions or send them pictures of requested pieces.
My favourite Richemont memory…
There are so many! The HR is super helpful. They make many events for us like to celebrate the anniversary of Van Cleef & Arpels. It is so energetic in the Chinese team. It is quite fun.
My advice if you want to return to China..
Do not hesitate to come back! You will be welcomed back to your hometown. There are a lot of surprises waiting for you! And lastly, the amazing Chinese cuisine is calling 😊
Wise words…
Work hard, keep learning, and passionate about your job!