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First experiences with Minamoto Sales at Silmo - No. 2

Eric Gatepaille talks about his first impressions

Eric, what were your first impressions of Minamoto before the official launch?

I became aware of Minamoto through the Style Show and the interview with Satoshi. There was also a short teaser on the platform and when I saw that, the temples, the kanji, I really wanted to know more.

After the training, I thought the products were just great, but not only that. The way the presentation was developed showed us that there was a really great story to tell about this concept. This is not necessarily the case with all of our collections. With Minamoto we can tell a lot that our customers will love.

The only clue I had was the lack of different temple designs, colours and the matte finish, but the Silmo taught me better.

And now, after the Silmo, would you like to share your experiences with us?

With Minamoto, I have a real global brand story that I can tell my customers. One concept, glasses, polarized lenses and a case - all made in Japan. In reality, with Minamoto we are talking about CHARMANT, but without actually saying it. It breaks with my habits and those of the opticians, which is very good. You get the impression that we are introducing something completely new, when in reality we are just underlining who we have been all along.

It is very easy for customers to meet the minimum order quantity. And in the end, nobody actually spoke to me about the choice of colours and the matt finish during these four days of Silmo. So there is no problem with that either. Same goes for the price. I don't mention it until the end of my presentation and everyone has told me that it corresponds to the value of the products.

How would you like to start your day-to-day sales with Minamoto?

With a selective sales concept from traditional opticians. I will not follow my habits, but rather think the other way around with this brand. Minamoto is a beautiful brand to be seen and sold in beautiful stores. These are not necessarily my normal major customers. At Minamoto, I'll be controlling my sales to get people to buy the next launch.

Do you have some tipps or advice?

1) First tell the story and then show the glasses.

2) Don't show the brand to everyone, but specifically to the „right“ customers.

3) Take the time to show the promotional materials and case. The things are really expensive. You have to get the opticians to want it all.