Steve Sy’s business tips for catering to upscale clients

In the Philippines, a lot of fortunes have been amassed by entrepreneurs and business families catering mainly to mass-market consumers and also the middle class such as SM malls, budget airline Cebu Pacific Air, Smart Communications and PLDT MyDSL of PLDT Group, the Puregold retail chain, Kopiko and Great Taste instant coffee.

How about the high-end market of the Philippines? With the growing affluence of the rich and even the upper middle class due to the steady economic expansion of the past decade, how do you attract and retain the premium clientele?

One of the most successful entrepreneurs in the luxury segment is 63-year-old Cebu-born and Mindanao-raised Stephen Engineer “Steve” D. Sy of Focus Global, Inc. 

Fluent in English, Filipino, Hokkien, Cebuano and Mandarin, Sy studied industrial engineering at the University of the Philippines and earned a master’s in management at Stanford University. He is a two-term past president of the Lanao Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Inc. based in Iligan City and was also president of the Stanford Alumni Club of the Philippines.

Housing the Philippines’ biggest luxury lifestyle showroom: Five stories of the Twenty-four Seven McKinley Building in Bonifacio Global City are devoted to Focus Global’s international luxury brands.

A testament to his bullish confidence in the long-term future of Philippine economic growth, on April 27 Sy will inaugurate the country’s biggest luxury lifestyle product showroom — five stories with over half a hectare in floor area at his new Twenty-four Seven McKinley building in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. 

Sy shared some successful business strategies when catering to upscale clients in an exclusive interview with The Philippine STAR:

1. Check out and study well the market potential of your products. Know your target affluent clientele well, their needs and wants, and also the existing businesses catering to these customers. In studying and building this target client profile, take into consideration also demographics, psychographics or the unique range of customer circumstances. In Metro Manila, luxury goods companies have established their presence in the Fort or Makati. In East Asia, certain international private bankers have even recruited Chinese-speaking executives to enhance their marketing efforts.

2. Choose good, world-class brands and reliable suppliers. In the case of Focus Global, Inc. Sy said their 17 brands are the finest in their respective categories such as B&B and Maxalto furniture brands of Italy; Ethan Allen furniture of USA; Dornbracht and Villeroy & Boch bath and wellness brands of Germany; Pella windows and doors of the US; SieMatic kitchen brand of Germany; Sub-Zero and Wolf home appliances of the US; Hunter Douglas window treatments of Netherlands, etc. 

3. Market the products properly. Sy said that marketing premium products requires bigger investments in terms of focus, energy, time and even resources, so entrepreneurs in this market segment should not scrimp on costs. There should be well-thought-out marketing strategies for this special market. This is one of the reasons his firm has built this unique and grand five-story showroom in their own building. Of the 24-story building’s eight stories of parking space, four floors are exclusively allocated for guests and customers of Focus Global, Inc. The showroom will also have special chefs to serve clients with snacks and do demos for kitchen products.

4. Hire good people, pay fairly and motivate them well. I agree with this because catering to upscale customers with high-quality products and services — whether lifestyle products, furniture and luxury cars or hospitality business services like hotels and resorts — require the best sales and technical personnel as well as good, efficient business systems and processes.

“High-end customers have high expectations in the thorough knowledge of our staff, “ said Focus Global, Inc. assistant vice president Aline D. Lopez.  Full-time interior designers and other staff of the company handling various products are sent to Europe and North America for in-depth training and comprehensive product knowledge seminars.

5. Provide excellent after-sales customer service. One of the major differences between premium market businesses and others is the much higher expectations in customer service. Even for mass-market or mid-range market businesses, one can achieve and main success if you can guarantee good and consistent customer service.

6. Cooperate or tie up with fellow businesses also catering to high-end markets. As examples of his Focus Global cooperating with businesses also catering to the high-end markets, Sy cited their supplying SieMatic cabinets, Sub-Zero refrigerators and Miele kitchen appliances to projects like Discovery Primea in Makati City, Ayala Land’s The Suites and Two Roxas Triangle projects, and the Shangri-La project at the Fort called Horizon Suites.

7. Build trust, credibility, and a good track record. Sy said that this tip applies to all businesses. Ever since he started Focus Global, Inc. in 1991 with his Coleman brand of consumer products and added to his range of luxury international brands, he and his people have carefully cultivated their track record. Apart from the quality of goods and services, customer care and after-sales service, testimonials and good marketing all contribute to overall trust and credibility.

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