TAG Heuer Retail Academy trains managers

Retail teams are on the front lines to ensure that customers fully experience the unique TAG Heuer universe at points of sale. The Swiss watchmaker continually polishes the excellence of its customer welcome, including a unique training  program for store managers, the TAG Heuer Retail Academy.

Created in September 2012, the program is designed to serve as a toolbox. It provides very operational support for managers, while at the same time engaging them more deeply with the brand values. Following an initial e-learning experience, managers are invited to a week-long seminar, a one-of-a-kind incubator for best practices.

From Geneva to La Chaux-de-Fonds, where the company is headquartered, the dozen participants in each session plunge into a total immersion. The agenda includes workshops on the selling ceremony, team management, after-sales service and visual merchandising, as well as site tours, including the TAG Heuer watch manufacture. In addition to the wide range of subjects covered, the seminar also provides opportunities for enriching exchanges among participants.

Retail performance is analyzed in detail during the training, which flows through to strategic value-added at several levels. The quality of the customer experience and the engagement of store teams has a very significant impact on sales, and boosts the overall image of the brand.

Feedback following the program’s first year has been unanimously enthusiastic. “The mirroring is excellent! You learn a lot from other teams’ experiences,” says Igor Inza, manager of the TAG Heuer corner store in Corte Ingles in Madrid.

U.K. Retail Director Orla McKeon is equally enthusiastic: “Personally, I’ve been able to see different management styles in action and this will help me identify future development for my managers.”

A total of 70 managers have already taken part in the TAG Heuer Retail Academy workshops, including all the managers of own-brand stores across the company’s distribution network. This ambitious initiative aims to deliver an experience worthy of that created by owning an exceptional chronograph.