HOW TO START UP by FF&M
Molly Goddard & Joel Jeffery | Co-Founders of Desmond & Dempsey: How to sell luxury goods
Published: 14 January 2025 at 05:00 UTC
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Episode notes
Selling any product is a skill but selling a product with a luxury price tag is a nuanced skill. As this season is focused on sales I wanted to interview people with experience in differentiating their product in a crowded market & find out how they managed to sell it.
Molly Goddard & Joel Jeffery co-founded the luxury pyjama brand Desmond & Dempsey in 2014. Over a decade the couple has redefined the concept of luxury sleepwear & secured listings in Harrods, Harvey Nichols & Selfridges very early on in their business.
Keep listening to hear Molly & Joel’s advice on how they tackled sales.
Molly and Joel’s Advice:
- Impart your message (in their case the benefits of relaxation) with positivity; buying this product is a treat for yourself, it’s all about fun
- It’s one thing to love your product but you must take sales seriously
- Enjoy the art of selling! Share news of your product as widely as you can, and always in an optimistic way
- Pay attention to the market and always note customer preferences
- Ask your clients questions, constantly monitor their tastes and their attitudes
- Be aware of daily sales; if you can achieve wholesale orders this will give you the freedom to take out loans
- When selling to retail clients, find your niche in the market
- Use instagram / a website / word of mouth / email your customers
- PR will pay off and is a valuable tool
- Branding is important; while obviously the product must be good, you also need to make your customers feel special. This is often achieved with some extra-special packaging
- Your customers are buying an expensive product and they should feel excited by both the purchase and the product, the anticipation and the reality
FF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts.
Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, 2023 MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason. Email us at hello@fallowfieldmason.com or DM us on instagram @fallowfieldmason.
FF&M recommends:
- LastPass the password-keeping site that syncs between devices.
- Google Workspace is brilliant for small businesses
- Buzzsprout podcast 'how to' & hosting directory
- Canva has proved invaluable for creating all the social media assets and audio bites.
MUSIC CREDIT Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod. Link & Licence