Mentoring for - Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants

RKLE
In 2011, more Bentleys and Rolls-
Royces were sold from Sparkle
Roll’s main Beijing showroom at
99 Jinbao Street than from any
other outlet worldwide.
In the past few years, the Hong Kong-listed company has signed
deals to distribute a number of Swiss watch labels (including Richard
Mille, Parmigiani and deLaCour), the French jewellery brand
Boucheron and several big names among Bordeaux vineyards, such
as Château Petrus and Château d’Yquem.
Most recently, Sparkle Roll has signed distribution deals with
Bang & Olufsen, a Danish maker of speakers and other pricey electronic
goods, and Royal Asscher Diamond Co., an Amsterdam jewellery
house. “All the brands are of very high quality,” says Mok.
A PLUS
Finding frills
As Sparkle Roll sees it, the luxury goods market is not just an art.
There’s a science at play, as well. When it comes to choosing which
brands to distribute, says Mok, “the sales team has to have a sense of
what the market will expect and what the market will not like. We
have to see what brand may be well received by our customers in future
and also consider the competition with other brands.”
Mok says the company strategy is based on intimate customer
relationships and constant communication. “Different customers
have different needs so there is communication with the customers
to consider their needs [to ensure] our sales team offers them the
right products,” he says.
Sparkle Roll’s sales units act as brand managers for the company
– and its customers. They keep in close touch with developments
from the brands themselves and pass that information to
potential customers. “They watch out for technology advancement
in, for example, the automobile industry or new trends in watch
design or technology,” Mok explains.
The company’s nine directors are principally responsible for the
selection of new business partners. “They have their own
vision about what will happen and select those brands,”
says Mok, adding that gut instinct plays an important part
in selection. “To be frank, there should be a kind of sense or
feeling, rather than just a systematic or scientific method.”
Many luxury brands have focused on the potential
of the China market. For some, like Italian shoemaker
Tod’s and American bag manufacturer Coach, almost all
their recent growth has been in China. That means many
companies beat a path to Sparkle Roll’s door.
“We welcome overseas foreign luxury brands to come to
China and, of course, we can help some newcomers and we
are happy to do so if we think the brand has a big future,”
Mok says.
He says luxury brands – no matter how good their
products – need to have a sensible China strategy. “I think
some of them may have difficulty in dealing with Chinese
culture and might not be dealing with their products and customers
efficiently.”
Rolling up experience
While Mok now relishes the luxury goods lifestyle – he is a fan of
Château Margaux, the premier grand cru Bordeaux wine and another
Sparkle Roll distribution acquisition – his introduction to the
high life was somewhat less impressive. A quarter of a century or so
ago, when Mok was a young accountant at Price Waterhouse, now
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