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It is also the style that Eva-Kim Wempe epitomizes. She is a petite woman, dark hair, dark, intelligent eyes. She has an almost modest demeanor that quickly puts her interlocutors at ease. You wouldn’ t guess that she runs a global business with nearly 800 employees. Besides the watches and the boutiques, Wempe also has her own jewelry line, By Kim.
Speaking with her is refreshing, because in contrast to many in the industry, who either produce hype, or resort to sealed lips about anything challenging.
Ms. Wempe prefers frankness.“ If I have to plan for a 20 % drop, I will and we’ ll make due,” she said about her response to the current economic climate.“ 2017 had many challenges in store for the luxury goods segment. We adjusted our planning accordingly and as a family company quickly reacted to changed market conditions. We expect a small increase in sales compared to the high level of the previous year.”
Her strategic approach is to concentrate on local customers. The tourists who come to the boutiques will, she feels, go elsewhere if there is some change in interest rates.
Much of Wempe’ s success is due to the special corporate culture. By choosing excellent personnel and then making them feel loyal, the company avoids the kind of churn from which many brands suffer.
“ As an employee, you can only participate if you think with the company as well,” she pointed out.“ We have no secrets, even from the employees, so we share information, like the figures.”
The result, too, is a different atmosphere at the boutiques. Contrary to many shops, sales staff is not paid by commission.
“ You can tell they are not on the clock,” Wempe says.“ We don’ t want our sales professionals trying to convince customers to buy. In the U. S. A. they dress up for Halloween, and some customers come just to see their favorite clerk’ s costume …”
Wempe’ s approach to marketing and business growth is holistic. In other words, everything from manufacturing to marketing is in a same, low-key, yet very elegant style. This may be less exciting in an industry that requires a lot of hype, but the projection of stability and continuity helps the brand maintain a connection with its consumers. This ability to keep the company products well-grounded may be the gift of female leadership, particularly in a very male-dominated industry.
The cherry on the cake is her vision for the future and company leadership. Running a family business has its advantages, with well-established teams. She admits, though, that the tolerance for errors might be a little higher than in a regular company. Sometimes, too, new blood and fresh ideas can meet with unnecessary resistance. But she is confident about the future. Her two adult children are training well and will be ready to take over the business, whenever she is ready to do the handover.
“ I do a lot of succession planning,“ she told me, while recalling that for a moment, things were a little uneasy between with her father, when she took over in 2003.“ I told him he had no other options but to leave the business to me.” And he did. Time, after all, marches on.
56 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | WINTER 2018