‘Which is why I want to hear your take on things,’ he said. ‘I’m hoping that our new range of clothes isn’t out of touch with what the customer on the high street wants. The idea is for these clothes to be everyday, normal clothes that you feel good in all the time.’
‘The type of clothes I’d wear to have a pizza?’
‘Yes.’
As she considered her response Mario returned with their starters and Sarah beamed up at him. ‘This looks amazing. They both do,’ she added as she looked across at his plate.
Once the waiter had disappeared as unobtrusively as he’d appeared, she gestured to his. ‘But what is it?’
‘Cauliflower,’ he explained. ‘Infused with lemon curry oil and topped with parmesan. You want to try some?’
‘Sure. And you can have a bit of mine. Scallops with artichoke puree and some sort of sauce—a truffle jus, I think.’
As she tasted a sample of his she closed her eyes, and he was tempted to do the same, to block the effect she was having on him. Instead he asked, ‘Well?’
‘It’s delicious. I had no idea cauliflower could taste like this—it’s like magic.’
He grinned. ‘I’m not sure the chef has an actual wand, but perhaps that’s his secret.’
‘Anyway—sorry. I’m here to give you my opinion on clothes, not vegetables. Right... Well, I’d have to see the clothes in more detail, but going for a pizza could be different, depending on the occasion. A family dinner might get messy—globs of tomato sauce, drips of ice cream. So you’d want clothes that are easy to wash and that also won’t show up grubby stains too much. Or you may go out and eat pizza on a date—and you may travel there by bus. In that case you’d want a more layered look—something pretty under something practical. Or you may be going after work—in which case you’d need something light and sparkly that you can put in your bag and use to transform your work clothes. Anyway, you get the picture.’
He did, and what he liked—alongside her spot-on observations—was the animation that lit her face, the way she waved her hands around to emphasise a point.
‘So that’s what you’d want to wear and what you would want to sell?’
‘That goes back to the point I made earlier. I don’t necessarily have to buy in to the whole range of clothes to be able to sell it. What’s right for me isn’t what’s right for everyone. I don’t have to love it to promote it.’
‘So I should be looking for a good sales technique over genuine love for the product?’
‘In an ideal world you’d need both. But sometimes loving a product isn’t enough; there’s a whole lot more to it than that.’
‘I get that. My business model is based on giving customers what they want, and for that I rely on feedback from the sales floor. I expect my sales force to listen to what the customer wants rather than push them into buying the wrong clothes just to get a sale. Happy customers come back.’
‘I agree with all that—but again, with respect, all that is manager-speak.’
‘Meaning...?’
‘OK... Imagine that you are a sales assistant, you love the product, and you know company policy is to listen to the customer and deliver “excellent service”, et cetera, et cetera. I am the customer. I’ve come in and I’ve tried on an outfit—a pair of jeans that are clearly a size too small for me and a tie top. The same outfit that is on one of your billboards, only the model happens to have super-skinny legs and a toned, flat stomach.’ She glanced down at her own midriff. ‘Trust me—I have neither attribute. So, are you picturing it?’
Oh, God. It had all been going so well.
Ben reached for his wine glass, changed his mind and opted for water instead. He told himself that the temperature in the room could not have gone up. ‘Um...yes. Um...’
Pull it together Ben. This is a serious conversation.
‘You want to know what I would say—would I give my honest advice or would I tell you that it looks great?’
‘Exactly. Because there are so many questions here. You don’t want to damage someone’s self-esteem. Women have enough issues with their body image as it is. But equally the truth is that different fashions suit different body shapes. So here I am, standing in front of you, an ordinary person in the changing room. I’m wearing a tie top that emphasises assets I don’t have and exposes a midriff that is less toned than it could be. What would you do?’
‘I’d tell you that as long as you’re happy with the outfit that is the most important thing.’
She raised her eyebrows. ‘But surely that would imply that you don’t like it?’
He had to get a grip. Unfortunately that was proving hard, because right now he liked it a whole lot—he was sure the outfit would look pretty damn good on her. But that wasn’t the point and he knew it.
Focus. And as he considered her words he realised exactly how difficult the question was. What would he say?
‘OK. The point of Sahara clothes is to make the customer feel good in themselves. So, personally, I believe that it doesn’t matter if your tummy is toned or not. The important thing is that you feel happy and comfortable showing off your shape or size. If you feel good about yourself you can carry off any fashion.’