Background: From Nomura's Top Salesperson

News recently emerged about Ms. Kiko, the former top salesperson at Nomura, Japan's largest securities firm. She transitioned to work as a hostess in Ginza. Many initially speculated that the financial industry was too difficult, suggesting sectors like finance weren't as appealing as less conventional fields. However, the sources clarify that this was a significant misunderstanding of Kiko's situation. Hostessing in Japan is a legal profession, where physical contact is prohibited within establishments, which are constantly monitored. Kiko is described as very ambitious; she didn't change careers because she failed at the securities firm, but rather to realize her personal value.

Kiko joined Nomura after graduating from university. Japanese securities firms often prefer hiring women with a "friendly and sweet image" for sales roles. Their main strength is seen as providing emotional value rather than professional knowledge. Kiko was not only sweet-looking but also a workaholic. Her method for becoming Nomura's top salesperson was visiting companies without appointment and making cold phone calls. She said she would go through office buildings from the first floor to the top, knocking on every door. She visited over 100 clients and made over 200 phone calls daily.

Despite few people listening, she persisted without discouragement. This led her to receive the CEO Award in her second year at Nomura. She maintained connection with the clients who answered to her exceptionally well. She sent morning greeting message every day and compiled the day's most important information to send to clients.

The Transition: Why She Left Nomura

She quit Nomura primarily because she felt she had hit a career ceiling after six years. The promotion paths for women were narrow, offering a future that felt predictable for many years. Furthermore, her work was high-intensity, often finishing at 2 AM with less than 4 hours of sleep. Kiko stated she was unwilling to continue living that kind of life.

Choosing Hostess: The Strategic Move

There were two main reasons she chose to become a hostess. First, the working hours for hostesses in Ginza are relatively adjustable, typically from 6:00 PM to 12:00 AM. As her securities job often involved accompanying clients for drinks during this exact time anyway, becoming a full-time hostess seemed a better use of her time. Second, the clientele in hostess industry highly overlaps with the financial sector. The clients largely consist of executives from listed companies and some political figures. This allowed for a seamless transition.

Rapid Success in Ginza

Soon after the transition, her salary tripled, and she quickly became the top salesperson in Ginza's hostess scene. She is truly talented. Her success is attributed to bringing the sales strategies honed in the financial industry to the hostess world.

In her first month, she did not rush to promote herself. Instead, she quietly observed clients, learned the store's procedures, and studied client preferences. By the second month, she "exploded", directly taking the top sales spot for that month and has maintained it ever since.

Secrets to Her Success: Client Management and Strategy

Her methods for success are numerous. Unlike the typical model where a large portion of income relies on one or two major clients (potentially 80%), Kiko felt this had too many uncontrollable factors and too much volatility. Her approach was to cultivate over 200 ordinary clients. While the average spending per client was not high, the large number of clients ensured stable performance. She hosted three to four groups of guests daily, totaling around 100 groups a month. This structure meant that even if a client suddenly stopped coming, her monthly performance would not be affected.

To manage these 200+ clients, while most hostesses use small notebooks, Kiko used an Excel spreadsheet which contained significantly more information. She would record all client information she could gather: birthdays, interests, industry, company, spending habits, spouse and children's situation, and even pet details. For clients with allergies, she meticulously recorded the specific allergens. If a client's child was taking college entrance exams, she would send blessings three days in advance. She also thoroughly studied various aspects of baseball leagues because 60% of her clients were baseball fans.

She was also meticulous in executing the rules of top Ginza clubs. She typically arrived 2 hours early to adjust her makeup style based on the clients preferences, as adhering to the "five senses management" standard of top Ginza clubs was essential:

• Sight: When pouring wine, she used the "Ginza style" gesture with her ring and pinky fingers slightly raised, and presented the glass after rotating it 15 degrees.

• Hearing: Her voice was kept within the 55-60 decibel range, said to be the range most conducive to building trust.

• Touch: When offering a tissue, she would use her index fingers and thumbs of both hands to hold the edge about one-third of the way in, avoiding touching the client's fingers.

• Smell: She selected different fragrance types based on the client's age.

• Taste: She not only remembered the type and brand of alcohol the client liked but also their preferred ice shape (spherical, square, or crushed ice).

However, these services are considered basic operations in the hostess industry. While Kiko had a slight advantage in client management, these basics alone were not enough to make her the top hostess.

The "Killer Move": Financial Expertise and Cognitive Premium

Her true "killer move" lay in her financial professional knowledge and service spirit. In addition to providing emotional value, she could also provide "cognitive premium," and even investment opportunities.

This involved a significant workload. Even after transitioning to hostess, she spent most of her day, much like she did at the securities firm, reading and analyzing important financial news. Then, like a securities professional, she would send weekly, monthly, and quarterly reports to clients about hot topics and industry analysis. She would intentionally or unintentionally include analyses of her clients' companies or the stocks they held in these reports. For example, when Mitsubishi Heavy Industries had a breakthrough in its hydrogen business, she would promptly send an analysis report to clients from Mitsubishi. This approach was highly relevant and personal, naturally making clients more willing to give her their business.

Every day, she also prepared topic lists in advance for different guests. For example, with guests concerned about the trade war, she would discuss export adjustments. If a guest mentioned, "The Japanese yen is under significant depreciation pressure recently," many hostesses might not fully understand, but Kiko would analyze the situation and predict the Bank of Japan might adjust its yield curve control policy. This was very professional.

Because she possessed this professional skill, many clients would discuss investment-related matters with her, including dynamics within their own companies or stocks they had invested in. Kiko would record this information in her Excel spreadsheet. The next time they met, if the stock price had fallen, it was acceptable, but if the stock price had actually risen, the client would certainly enjoy this topic.

Due to the large number of clients and the wide range of information exchanged, she sometimes acted as an information intermediary. It is said that a client from a large pharmaceutical company mentioned his company was preparing to acquire another company. Later, she met a client who was in investment and discussed this information. This was first-hand information. The investment client analyzed it, found it reliable, immediately built a position, and ultimately earned 200 million Japanese yen.

Many of her clients were also elderly. She would analyze from a professional perspective how they should allocate their asset portfolios after retirement, which was very popular. This type of situation occurred very frequently. Consequently, her clients dubbed her the "Ginza public relations expert who knows the capital market best". Her salary was also triple what it was at Nomura.

Long-Term Vision and Impact

The news of her becoming a hostess caused quite a stir in Japan. It is evident that this young woman has a lot of ideas. She does not plan to be a hostess indefinitely. She sees the night club as a "network incubator". She is building her personal IP in Ginza. She plans to accumulate three years of experience before opening her own night club establishment. Currently, she has already received some investment intentions. Her peers in the industry say that she has redefined the competitive standards of the Ginza hostessing industry. The sources conclude that indeed, it is difficult for such a person not to succeed.

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