The Perfect Moment: When Timing Makes the Sale
Mark Satterfield
Specialists in the art of marketing to the affluent and high-net-worth clients
The thing about selling to the one percent is that it's less about the pitch and more about catching them at the perfect moment. Timing isn't everything—it's the only thing. I learned this the hard way from Fat Tony, a nickname he earned not for his girth (he’s rail-thin) but for his appetite for risk and steak dinners at Peter Luger. Tony’s a hedge fund manager who looks like he walked off the set of a Bond film—three-piece suits from Brioni, a vintage Reverso on his wrist, and a smirk that suggests he’s always one step ahead.
Tony’s mantra? “You don’t sell to the wealthy. You let them buy.”
I first met him at an art gallery opening in Chelsea. The gallery owner, Serena Devereaux—known in our circle as “The Velvet Hammer”—was debuting a collection of abstract works by a painter no one had heard of, but everyone suddenly wanted. Tony was sipping a Negroni, leaning against a sculpture that probably cost more than my car. Serena glided over, wrapped in a Chanel jacket that seemed to absorb the room’s light, and murmured, “That’s a $200,000 piece you’re manhandling, Tony.”
Tony grinned. “Perfect timing, Serena. I was just thinking I need something to hang in my new office.”
Serena later told me she’d been working on Tony for months, casually dropping hints about the artist, his rising profile, and the scarcity of his work. But she never pushed. She let Tony feel like he’d discovered the painting himself. The sale was made the moment Tony decided it was his idea.
Timing is everything. I saw it again with Didi Ritz, a luxury real estate broker whose Rolodex could rival the NSA’s database. Didi’s office is a shrine to high-end real estate—photos of sprawling Hamptons estates, Miami penthouses with infinity pools, and Swiss chalets with private helipads. She’s always impeccably dressed, favoring Loro Piana cashmere and Hermes scarves that she knots with the precision of a sailor.
Her secret? She’s mastered the art of the “soft no.”
One afternoon, she showed me a text exchange with a client, a tech billionaire known for his impulsiveness. Let’s call him “Silicon Sam.” Sam wanted a waterfront property in Malibu, but he’d been waffling for weeks. Didi sent him a single message: “The property you love has another offer. If you’re still interested, let’s talk by 5 PM.”
By 4:45, Sam had wired the deposit.
“It’s all about the nudge,” Didi explained. “Not a push, not a shove—just a little nudge. They need to feel the clock ticking.”
Sometimes, though, timing is about patience. Take Dr. Alain Voss, a concierge doctor whose clients include everyone from hedge fund titans to pop stars. Dr. Voss—or “The Whisperer,” as his clients call him—operates out of an office that feels more like a five-star spa. Think plush seating, ambient lighting, and the faint scent of eucalyptus wafting through the air.
“With affluent clients, you have to play the long game,” he told me over dinner at Le Bernardin. “They’re bombarded with options. You have to wait until they’re ready.”
He recounted the story of “Diamond Dave,” a jewelry magnate with a penchant for hypochondria. Dave had been flirting with the idea of switching to Dr. Voss for years but always found an excuse to stick with his current doctor. Then one day, Dave’s wife mentioned she was booking a wellness retreat in Bali. Dr. Voss casually mentioned that his team offered pre-trip consultations for high-risk travel.
Dave signed up for the consultation—and never left Dr. Voss’s practice.
“You wait,” Voss said, swirling his glass of Montrachet. “You watch. And when the moment comes, you act.”
The same principle applies in luxury travel, as I learned from Lexi “Jet Set” Carrington, a travel concierge who arranges bespoke vacations for the ultra-wealthy. Lexi’s office is a minimalist dream, with sleek furniture and walls adorned with photographs of exotic locales. Her phone is constantly buzzing with requests for private island buyouts, heli-skiing expeditions, and Michelin-starred dining experiences in the middle of nowhere.
One of her favorite stories involves a last-minute trip to St. Barts for a client who’d just finalized a divorce. “The timing was perfect,” Lexi said. “He needed an escape, and I delivered a week of pure decadence.”
The client—a venture capitalist with a taste for Dom Pérignon and Aston Martins—was so impressed that he’s now one of her most loyal patrons. “It’s not just about the destination,” Lexi said. “It’s about reading the room and knowing when they need you.”
But timing isn’t always on your side. Just ask “Captain Morgan,” a yacht broker whose tales of near-misses are as legendary as his sales. Morgan is a larger-than-life character, always dressed in a navy blazer and loafers, with a silver flask tucked into his pocket.
One evening at Cipriani, he recounted the story of a Saudi prince who was on the verge of buying a $50 million superyacht. Everything was lined up—the paperwork, the champagne toast, the whole shebang. But the deal fell apart because the prince decided to buy a racehorse instead.
“Timing,” Morgan said, shaking his head. “It’s like trying to catch lightning in a bottle.”
Still, when it works, it’s magic. Like the time Morgan sold a yacht to an Italian industrialist during the Cannes Film Festival. The client had been waffling for months, but the sight of George Clooney boarding a rival’s vessel sealed the deal.
“Jealousy is a hell of a motivator,” Morgan said with a grin.
Every deal has its moment—that split second when the stars align and the sale becomes inevitable. The trick is recognizing it. Whether it’s Fat Tony buying a painting, Didi nudging a billionaire, or Captain Morgan capitalizing on a festival’s glamour, the game is always the same: Timing is everything.
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