Archerous' R1M21 Delib

Quality

I’m looking for something soft. Colorful, yet durable. Do you have anything like that? We’ve got a customer service match! Laufey Jónsdóttir and Charvet Champagne of the Willow Wisps are running the Upstart! Silk Emporium, all while Esmond Root and Vasil Grace of the Lotus Street Manifold are managing Kayal’s Silk House! Both are tasked with keeping the store and customer base in tiptop shape! For both teams, I’ll be looking over two main areas of focus during the match: Store Upkeep and Customer Service. How do they manage?

Starting with the Willow Wisps, we’ll first go over Store Upkeep. Using Basshunter units to clean the store is fun, giving a whimsical feel to the whole place. The Freakums also play an important role on this side of things. Not only do they help keep the place stocked, but they also tend to customers. I find this to be a great use of both units, playing well into their strengths, i.e. letting the cute, sewing rats handle the clothes, while allowing the grimy, salty fish deal with the dirty work. Speaking of dirty work, Laufey does a good amount of sabotage against the neighboring silk house, making sure to get enough units through to be able to summon more units inside the store, a nightmare scenario for LSM. It's a smart play, and one that will certainly make it harder for LSM to do their job.

Moving to Customer Service, I think Charvet does a wonderful job of tending to the various customers throughout the day. Beyond the individual tactics (which we’ll get to), I think the ‘fairy godmother’ approach is very fun and allows Charvet to lower the guards of any would-be hagglers, either by making things custom order, thus making it more difficult to haggle for, or by offering whole outfits for ‘cheaper’ costs. In regards to the individual customers, I think Charvet does fairly well here, too. He’s careful to give the Tourist something fashionable, going the whole nine yards to make this the best gift ever. As for the Drama Queen, he plays into her hostile nature towards him, using it as an opportunity to prove her wrong, all while making a sale without her noticing. Well played, indeed. Charvet is especially helpful with the Regular, offering her assistance and guiding her decisions to nail the sale. Finally, I believe Charvet deals with the Naani to the best of his abilities. He knows he can’t sell her an experience, so he goes to haggle with Din, as Spider-Man, no less! I think the decision to sell to Shalin a service rather than an experience is a good call, especially when one is dealing with such a master haggler.

Overall, I’m going to give this strategy an 7. I think the team did a great job turning Upstart! around and making an experience to remember in the process. Well done!

Onto the Lotus Street Manifold, we’ll start with Store Upkeep. Lotus did an excellent job of keeping the store in a presentable condition, using the Conveyor Belt not only to bring clothes to customers, but to hold up shelves and keep things in their intended places. I appreciate the Janitor play, as well, giving the players more time to dedicate to customer service. Their counterplay against the Wisps is also fairly solid, focusing on containing, rather than outright destroying or sabotaging (though they still do a fair bit of it). In terms of keeping a presentable store, I’d say they do wonderfully.

As for the Customer Service aspect, I believe Lotus did fantastic work here as well. They addressed each customer type very well. Convincing the Tourist that they were getting a deal, giving the Drama Queen Vasil’s expertise, to Esmond carrying a good conversation with the Regular. Their teamwork with convincing Din that this was a place where superheroes are made was an inspired choice, one I think works particularly well. Ultimately, I thought these tactics played into the pair’s individual strengths and weaknesses, allowing them to work as a fully functioning, marketing machine.

Overall, I’m going to give this strategy an 8. Through their mastery of marketing strategies, to their thorough upkeep of the store proper, I believe Lotus ran a tight ship, leaving little room for error. Well done!

Jojolity

As for Jojolities, I have a few notes. Starting with the Willow Wisps, I think the store was in need of a little magic. As stated prior, I really enjoyed Charvet’s fairy godmother display, as it not only helped his sales, but it also spoke to his personal style, as well. Laufey’s cleaning sea animals only helped (if in spirit) with this whimsical vibe. As such, I’m going to give this Jojolity an 8!

Moving onto Lotus Street Manifold, I must commend the duo for their control over the situation within the store. They maintained their own order, making sure everything went their way, be it through haggling customers into the price ranges they wanted, to using the Conveyor Belt to keep the building together. With this in mind, I’m going to give this Jojolity an 8, as well!