Santa Fe takes stress out of relocating

Packing up and leaving Japan can be a traumatic experience for many people. Moving to Japan can also be an emotional challenge. Santa Fe Relocation Services takes a lot of the stress out of the moving business. The company has 126 offices in 56 countries and has been in Japan for 35 years. In addition to its global network, one of Santa Fe’s strengths is that it also offers such services as helping clients get visas and home search.

Heading the operations for Japan and South Korea is Australian Martin Giles, who first came to Japan in 1991 to work at the InterContinental Hotel in Yokohama. He has been with Santa Fe for nearly three years. He became general manager for Japan and South Korea in March and splits his time equally between each country.

Japan Today catches up with Giles to hear more about the relocation business.

How has business been so far this year?

As a global company we see various changes in the market in each of our locations around the world. Our Japanese business has experienced encouraging growth over the last 12 months. We believe this improvement was due to several factors, such as the weakening of the yen, the companies that we work for becoming more active assignment wise and individuals choosing to move to and from Japan. Santa Fe also commissions the Global Mobility Survey research report each year. This is a study of 1,282 companies and the results show that companies reported an 8% net growth in assignment activity to Japan over the past 12 months.

Where do you see growth coming for Japan?

For Japan, we believe that this growth will not be simply only with the traditional expatriates on assignment in Japan. We expect to see growth from Japanese companies that are expanding in overseas markets. This means that there will be a greater number of Japanese families and individuals expatriating. The yen will of course play a part in this, and this segment will grow as the yen strengthens and companies have the capital for expansion. Japanese companies and families can receive the assistance they need through using a relocation or global assignment management company. We already have multiple large Japanese companies that expatriate Japanese assignees and we are guiding them through the process and managing global assignments from A-Z and then back for their repatriations.

How is the balance between outbound and inbound business?

The number of outbound moves is still exceeding the number of inbound. However, the level of this disparity is shrinking and our inbound customer numbers compared to last year showed a slight rise which is encouraging. In a recent poll, Japan was ranked as the 11th most expensive place to live for expats. This means a drop of four places over last year as the yen has weakened and affected this ranking. A few years back, Tokyo was voted the most expensive. So now that it’s really become more affordable, we are cautiously optimistic that this increased incoming trend will continue. We have also seen growth in the number of Asia to Asia traffic as people move more within the region. This is an interesting concept and shows us that the dynamic of the global economy must have changed significantly over the past decade.

What effect will the Olympics have on your business?

The Olympics should have a positive effect. We are seeing a lot of inquiries from companies who are major sponsors, and media outlets. Some are already sending in people to South Korea for the 2018 Winter Olympics and for Tokyo in 2020. The Olympics tends to affect immigration processing times. As we draw nearer to the event dates, the availability and the cost of housing increases. As a business, Santa Fe has offices in countries that have hosted Olympics over the years and so we have a set strategy to help people in the lead-up and throughout the Olympics when it comes to such issues as these.

What kind of support do foreign nationals arriving in Japan require?

When arriving in Japan, people need a lot of support and guidance. As an expatriate arriving in Japan, the settling-in services provided by relocation companies provides this support. A pre-move visit and look-see, and especially orientation programs allow people to assimilate as quickly as possible and begin the transition into Japanese lifestyle. In addition, cross cultural training programs, language training also help everyone to feel more comfortable a lot quicker.

What other services do you offer?

Santa Fe is a global mobility services company, so we offer quite a lot. Our visa & immigration service is one of our fastest growing business lines. There is tremendous advantage for customers relocating anywhere to utilize these services that complement our moving and relocation services. We have dedicated immigration service specialists, we can ensure 100% compliance with local laws and regulations, we have an efficient visa tracking system ensuring that renewals are never missed and we can provide safe and secure collection/delivery of documents. We are one of the only relocation companies that can offer all these services in house and that truly makes it easy for our customers.

What about the home search service?

Our home search service is traditionally our most relied upon service on the relocation side of our business. It involves us searching and finding the most suitable residence for people or assignees relocating to Japan. We really help them with everything, so it makes it easy. We help with lease negotiations which is where most people can become stuck. When you have a professional company look after this on your behalf, it can save you a lot of money, not to mention stress and frustration, allowing you to focus on the bigger picture of your reason to be here.

You must have received some unusual requests from people that sometimes you can't fill the bill.

There is no question that housing and lifestyles are different in Japan. People therefore generally need to think carefully about what items will fit into their Japan residence and what won’t. We have a look-see service that is designed to give customers and idea of what to expect when moving to Japan. An Australian family, who didn’t utilize this service, heard that they would be living in a “mansion” in Tokyo. In Australia, of course, “mansion” means a very large house, and therefore this was their expectation. Unfortunately, they not only shipped their entire household goods from their large Sydney home, they also bought another container worth of new furniture to add to this. Fortunately long-term storage is another service we have and needless to say they are using this and living in a smaller two-bedroom apartment (mansion) in Tokyo.

What are some unique characteristics of the Japanese market?

There is generally a higher level of red tape and complexity in many aspects of Japan, and visa processing, home searches and moving are no exceptions. Many people will only make the move once, and therefore it’s critical to not "learn the hard way" and have it all done properly the first time. There are plenty more things that people will be able to write off to experience, and the move experience shouldn’t be one of them. Landlord negotiations, visa processing, cultural sensitivities, school availabilities, lease types, the right connections etc…Santa Fe guides customers through the process to allow a quick and smooth transition.

Of course, there are other issues like the roads being narrower, and that means we must use smaller trucks. We cannot bring containers to the door, so we have to get very creative with external cranes and ladders. Our teams are constantly challenged to overcome obstacles to get packages and furniture in and out of residences.

One absolutely unique factor in Japan is that our teams will remove their shoes each time that go in and out of the residence. That may not sound like such a big deal for carrying boxes, but when you watch two of our guys strap themselves up to a grand piano and walk out of a residence carrying it, stopping at the entrance twice so each guy can squeeze back into his shoes, it is truly an impressive sight to see.

How do you market your company in Japan?

We don’t do a huge amount of direct advertising and promotion. Most of our business comes through word of mouth. We put a lot of effort into supporting the expat community and their families which means that we have a high level of awareness in the expat clubs and schools simply because they have moved with us or know somebody that has. We do support local events and communities and find this direct engagement with customers truly helps develop the best rapport.

Our destination guides are particularly popular and are now digitally available on our app which is available on the Apple and Android stores. We also work with the corporate clients and support them as needed. We provide social media and online support which means that we are now easy to find online.

For many people, moving can be stressful, even traumatic (if it happened after the Lehman Shock when they lost their jobs or the 2011 earthquake). How does your staff deal with stressed clients?

We have to have a heightened level of empathy at all times. There are times when people don’t want to leave. I’ve worked in countries where people are happy to leave but I have never seen such separation anxiety as I have in Japan. Many families share with me how sad they are to be leaving simply because they love it here, and there is almost a level of grieving that we go through with them. Our mission is to make it easy for them. We adopt a very customer-centric approach and have had experience in many parts of the world (for example, mass evacuations in war-torn countries, earthquakes and tsunamis), supporting assignees and their families.

Our teams are global minded and experienced, and know how to be empathetic to our customers. We have a private consultation in their homes to see what they can or can’t take back with them. We make sure their shipments adhere to all the laws of the land to where they are going. Japanese swords, for example, are always an issue.

What we do affects lives and families. We take this responsibility very seriously and are proud of our achievements.

Is your business a seasonal one?

We basically have two seasons in the moving division – summer and school holidays. The second peak we have is at the end of the year. People often move out at Christmas and New Year for tax reasons because companies require employees to be gone by the end of the year. Between those two peaks, other divisions are busier preparing for the incoming, for example visa & immigration process first, then home searches, and the inbound shipments come in.

What would you say are Santa Fe’s strengths?

Our dedicated people, our global footprint, and our ability to put these together with innovative systems to offer customers the same services levels and products in each of the 56 countries we are in. No other company can match these points. We try to make it easy for everyone. In fact, that’s actually our mission statement: “We make it easy” We offer a great deal of support from our local team and we have this all around the world.

Tell us about your team.

We have a large customer service team here at the Tokyo office and many of us have been expats ourselves. They are all bilingual and one member even speaks six languages. We are a strong team and we provide good training. All staff, including myself, have a turn going out on the home finding tours, going out with the movers, wearing the overalls, to observe the operation once a year. We are also currently hiring, so if you fancy yourself as a relocation professional, then we would love to hear from you.

What is a typical day for you?

I live in Yokohama with my wife and 4-year-old son. My day starts at 5 a.m. I go for a run to shake the cobwebs out and clear my mind. As I’m running, I’m thinking about the day ahead and think about the important areas of our business and services that need my attention. I try to do my emails on the train before I get to the office. I spend two weeks a month at each office in Tokyo and Seoul. The teams all run very well and are led by my trusted divisional managers. I like to always be available but my constant presence really isn’t needed all the time, so this allows me to maintain regular customer contact which is my true passion.

For more information, visit www.santaferelo.com

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