Could I get your opinions on how the staff handled this?

I’m Marika, a female member. The person I’m still seeing now was someone I met through the club after meeting approximately ◯ other people. It’s not as though my personality, appearance, or attitude toward dating has changed dramatically. Isn’t it perfectly normal to make and receive multiple offers before finding someone you’re compatible with? There’s no way to know whether you’ll click with someone just from their photos, profile, or the staff’s comments. That said, if you’ve made offers to dozens of people and have been told that repeatedly, you may need to reconsider something. Either way, though, it isn’t the staff’s fault.

I’m BB7, a male member. It may sound like something staff say to make a sale, but meeting a woman you’re not compatible with is nothing but a waste of time, money, and effort. You might think after the first meeting, “Something feels off,” “It’s hard to talk to her,” or “Our intimate compatibility isn’t great,” but decide to meet her a few more times, thinking things might change. Yet even after the second or third meeting, if you’re not compatible, you’re just not compatible. There’s nothing you can do about that. I didn’t make the offer simply because the staff recommended her—I ultimately chose to make the offer myself. So if we turn out not to be a good match, the staff and Univa are not at fault at all. I think the right mindset is simply, “Let’s move on to the next one!” Even if the staff told me that, I’d probably just think to myself, “Yeah, I know.”

I’m Date◎Yume, a male member. > What do you think of the club’s stance of saying, “Let’s offer you the next one,” rather than endorsing a more sensitive approach? I think there are two reasons they say that. First, whether male or female, there are simply people you don’t click with on a gut level. After actually meeting, you may find that you don’t click with certain women—or certain men. If you feel it’s not a match, moving on to the next person is the easiest and quickest option. Also, I’ve heard that the odds of an ideal match between a man and a woman are generally said to be one in eight. If that’s true, then I suppose moving on to the next person may be the wisest approach. And second, it’s definitely sales, right?! There are plenty of women waiting for an offer（笑）

Maezawa from the president’s office here, answering as well. > “The example is rather selective, though.” That’s true. However, I think it’s the same with a matchmaking agency: when it comes to people, compatibility matters in a way it doesn’t with products. There are emotions involved, too. Even if you like someone, things won’t work out if you’re not their type. With a product, your own preferences and requirements are all that matter. But with people, there are many factors involved—the other person’s feelings, preferences, wishes, and so on. If a man likes a woman but she says she isn’t interested, and the club were to pressure, threaten, or force her to date him for the man’s sake, I’d consider that club absolutely terrible. Of course, I believe the club should support the man. If a woman asks us to find out her reason, I personally think it’s fine to ask her. And if a man wants to make another offer to someone he previously parted ways with, I think it’s fine to let him make a second offer. Basically, I want to say yes to men’s requests whenever possible. That’s how I’d like to be. When questions like that came up here, I would say that simple requests should be possible. But apparently, some things can’t actually be done on the ground. It’s incredibly disappointing. If I had more authority, I’d like to make even those things possible, but in reality, I don’t have that much power. And I want to support women, too—not just men. If a woman says, “I’d like to meet this kind of man,” I’d like to approach suitable men and see if we could arrange something like a reverse offer. The best outcome is for the two people to have a good meeting and both be happy. That’s actually what I did when I was working at the Omiya branch. - “I’d like to make a second offer.” → “Understood.” (I accepted the second offer.) - “She stopped contacting me. Could you at least find out why?” → “Understood.” (I asked her, “Could you at least tell him the reason?”) - “I’ll be in the area next time.” → “Then let’s definitely discuss it. Would it be okay to meet at a café near the station?” and so on. - “My budget is an allowance of ¥X, so I’d like to be introduced to women within that range.” → “Understood.” (Of course, it’s a transactional relationship based on mutual consent, so I have no idea what the woman will decide. Please don’t get angry if it goes over your budget. It’s perfectly normal for the desired allowance to vary depending on the person, so it may exceed your budget, and you may also be turned down.) Even while saying all that, I would introduce women to him. The last one was a little questionable, though… (laughs) Ultimately, the most important thing is for it to become a good meeting. By the way, shortly after I joined the company, I asked President Kida, “Isn’t there a contradiction in this job?” I said, “I want to create good connections, but if that happens, they won’t make another offer through the club, so sales will go down, right?” His answer was something like this: “Even if sales appear to dip temporarily right after a good connection is made, that good experience will stay in their memory, and they’ll definitely come back. If they liked it, they’ll tell their friends too, so it’ll be fine. Don’t worry about sales—focus on creating those good connections.” (The exact nuance may have been a little different.) He said not to worry about sales, yet we did have proper sales targets set. (laughs)

I’m It’s Me, a male member. Let’s say a female member contacts the club after a date and says, “I can’t do this male member.” At the same time, if the man likes her, I’ve been thinking about how the club could respond. I think it’s reasonable to tell the man that he would be better off looking for someone else. Broadly speaking, there seem to be two possible approaches: 1) Gently tell him, “Perhaps you should look for another woman…” 2) Tell him directly, “We received the following report from the woman.” Option 1 is effective because it takes the man’s pride into consideration and helps prevent him from lashing out or causing trouble. Option 2 works well with men who are slow to pick up on hints. However, it should only be used if the man is a gentleman. If I were a club staff member, I’d probably go with option 1 for male members who seem likely to casually say things like, “I hope this club goes under.”

I’m Flagmaker, a columnist. Universe Club isn’t a company that sells products; it’s more of an intermediary. We pay Universe for making introductions. After that, whether an arrangement is actually made depends on the dating skills of both the man and the woman. In other words, men with strong “sales skills”—those who are gentlemanly, well-mannered, and financially secure—have higher success rates, so they incur fewer unnecessary introduction fees. Men with poor “sales skills” have lower success rates, meaning they end up paying Universe more in introduction fees. The reasons people use the service vary, so I don’t think this applies to everyone, but basically, that’s how it works. From Universe’s perspective, enrolling more men with poor dating skills increases revenue. However, lowering the quality of the people they introduce can damage the company’s credibility, so I imagine finding the right balance is difficult.

I’m Hikokiki, a male member. If a staff member has ever told you: > You should forget about women you’re not compatible with > and look for someone else instead, then you’re probably either extremely individualistic or have a pretty bad reputation… As you wrote, it also sounds like the staff may feel that: > Men who can’t adapt to the women should leave. Men aren’t just customers. Unless they also serve as bait, the agency (club) can’t attract and increase the number of women—the “products” you mentioned. If they’re seen as dead weight, the women will simply leave. Also, at a place that facilitates meetings between men and women, once lots of attractive women gather, men will flock there on their own without any effort. In other words, the men aren’t even remotely the main concern… The focus is on how to find and attract more women. So I think it’s better to let go of the idea that men are the customers. As Maezawa-san wrote, you can sense that the staff share President Kida’s desire to “provide people with good encounters.” Of course, they’re happy when you make an offer, but the staff have never encouraged me to make one. I’m sure they’re even happier when people have good encounters and continue their relationships. After all, that’s the best advertising there is.