I see your point. However I give my watchmaker at least 3 different watches per month for a full service. I didn’t say to give discounts to anyone who brings one two watches per year. I said to “regulars” . Regulars are customers who spend almost a months workers wage . So, it’s like a steady income for a WM .
I think every WM should offer a kind of discount to his regular clients. this is if he wants to be called professional. And this goes to all professions... even mine. I do it all the time.
Do you give regular customers price breaks. My guy has really been discounting the work he does for me. I’ve also sent him a couple people which I’m sure helps
It's obviously a two-way street. I'm quite happy that my watchmaker does excellent work and treats me fairly by charging for the work he does on a particular watch, and I've never questioned the amount. I don't think he gives me a discount per se, but occasionally the charge will be lower than usual, and if I ask him why, he will say that the watch was in excellent condition and the job was easy and fast for him. If he does a lot of work for me in a given year, instead of asking for a discount, I give him a nice gift card during the holidays to show my appreciation, and that seems to make him happy. 👍
A collector needs a good relationship with a watchmaker (or more than one watchmaker), and that relationship should be cultivated like any other.
I try to look after my customers as best as I can. There is so much work out there that I don't need to but I feel it's only fair. Many people keep coming back that I feel I owe them some benefit.
What your chosen watchmaker does for you is up to him/her. Some people discount the first service to "get you in" but it's not my business model.
Best Regards, Chris
Totally agree. But what happens to “friends with benefits”?
Not exactly sure where you are going with that, but there is nothing wrong with friendship. There are various people in my life that I count as friends, where the relationship started as purely business. If that relationship continues for years, and there is a personal affinity, why wouldn't you become friends. With respect to my watchmaker, we have lunch now and then, he will occasionally ask me for a favor, and we send each other photos of interesting watches that we encounter.
It's obviously a two-way street.
A collector needs a good relationship with a watchmaker (or more than one watchmaker), and that relationship should be cultivated like any other.
Double is simple love, triple and more is Marxism. From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs...
If I recall the watchmaker you work with gave up on a watch you had given him to service recently. He also makes you go look for parts for him from what I remember. If I were you I would be asking for a discount as well, or maybe finding someone who might not discount, but actually does the job.
Also everyone runs their business as they like. I am not talking about specific members of this forum that are well established and famous watchmakers. Nobody has to defend himself or his business on how he runs it. I am not also pushing anyone to give discounts.
I think every WM should offer a kind of discount to his regular clients. this is if he wants to be called professional. And this goes to all professions... even mine. I do it all the time.
I know you keep saying there is a language barrier, and that in Greece people say things in a specific way. Okay I can accept that, but what you just wrote appears to directly contradict what you wrote previously. Unless the word “every” means something very different in Greece than it does in the rest of the world...
It’s not about being well established on forums...it’s about running a business that pays the bills. There are plenty of watchmakers out there who are quite honestly not very good at running a business. These are two very different skills and they don’t tell you how torun a business in watchmaking school.
Watch collecting is a hobby for most people here. Watchmaking is how I earn my living. Sometimes people don’t always separate the two very well.
Yes word "every"is ΠΑΝ in Greece. ΠΑΝ is like God, like everything . ΠΑΝ is the universe, the creation. It's not a simple word in Greek. It is not like a number. When you say "every" in Greek you may imply human relations, feelings, etc..
Yes it's a language barrier my friend. It's not an excuse.
So every means not every...got it.
Yikes. The man is entitled to want a discount for a quantity of business from his watchmaker just as any of us might expect to be financially rewarded for returning to the same Chevy dealer time and again. The watchmaker is entitled to say, "I have too much work to discount for anyone." Both are fair expectations.
