Most of us have had some exposure to concepts like those explored by self-help gurus like Tony Robbins and the late Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, and for the most part we can agree that those ideas and concepts are worthwhile. But how many of us actually use those principles in our role as watch repair department liaisons?

The truth is that whether or not we realize it, our attitude affects the results we experience in the repair department. It is no stretch to have a bright, happy attitude when we are selling what we enjoy, e.g. a large diamond, or some-thing we have created. The real trick is to develop a happy, expectant attitude when it comes to repairs - especially watch repairs! I have had many occasions to visit jewelers and I find more times than not jewelers behave less than enthusiastically when they encounter a watch repair customer! As a matter of fact, I have observed that most act as though the customer just handed them a dead rat!

We need to realize that our customers are sensitive to the demeanor we show them in the sales interview. In a recent seminar I gave the analogy that we act less than enthusiastic towards a watch repair customer, it is much like if a man went to an upscale women's clothing store and upon choosing an expensive dress for his wife, the sales clerk says to the customer, "Why would you want to spend that much money on that fat cow wife yours?" But this is exactly what we are doing when we do not treat our customers' watches without consideration of the way they feel about them.

We in the jewelry trades tend to be very "jaded," that is, we see our customers' items with the eyes of what we think is worthwhile. Just today I received a call from one of my trade customers asking me if an Ingersol watch was valuable. He wanted to know this to make a determination of weather not his customer's watch was worth, fixing. This told me from the start that he had not perceived the real value to his customer, nor did he try to evaluate his customer's real feelings about the watch. We have no way of knowing what our customers really think about a watch unless we ask them!

In that vein, the last watch, my father was wearing was Russian Chrono, not worth very much, but while he was in the hospital it was something he did not worry about losing. He died wearing it. I would not value that watch at its "actual value" , at least not to me. To me, it is so valuable that I will keep that watch running, at least for the rest of my life and no amount of money could ever buy it!

Speaking my dad, the late Henri Gendron, the old gent had a way of determining the customer's feelings about their watch. He did this in a way from which we can all learn. When a customer handed him their watch, he would say something to elicit a response from them, e.g.,

"What a nice Watch. You must be proud of this!" Or "they sure don't make watches like this anymore." or some other platitude. Then He would listen to the customer's response to his statements. If they agreed, (e.g., "yes, I love this watch!" or, "My husband gave me this for our 20th wed-ding anniversary." or some such), he get a confirmation from the customer that they were very interested in having their watch repaired. He then proceeded to give them a detailed estimate to repair the watch.

On the other hand, if the customer said "On, this piece of junk?" or, "I never really liked this watch." or some such, he would immediately move over to the new watchcase and start selling them a watch.

Your rewards will always match your atti-tude:
Poor Attitude, Poor Results
Good Attitude; Good Results
Excellent Attitude, Excellent Results

So the next time you see a repair customer, especially a watch repair customer, greet him or her with a smile. Then just watch and see. I think you will notice that watch repair customers aren't grumpy misanthropes like you thought.

About the Author

Dan Gendron, Certified Master Horologist, is a sixth-generation watchmaker, and the world's foremost instructor of Watch Repair for Profit. Hundreds and hundreds of retail jewelers and others have learned to make Thousands of Dollars Extra each year, or have found a new, lucrative career, using Dan's simple, step-by-step learning method for watch repairs.

Dan offers One-on-One training classes in Quartz Watch Repair, Basic Mechanical Watch Repair, and High Grade Watch Repair.  Learn from the world's foremost instructor on Watch Repair as a Profitable Part of the Retail Jewelry Business.  His website is www.watchfix.com.