Psst -Wanna Buy a Watch? (October 2007)

The cheap-watch deal is akin of the biggest pet peeve I have in this industry. It doesn’t matter where I go, or what I teach, I always hear the same reason why good restoration professionals can’t charge what they are worth.
“But Tom, you don’t know my market,” I hear, and it always continues with, “We have people willing to do it for food. They are giving away restoration for pennies. I can’t charge what you suggest. There are just too many trunk slammers in my area …”
…. And so on and so forth. It almost seems these individuals are making excuses to fail instead of looking for reasons and ways to succeed.
To such naysayers, I have one word: bull!
Think about this. In New York, the home of the $10 Rolex-replica ripoff, they have a flagship Rolex store on Fifth Avenue. I challenge anyone to walk into that store and demand to purchase one of their precision time pieces for $10, based on everyone else’s price out in the street.
After you pick yourself up from the curb and curse out the security guard, you may realize something (or not). There is a difference between what they are selling inside and what they are selling on the street.
Rolex has been selling watches under its own brand name for close to a century and that Fifth Avenue real estate is not cheap. They offer quality and continue to educate the consumer on the extent of that quality. The location also says something about the type of customers they attract.
Now, let’s focus on the world of stone for a minute. When your competition is charging pennies, when you are charging dollars, what kind of people are buying? Are they the people buying the name-brand watches, or the cheap replicas?
If the security guard is an understanding sort, go back into the Fifth Avenue Rolex and ask a sales associate about the differences between the watches out on the street and the ones in the store’s glass cases. There’s enough profit built into a sale for the associate to take the time to explain the difference.
The associate doesn’t curse out the street vendor and say that they are ruining the opportunity for decent people to make a living. (Could you just imagine that?) The original vendor will explain the differences with enthusiasm, much like a grandparent showing off the achievements of little Bobby or Jody. They will tell you all of the intricate details of their product and what sets them apart without once bad-mouthing the so-called competition on the street.
You can do the same with your own business – provided that you’re offering something different and better. If all you have to offer is the same old “pretend” stone restoration your competitors give away, then you’re fated to keep on selling out on the street.
And, I always hear, “But they’re offering real stone restoration.” Well, those fake watches do tell the time – for about a month. If you don’t know the difference between your own business and yourself, and can’t explain or illustrate the difference, then you’re not worth the extra money to your customer.
If cheap time pieces are the only watches sold, then that’s all that the customer can buy. But for some reason, big-name watch companies continue to stay in business, while street vendors come and go. Why do you think that is?
I can tell you quickly and reasonably in one word: education. And there’s a lesson you can learn from, yes, the watch business.
Rolex – and a host of other quality watch makers – stand behind their watches, and also want quality to go beyond the sale. They’re training watch technicians – not repairman, but technicians – to make sure customers get the best service. Rolex itself runs an academy in Lititz, Pa., where 24 apprentices take a two-year course (with a couple hundred folks on the waiting list to get in).
I’m willing to bet that you could never have imagined that there was two years’ worth of information needed or available to fill a two-year course on watches. I certainly didn’t.
Now, that street vendor is handed 50 watches and told that if he can sell all of them by the end of the day, he can stay in his apartment and eat. Do you notice the difference in quality, and in education?
What’s the extent of your education in the stone business? Did some company give you a one- or two-day course on how to use their products, and then send you out on the street to sell against other similarly taught vendors?
Or, on the other hand,, have you taken the time and expense to invest in your trade to be taught by serious craftspeople who have been successful and have been around for decades (hey, the stone trade is still young in North America)? Have you continued to update your knowledge at Marble Institute of America events and trade shows such as StonExpo? Have you been regularly reading your trade publications?
Do you want to work harder or smarter? Or do you just want to sell a cheap watch?
Until next time – keep your stick on the ice.
Tom McNall is founder and owner of Great Northern Stone Care, a Huron Park, Ontario-based stone-cleaning and -restoration company servicing all of southern Ontario. He’ll present “10 Ways to Diversify Your Business” on Oct. 20 at StonExpo 2007 in Las Vegas. He also serves as the director of training, technical assistance, and operational support for Stone Restoration Services, a division of Stone Shop International. Tom also offers corporate and private consultations, serves as a trainer for the Marble Institute of America, and is also on the organization’s board of directors.