Honor the Estimate. Track the Truth.

Not all watch repairs are equal. Most of the time, estimates aren't really an "estimate." Agree?

We hardly ever go back to the customer and charge extra for a $50 part. We just eat the cost.

So how do you keep up with each repair's bottom line?

A good system tracks all the parts used per repair. It takes a bit of extra work to log each item, but it helps you spot the jobs that quietly burned through internal parts you never billed for.

The estimate stays. That's on me to honor.

But tracking parts per repair tells me the truth: did I make money on this job, or just stay busy? Over time, that's the difference between a shop that grows and one that just keeps the lights on.

— FZ

The Trust Account

Every warranty claim is a deposit or a withdrawal from the trust account. Most service operations don't know which one they're making until the client stops coming back. The two scripts When a client walks in with a warranty question, there are essentially two opening lines:

What Breaks When You Do

My dad ran his watch shop for years on memory and paper. Job statuses, promised dates, parts on order, callbacks pending. All of it in his head or in a pile on the bench. Then a client called on a Thursday. His anniversary. The watch was done Wednesday. My dad

FREE battery service?

A colleague once told me how he handles customers who can't afford the store they walked into. Client comes in, looks around. Budget is tight. SA notices his Citizen quartz is running behind. Offers to set the time, and finds out the battery is dead. Client gets embarrassed.

Some watches aren't for sale.

Not because of what they cost. Because of what they mean. A dealer can price a reference. He can't price a memory. He can't price the feeling of putting on a watch that spent decades on someone else's wrist before it landed on yours.

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The Trust Account

What Breaks When You Do

FREE battery service?

Some watches aren't for sale.