AD Strategy (and finding logic/peace with it)

[CHRONOLEX]

This post is for those people who have been on the list at ADs for a long time and/or feel like they're very qualified buyers who have never (or rarely) gotten "the call" from an AD and can't figure out why.

I'm someone who thought the AD strategy didn't make a lot of sense (other than it was clear they weren't just going to give you immediate positive equity in a watch by selling you something at retail much lower than it's worth on the secondary market, without something in exchange) and also felt pretty offended that I very infrequently got the call to buy something at retail, especially after I'd been loyal to the Rolex brand for 30+ years and to some of these ADs for a long time as well.

After thinking about it, a few things occurred to me, which may be obvious to some but I doubt all.

1. Rolex makes 1 million watches a year but not all are popular models. Some are very popular and some just aren't. But they must all be sold.

2. To get people to buy the unpopular stuff, the AD has to hold out the prospect of "possibly" being granted the opportunity to buy the more popular stuff "some day" -- if you do certain things first. For some ADs, that "certain thing" is to buy a bunch of unpopular models over some protracted time period, and for others it might (also) involve buying some of their own goods (jewelry) along the way.

3. The idea here is if we can make Subs, GMTs and Daytonas seem very exclusive, we can get you to buy 3, 4, 5 (or more) unpopular models along the way just to be able to get that one Sub, GMT or Daytona. We will get you to buy these at some scheduled interval so we can budget for those sales over time.

4. The whole point of the "wait list" is not to just make you wait patiently and silently for the phone to ring (as many think). It's actually an "audition period" where you walk in, place your interest in a watch, then they see what you do over some defined period. Do you buy more, do you buy nothing, what do you do? The length of time you're on the wait list depends on how much you start buying. Come in and get an Explorer, Air King, basic 31 OP and a Datejust (as examples that I've seen offered) over a 6-month period and I bet you will get a Pepsi or black SS Daytona shortly thereafter. If you express interest in smaller size PM (or watches that trade way lower than retail on the secondary market that they have a tough time selling because people know that), it could come even faster. If you don't buy anything, you will most likely not get the call.

5. If you start buying a lot (and also showing interest in buying some of the unpopular stuff), it means you are willing to play the game and understand (or at least believe) you will have to buy a bunch of things just to get that Sub, GMT or Daytona at retail...and they will certainly let you do so. If they can get you to buy some of their own jewelry as well (where they have an even higher margin), all the better for them.

6. Those people who walk in and get a popular watch like a Sub LV right away are probably just there at the right time when the AD needs to make a sale.

By doing the above, they mostly (exclusively?) target people who demonstrate that they're bought into the process and will buy 3-5 (or more) watches just to get one single watch and they can thus sell you many watches instead of just the one. They can turn that one-watch buyer into a many-watch buyer by getting you to do the repeat sales on the front end, not on the back end. The process is similar for people on the higher end, if they show a willingness to buy a series of PM pieces.

Which brings me to peace with why I have very rarely ever gotten called -- and why people say don't talk a lot about your collection if you want to get a call. I always thought that warning was to avoid looking like a flipper. In reality I think the warning is because by listing out all the great watches you already own, you immediately disqualify yourself as someone who would ever even consider "starting a relationship" at that AD on the lower end of the lineup, especially to buy watches that they know -- that you know -- are unpopular (or at least lower end than what you've already said you own). So they look at people like that and say well that guy just wants ___ to finish off his collection and then will be gone; I'd rather convince someone else that same watch is ultra desirable and then sell them 5 watches first before they get that one.

I know a lot of this is common sense, at least in part, but it fully occurred to me that it's not particularly sinister or bad faith or jerky or anything else. It's just a strategy for selling a lot of watches every year, when that's what you're expected to do - every...single...year. In fact, it might be the best (only?) strategy for doing that. I know I certainly wouldn't want the pressure of selling hundreds of watches every year when I know only a handful are actually truly popular and widely desirable.

I get it. But now I also fully realize why I will never get the call and can feel better about just going grey from the start.

Thanks for reading. I hope this brings some peace out there.