Friday, March 25, 2022

New Zealanders - you are good people

Straight to the point: we love you. 

Kiwis are fantastic customers. Over the years, we've sold and shipped hundreds of watches across the ditch without a single incident. Realistic expectations, prompt payments, meaningful conversations, mutual respect. Exactly as business should be conducted.

One of my all-time favourite watch events was a presentation to fellow watchmakers at their Annual Conference in Nelson. We promised to return, and we will. New Zealand is like Australia, just a bit better.

Yesterday, during the installation of our new machine, I had the pleasure to work shoulder to shoulder with a really cool rigger. A Kiwi wearing a red shirt with a rather powerful logo: "Nothing is a problem". He moved around our machinery like matchboxes, cracking jokes, and making the difficult, complex, and stressful job look too easy. Priceless.

Our Seiko rep, Aaron, is a New Zealander too. We have been working on this Seiko project for a year and a half. He has proven himself as trustworthy and someone you can rely on. An asset to Seiko. There is one thing I really like about him: he does not even try to sell; the Seiko watches sell themselves. The other day we called him well after business hours; he replied at 6:59 in the evening. I mean, seriously, who does that?

Yes, it is so shallow to generalise, to 'box and label' an entire nation, but I am yet to come across a New Zealander I don't like.  As Australians, we should be grateful to all hard working migrants who came here - permanently or temporarily - to help us build our nation.  And today, on my own behalf, and yours too, I salute New Zealand.

Cheers.

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