Contribution by Mark Jackson Precision Ceramics Montclare California

I have built my business on direct mail. I find mail order dentists take better
impressions, and more careful when selecting shades, and will be more careful
making adjustments if they are necessary.
This makes perfect sense. If they know they will be sending the case three
thousand miles away to add a contact, change a shade or redo the crown, they
are infinitely more careful in the first place. As if those qualities are not enough,
my delivery costs are more predictable, and I never have to leave or send a
technician to their office.
There are a number of contact management packages available, and your local
post office can send you a schedule of free classes to learn how to get started in
direct mail advertising. The United States post office has lost a lot of business to
the internet and express carriers, and are more than willing to help you with your
new venture.
If you decide to do a direct mail flier, consider having a perforated business reply
card incorporated into the piece to save stuffing and preparation costs, and offer
some incentive to encourage immediate response. If you dont have a lot of
experience with this type of marketing, you may want to solicit the help of a
professional. I have worked with Almaden Marketing in Ft. Collins, Co, and was
very pleased with their work, and their fee was reasonable. Because they
specialize in designing fliers and brochures for dental laboratories, their
experience is invaluable.
In some cases, a well written letter can be just as effective as a full color direct
mail piece. Again, the secret is to be creative. Write a letter that has a "hook" to
pull the reader in. I have attached a few examples of letters that have worked
well for me.

Dear Dr Smith:
There is an old saying that a stone in a hunters shoe will cause more grief
than a grizzly bear.
Nothing better illustrates how important the "little" things are. At Precision
Ceramics, we believe it's the little things that count. This can be clearly seen in
our cast partial denture frames. For example:
Articulation. Unlike some chrome labs, we fully articulate all models, and run
them through lateral and protrusive excursions. This will eliminate unnatural
occlusal interference and reduce chairside adjustments.

Harmony. Since we are a full service lab, combination cases will have better
results, and metal occlusals and aprons will have more natural looking, functional
anatomy.
Attention to detail. All clasps are thin and tapered to provide resiliency and
comfort, and highly polished internally to reduce the likelihood of wearing tooth
enamel.
Quality and consistency. By casting with electronic induction, we carefully control
temperature, preserving the alloy's physical properties and improving
consistency.
Esthetics. Since we are an authorized Flexite and Valplast laboratory, we can
also fabricate beautiful, combination partials with strong metal frames, and
comfortable, esthetic Flexite clasps. We are also experienced with a variety of
popular attachment systems.
We offer free in-bound shipping through Airborne express, and can process and
finish your cases if you choose. If partial frames have been a pebble in YOUR
shoe, try us out. Send this letter with your next case, and receive a 10% discount
on your next partial frame!

Dear Dr. Smith:

Did you ever drop a stone over the edge of a cliff and wait for the echoing
sound to come back to you?
If you heard nothing at all, then your curiosity really was aroused and you wanted
to find out what was at the bottom of the cliff, and how deep it was.
We are in the same position today, but the stone we dropped was a discounted
crown for a patient named XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX. Since then it's been
awfully quiet.
Frankly, the crown was intended to be a sample of our work. A gift to help arouse
your interest, and inspire you to send us more of your day to day crown and
bridge restorations or removable appliances. Perhaps you weren't aware that we
even offer so many different types of products and services, so I've enclosed a
complete service guide, price list and prescription sheets.
If you need a pick up, you can use our mailing labels and call Airborne for free
overnight shipping, or call us directly, and we'll arrange to have your package
picked up.

Dr. Smith, we really want your business, and thought our gift to you would help to
make that happen. Now that a second stone has been dropped your way, we will
listen intently for the echo. Can we have another case?

This is one of the all-time best producers for our lab. A small plastic bag about
one inch by one inch is stapled to the letter. The bag has two kernels of pop corn
inside:
Dear Dr Smith:
In the little bag are two grains of seed corn. Look at them ever so carefully and
you will not see anything that makes one grain any different from the other. But,
there is a difference of great importance. A difference of RESULTS. One of the
grains is a sample of ordinary seed corn, the other is a Hybrid variety and
produces from 6 to 36 more bushels an acre.
A lot of values are like that. They may not be noticeable on the surface, but they
are indisputable when comparative results are checked. It isn't easy, for example,
to SEE the difference between a beautiful crown, and a beautiful crown that fits
without time consuming adjustments or costly delays.
In your practice, seeds of productivity can be planted...seeds which will bring you
"bushels" when the results are weighed. This is no idle thought. Any laboratory
can make a nice looking crown. We make nice fitting crowns that are as
functional as they are beautiful.
If you have any questions or if I can be of any service, please feel free to give me
a call.