Attending the US CDA Show for the second time
“You’re back again this year, aren’t you?” As I walked around the fair with a panel of before and after photos of Minish hanging around my neck, other booth owners recognized me and started talking to me. “I like your idea,” they said, and one even wanted to hire you as a marketing representative for their company.
The organizers even restricted my movement because they thought I was too bouncy. We made about 500 potential customer contacts at the event. Some people came back to the booth saying, “I saw you last year,” while others stopped by saying, “I already knew about you from your Instagram ad.”
When we heard that Minishblock is made of feldspathic ceramics, we were repeatedly asked, “Is it really possible to mill such a thin thickness without cracking?” This is because most of the local machine shops are used to using lithium disilicate ceramics (Imax) or the layered method (build-up method) using feldspathic ceramics in powder form.
We felt that the local doctors recognized our ultra-precise processing technology because we were the only ones who could combine a milling machine with feldspathic ceramics to make veneers. Even representatives from Glidewell and Near Veneers, which have an annual revenue of 1 trillion won, came to our booth and asked, “How do you make them so thin?”
Last year’s resistance to the $350 per minish solution was almost non-existent this year. Booth management was also improved. Unlike last year, when the North American team was still new, we were able to explain in detail the features and protocols of Minish based on our deep understanding of Minish.
I even met a doctor who said, “I’m sorry I missed the mini-course,” and asked for the next one. The response to the provider program was good. They were interested in marketing support for patient exposure, such as standing TVs, brochures, and before and after videos. We were recognized as differentiating ourselves by offering case consultations and prep checks in addition to supplying veneers.
In fact, I think the fact that we visited the participating dental practices after the course and followed up with onboarding training really helped build trust with the local doctors. However, it was also clear that it was difficult for our non-medical team to have deep clinical conversations with doctors in such a short time.
Next time, I think we should consider having a CDA speaker who is a doctor himself. I think it would be more effective to present a clinical case at a small or medium-sized conference, even if it’s not a big trade show.
