Matt Dixon: observation

Transcript context

…Wow. ... and it was really cool, the reveal and they'd take it out and they give it to the dentist or the head of the dental office and they would hold it and be like, "What? It's so much lighter and it's ergonomic and this thing is cordless? It's amazing. It's a revolution." Then, the first thing they would ask is, "How much is it?" When they told them it costs like three times more than the current old-fashioned wands they're using with the heavy cord, they would gently put it back in the briefcase, close the briefcase, say, "Can you give me a price on new drill bits or new like polishing attachments?" They couldn't get anybody to want to pay for this thing that was much more expensive than the old one. They did a lot of work and they figured out, they knew that this was unique. They knew this was a unique product. Nobody else in the market made this. They're the only supplier who had figured this out, total innovation, but they hadn't given the customer reason to want to pay a premium for that innovation until they figured out the connection between the equipment that hygienists use and absenteeism and workers' comp. It turns out that one of the biggest professions that where you get carpal tunnel syndrome, shoulder and neck and lower back injuries is being a dental hygienist. The reason is that they're standing, holding that heavy wand being dragged down by that heavy cord at an awkward angle all day long. That's why dental offices really struggle to keep hygienists showing up, not calling in sick, not out for months at a time for reconstructive shoulder surgery, not with exorbitant health benefits claims and workers' comp claims. They came in and they revised their sales pitch. Now, when they come into the dental office, they sit down, they say, "I'd like to talk to you about your hygienist workforce. Are you guys seeing higher turnover? Have you seen any absenteeism due to carpal or lower back or neck or shoulder injuries? What are you guys doing about that? What's the cost to your business?" They get the dentist talking and the way they start talking about, "It is not just the insurance and workers' comp costs, it's stuff like when my hygienists get injured, and it's a repetitive motion business and job, when they get injured and they call in sick, I've got to reschedule all these cleanings and all these appointments, and that's a bunch of upset customers who end up then going to the practice down the street or saying bad things about me on Google reviews or what have you." There's all kinds of ripple effects for the dentist. The cost of losing a hygienist is massive and the market for hiring them is very, very tight. What Dentsply does is start the conversation there, and then they say, "One of the things that we figured out is that, based on our own independent research, one of the primary drivers of all these bad outcomes, absenteeism, repetitive motion injuries, is related to the equipment that hygienists use. ured out is that, based on our own independent research, one of the primary drivers of all these bad outcomes, absenteeism, repetitive motion injuries, is related to the equipment that hygienists use. It's because they're holding that old fashioned heavy wand, attached to that big heavy power cable at an awkward angle doing repetitive motion all day, but what if you could solve for that? What if that was no longer a problem?" The dentist says, "Well, how would you solve for that? There's no other technology." "That's what we got. We've had the same equipment for 30 years. Let me show you the new XP-9000. We're world's first cordless, lightweight, ergonomic drill. We can show you that it is far preferred by hygienists because they don't get injured as often because it's much easier to hold and it doesn't put stress on the joints and pinch points, if you will, where hygienists tend to experience these injuries." It's just a simple example, but you see, again, they're still selling a fancy wand, but before, they were leading with it. Let me show you this and talk about the features, benefits, and that led to how much does it cost. Now, they're leading to it. They're starting with an insight and giving the customer a reason to care about solving this business problem, and it turns out the only way to solve it is buying this XP-9000 drill from Dentsply.…

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