Deep pockets (yak)

Hi Folks,

I guess it is time for one of my war stories:

I was working in the office of the best Dentist I had ever seen.
This dentist had customers with pockets so deep they hired
trained ferrets to reach the bottom. No human had arms long
enough! One day I’m working in the lab and in walks the dentist
with this attractive 50ish blond woman who is about 6’ tall and
in superb perportion. The glowing picture of health. She also
had the devil in her eye along with about $800 in casual clothes
and about $40,000 in jewelry-wedding set, pendant, and sapphire
and diamond ring.

This picture of health hands me her college graduation photo and
says “Can you make me look like this?” I took the picture and
looked at it, knowing full well that she meant the smile line,
but I have the devil in my eye too and a very fertile
imagination. Looking up at her I replied, “Ma’m did you look at
the sign on the door when you came in? This is a dental office
not a plastic surgery!” The dentist almost swallowed his
tongue. JoAnne (the patient) erupted in laughter so all
consuming that I feared that she would loose her balance and I
immediately got her a chair. She said the minute that she
said-can you make… the same thought had occurred to her!

I just knew innately that she would take it like that. We were
the most expensive dental practice in the area and this area is
one of the top 5 or 6 ‘got bucks’ areas in the country. I
learned that the deep-pockets customers expect a more
personalized approach. By and large they need to be schmoozed.
Discuss your feelings about the piece and point out the things
that you notice in the customer that you think has attracted
them to your piece in the first place. If they haven’t occurred
to the customer, they will now! Handle them tenderly, and get
them to talk about themselves. If they don’t buy anything this
time, they won’t forget you and will refer friends, and most
will return.

This is how I handled the patients in the dental office. That
dentist retired due to diabetes over 10 years ago, but those
patients still request that their present dentists send their
restorative work to me. There are about 20-25 people in this
group MY patients! They know that if their dentist sends me
any impressions or models that are not perfect, I will call them
and have them take them back to the dentist for new ones.

When my skill level in jewelry gets to where I want to see it
and I will accept my own work as credible I will then begin to
market. Folks you need to create a niche and then fill it!

Regards,

Skip
Skip Meister
NRA Endowment and
Instructor
@Skip_Meister
01/13/9802:04:10