Business Services Industry

On the line - automated telephone gift listing and ordering service

Entrepreneur, April, 1996

Customers crave convenience, and when you make their lives easier, you score big points. Make it simple for customers to purchase your products, and they'll reward you by buying again and again.

One way to simplify the shopping process for consumers is to get your products on 800-GIFT-LINE, an automated telephone gift listing and ordering service that features more than 2,500 products. All you have to do is submit an application and, if accepted, pay an annual fee, which varies depending on the number of products you want listed and your company's size.

Customers dial 800-GIFT-LINE, input the recipient's age, gender, the category of gift they're seeking, and the amount they're looking to spend. The service provides them with suggestions and will even fax them a description and picture of appropriate gift items. If the caller still can't make a decision, gift consultants are on hand to help them whittle down their choices. Customers can order the item and have it delivered. They can even use 800-GIFT-LINE's services online via the company's Internet site.

"Products range from chocolates and fine jewelry to floral arrangements, toys and consumer electronics," says Tamiko Brown, marketing and promotions manager with 800-GIFT-LINE. Small-business owners who join up receive monthly statements detailing how many callers inquired about and purchased their products, enabling them to continuously hone their future marketing efforts.

Hands On

Forget the days when stores were plastered with threatening "Do Not Touch" and "You Break It, You Bought It" signs. These days, smart retailers are using a hands-on approach, encouraging customers to touch and try products before they buy.

"Customers want to see, feel, touch and interact with the products they're buying," says James Berk, president and CEO of Teach & Play Smart, a Hurst, Texas, chain of seven education superstores. At Teach & Play Smart, several departments encourage experimentation with art supplies, computers, building materials and games.

Toys aren't the only arena where encouraging customers to touch can work wonders for your marketing efforts. Almost any interactive product, from home furnishings and tools to electronic gadgetry, can benefit from this approach.

The strategy has certainly paid off for Berk: He says people often call asking how much the store charges for admission. Now, that's good word-of- mouth advertising.