Ringing Up Sales

Marketing with 800 numbers

When women using Clairol's Nice 'n Easy hair-coloring kits want to get some expert guidance on exactly how much tint to apply, free advice is as close at hand as the nearest telephone. They simply call up the toll-free 800 number listed on an instruction sheet in the package and ask. Clairol is one of a growing list of firms that use AT&T's system of toll-free 800 numbers to foster good consumer relations. Says Jack Shor, vice president for public relations at the New York-based hair care, cosmetics and beauty appliances firm: "We think that the use of 800 numbers has definitely increased sales and helped to keep customers loyal to our products."

Such 800 numbers are a cost-effective and personal way to deal with everything from complaints to questions about how a product works or where to take it for repair. Says Daniel Langston, a corporate vice president at Ticor Home Protection Co. of Los Angeles, which insures homeowners against heating, plumbing and electrical malfunctions: "I just do not think that we could operate without our 800 numbers. People are very hesitant about calling a long-distance prefix, but they will always call an 800 number." His firm received 128,120 calls during 1981.

In Benton Harbor, Mich., the Whirlpool Corp. uses a staff of telephone-trained technicians to field questions from customers around the country about problems with its line of home appliances. In Fort Washington, Pa., the Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. employs a battery of researchers to handle 800-number telephone queries from parents on a variety of child health-care matters. In Hawthorne, Calif., the Mattel toy company maintains a staff of telephone representatives to advise customers on the operation of the company's toys.and electronic games. In Whippany, N.J., Channel Home Centers, a 91-store hardware chain, offers home repair and fix-it advice from "Dr. Wally Barnett," whose role is played by a Channel employee and two assistants. "Dr. Wally" is sometimes mistakenly considered to be a physician, and people call in with questions about how to deliver a baby or treat a sore throat.

Probably the most widely publicized 800 numbers belong to the Procter & Gamble Co. of Cincinnati, the largest consumer products advertiser in the U.S., which provides one of several toll-free numbers with each of its 59 products. From 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., a staff of 85 P&G employees handles an average of 1,200 calls daily, advising people on everything from choosing the right toothpaste to how to bake a cake.

As products get technologically more complex and sophisticated, companies are finding that 800 numbers provide reassurance that expert advice and counseling will always be available to trouble-shoot a problem. Says Palmer Swanson, general manager of Polaroid Corp.'s customer service division, which successfully pioneered the use of 800 numbers as a device for customer support twelve years ago: "They are a wonderful consumer mechanism, the best! We let the customer know in every way we can that a Polaroid 800-number hot line comes as a service when you buy a Polaroid product."

So-called WATS numbers (for wide area telecommunications service) have been available from AT&T since 1967. Some 106,000 separate numbers are currently in use by 60,000 businesses, and revenues last year topped $1.5 billion, a 34% jump over 1980 levels. To acquire a listing, a company pays an installation fee of approximately $360 and thereafter a monthly service charge of about $75 plus a usage fee based on the number of times the 800 number is called.

Perhaps the record response to an 800 number came during last year's Treasure Map sweepstakes, which was sponsored by Quaker Oats' Cap'n Crunch cereal. Breakfast food boxes featuring the sweepstakes promotional were printed with an 800 number inside the box so that children could call to determine immediately whether they had won a prize. By the end of the sweepstakes, the company's 400 toll-free lines had received 24 million calls. An additional 1 million calls could not even get through because the lines were always busy.

AT&T does not publish a complete telephone directory of its 800 listings. But Toll Free Digest Inc., a publishing house based in Claverack, N.Y., has come up with one. For $6.50 the company offers a 248-page directory that provides more than 25,000 different 800 numbers. Curiously, customers wishing to place orders are requested to write to the company, not phone.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.