Press Room

Marketing to Out-of-State Customers Can Be Easier for Wineries with Kall8 Service in Place

SEATTLE, Wash. - May 16, 2005 - Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for wineries to sell directly to out-of-state customers, the hosted telephone service Kall8 offers an invaluable tool wineries can use to directly market wines more easily to customers across state lines.

The Supreme Court ruled today in a 5-to-4 decision that states cannot ban direct out-of-state wine shipments if they already allow in-state wineries to sell directly to consumers.

“This decision is obviously great news for winemakers now that the Supreme Court has opened up the market across the United States,” said Kall8 Marketing Manager Bill Johnson.  “But we think it will leave vintners, particularly those with smaller operations, scrambling to figure out how to market themselves and fulfill out-of-state orders. Wineries of any size needn’t feel discouraged from marketing to out-of-state customers with Kall8’s affordable and versatile service in place.”

Kall8 is a hosted telephone service offering toll-free and local numbers that wineries can provide their customers for ordering wine or getting tour information. For as little as a $2 set-up fee and $2 a month service fee, wineries can establish a Kall8 number that will be toll-free for customers. There’s no equipment to buy, no software to install, no contract to sign. All wineries need is a dial tone. With an existing Internet connection, they may self-manage their toll-free number online.

“Kall8’s included features like advanced call management and call reporting can give wineries some real powerful business tools,” Johnson said. “Kall8 service also includes call conferencing, which wineries can use to set up telephone conferences to give VIP customers an opportunity to talk directly with the winemakers.”

Wineries can affordably add an automated attendant (menu) for a $50 set-up fee and $25 a month, he said. The auto attendant not only lends wineries a professional sound, it also helps them extend their hours of operation by giving customers options when no one is available to answer their calls. Wineries can record messages with the days and hours their tasting rooms are open or when they are offering tours, so vintners, winery managers or sales associates have more time to deal with questions from customers about sales.

“The auto attendant can also provide callers information about available wine varieties and their distinctive flavors,” Johnson said. “Vintners can easily customize Kall8 service to reflect their wineries’ character and to meet their customers’ needs.”

With Kall8 service, wineries can limit from where they’ll accept calls, he said. If a winery doesn’t want to market beyond a set geographical area, it could establish and manage the geographical area by communities, by area codes, or by states.

“Wineries can even limit the calling area to their home states, if desired,” Johnson added.

By using the information they get with Kall8’s call reporting, wineries can find out who is calling them and at what times, particularly when customers don’t leave messages.

“A missed call doesn’t necessarily have to equate to a lost sale,” Johnson said.

And if wineries combine their call information with their sales data, they can come up with some insightful marketing reports that can help them increase sales or help them determine their best and most successful advertising venues, he added.

“Auto attendant, call reporting and advanced call management only scratch the surface when you look at everything that’s included in the Kall8 service with a rate of 6.9 cents per minute,” Johnson said. “Kall8 packs powerful tools for wineries of all sizes so they don’t have to spend a small fortune on service fees, equipment and installation, and maintenance.

“Other companies offer toll-free numbers, and they may even have competitive per-minute rates,” Johnson added, “but look at the fine print and you’ll find they often provide dial tone only. Then they tack on expensive per-line service fees for the same features that make Kall8 such an incredible value. We see our company providing an invaluable marketing tool in toll-free service to wineries because of our ‘One Service, One Solution, One Rate™’ offering.”