Of those 16 issues, half deal exclusively with Apple products and are produced by a separate corporate division, MacConnection. That was important in easing customer fears about the technical products. In those early days, she and Hall manned the phone lines to provide answers to the flurry of customer questions. PC Connection was the first to offer toll-free phone lines to help customers with technical questions. Now an extensive staff of trained specialists is available to navigate customers through a sea of questions or product-related problems.
Salespeople undergo an extensive initial training period and update their skills periodically.
An awareness of customer needs has spawned innovative ways to educate the consumer on company products. Gallup, influenced by the teaching methods presented at her experimental high school, decided to come up with a new way to inform customers about personal computer products. She helped create a new division of the company called PCTV Productions in 1986. At the beginning, the company produced videos for training and promotion form its studio in Newport. It has now merged with other companies and, called PCTV, Inc., produces shows that air internationally.