EAGER TO PUBLICIZE a new product line, Home Care Medical recently capitalized on three gimmicks few customers can resist: food, door prizes and free gifts with purchase. Using a database of post-mastectomy patients it had previously referred to other providers, the Milwaukee-based HME business sent these potential customers invitations to a May open house celebrating the company's foray into post-mastectomy products.

The four-hour event featured free drawings for scented lotions and soaps. If attendees made a purchase, Home Care Medical also gave them free samples of Amoena skin therapy cream. In addition, the company staged a swimsuit show and introduced a new self-adhering breast form it hoped would pique would-be customers' interest.

Cindy Telford, the company's certified post-mastectomy fitter, calls the open house a success-even though it attracted fewer than 15 people. "It's a way of getting our name out there and letting people know we have the products," she says. "Everyone who came bought a breast form. We also got several phone inquiries from our mailing from people expressing interest."

Even more important than selling products on the day of the open house, says Telford, was creating a positive buzz about the company's new offerings. "We want everyone in the community to know where we are and that we have an array of post-mastectomy products," she says. Telford hopes open-house attendees will spread the word. In fact, she reports, a woman from an assisted living center who attended the event took about a dozen brochures about the new product to disseminate to her friends.

Home Care Medical's open-house response is typical of providers just breaking into the post-mastectomy business, says JoAnn Wandrey, district sales manager with Amoena/Coloplast, Marietta, Ga. "Companies that have been in the business and have a database of customers have a higher attendance rate," she says. "Keeping in touch with existing customers to tell them about new products or invite them to open houses shows that you think they're special enough to be contacted."

Wandrey suggests touting chair massages or offering educational forums on breast cancer topics. "You need to offer some type of special carrot to get them there, but once they come, many enjoy the camaraderie and atmosphere."

While being a breast cancer survivor might be an issue some wouldn't want to discuss among strangers, women are starting to be more open about their experiences, Wandrey says. "A lot of times, the women become friends. Maybe they haven't been part of a support group before or had anyone to talk to who knows what they're going through."

Telford aims to do at least one open house a year, featuring different events to woo customers. Each will also showcase a new product, and a manufacturer representative will be on hand so that guests can get specific product questions answered on the spot.

Wandrey, herself, was part of more than 42 open houses last spring. "Sometimes I work with retailers who have never done anything like this before because they thought it was too much work," she says. "But it's the most successful way to grow their business. And I tell them, 'Food always helps.'"