Atlantic Canada Wine Symposium - Recap Day 1
For Day 1 there were a few activities on the go. For those of a more intrepid spirit, there was an Annapolis Valley wine tour with tastings at a few stops. As we have done that on a number of occasions, we decided to pass on that. There was also a Vineyard Management session for those who work with the plants in the vineyard everyday. For me, it was Building Effective Customer Relationships. This workshop revolved around discussing the strategies and best practices for wineries to enhance their sales activities and the communications with customers both actual and potential.
The session was lead by Elizabeth Slater from In Short Direct Marketing. Elizabeth has 20 years of wine industry experience and her company consults with wineries across North America to
help them understand their customers. One of her main contentions is that each winery needs to build their story which goes beyond the facts and figures of their winery and gets into the emotional connection that the owners and staff can impart on their customers. This story needs to be unique and seize upon those items that make that particular winery special. It could be the place or the background of the owners that makes a winery that place that people will remember. In order to best serve your customers, if pays to understand them and that process can be deeply involved but at its most basic, it requires hearing from and listening to your customers.
The more that they can tell you the better that you will be able to serve their needs. It is a statement that requires some clarification but the rule that Elizabeth came up with was to try to try speak 50% less and see how much additional revenue can be gained. Lorraine Vassalo at Avondale Sky winery mentioned that she tried to use this recently on a particular tasting room attendee and that person went from intending to buy 1 bottle to buying 4 bottles simply due to her interest in what they had to say and her ability to limit her interjections.
The listening extended into understanding the level at which to talk to your customers (i.e. Are they knowledgeable or new to wine or just THINK they know a lot about wine?). Whatever the determination, that is how you need to talk with your customers. Once you know how to best communicate with your customers you need to differentiate with positive experiences. Wine is meant to be fun so those positive experiences could be about the place, the wine, or your prior life experience outside of the wine industry.
1) We walk into the Tasting Room and see the staff member (in their 40's - could be the owner/wine-maker we never found out), talking with another couple who are not drinking wine (no glasses). We are not acknowledged for coming in with a Welcome or Hello or anything. We walk around the room looking at bottles and still no communication. We all look at one another and decide to walk closer to the Tasting table (still nothing). I ask what the price of a particular bottle is and I am given the price (back to their conversation - they were locals/friends for sure). After all of that, we eventually wandered back to the door and away we went, no tasting was ever had and we didn't get a Goodbye on the way out.
2) We went into a Tasting Room and were greeted by a young university student who told us to take a look around. We eventually meandered up to the Tasting Bar and asked what we could taste. The staff person was unsure what was open and began moving through bottles to see what she could share with us. We began asking questions about the wines and was informed that many of the wines were sold out. So it came down to two whites and two reds we could taste. We asked her for her favorites and she informed us that she didn't really like wines and if she did drink wine it would be white but she hadn't tried the two that were open yet so she didn't have any opinions or knowledge to pass along. Sigh.....
We have never had a bad tasting experience when the owner/wine-maker was pouring or within ear shot of the tasting bar but as you can see staff training and proper hiring makes a difference.
So, what experience do your visitors want? They won’t tell you
and they may not even know, so you have to over-deliver at every turn.
Here are a few more interesting tidbits:
Elizabeth feels as though having 4 - 6 wines to taste is good but any more than that is too much for both the taster and the pourer. Dealing with groups can be troublesome.
You need to make sure that they can be managed as far as being a distraction and only pour when you have their attention. Buyers want to feel important, liked, and right (in any of those combinations). They want to be a part of your team and want to feel as though they belong at your winery. Wine is a luxury item – it is perceived as more
sophisticated and provides satisfaction to those that enjoy it. All in all this was an interesting and engaging session. As a former sales rep and hospitality industry worker a lot of the things addressed were familiar and common sense but in the busy world of a winery can be easily overlooked or forgotten. These are the things that can make or break a winery so it is a message that anyone connected to the industry should to take to heart. You really don't get a second chance to make a first impression. Strong coordinated customer service is key and so is good hiring (another key component).
Well, so far so good! Watch for more Tweets and Facebook posts with a Recap for Day 2 coming tomorrow.
Keep on drinking!
Chris & Shannon
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