Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/1031957
64 WINES&VINES October 2018 TASTING ROOM FOCUS D ata is king. Every marketing guru out there is shouting that from the moun- taintops. But how can a small winery team with limited resources under- stand its data? It all starts with quality and consistency. Let's dive into a few things that wineries of every size can start employing today. Make it easy On the hospitality side of the wine industry, it all begins with the guest. While there are several methods to count the number of guests coming into a business, WISE has found a few best practices and considerations that make the data actionable and easy to capture. When data is easy to capture, staff will be more likely to consistently and accu- rately track the information. Once you have solid data, you can make decisions to drive your business efficiently. Consistency is key It's important to be consistent, so whichever method of counting your guests you are using, make sure it stays the same over time. You can change it; however, you need to do so strategically – end of quarter, end of year, etc., and roll it out so that everyone is on the same page for a clean transition. Some wineries install a door counter and then divide the number in half (guest walks in, guest walks out). Other wineries count the number of glasses washed at the end of the day and then use that to estimate the number of tasters. Others still will count flights or glasses sold. While these methods can be useful, we have found that the best method is to establish four $0 SKUs in the point-of-sale (POS) system. Four SKUs Why four SKUs? You not only want to capture the number of all the guests, but what type of guest they are. First, we have all our "guests" (1) – these are all the guests who are potential members. Then, if we know how many guests are "returning members" or club members (2), we can remove them from the number of guests who are potential future WISE Academy Recommends Guest Count Best Practices ONLINEMARKETINGSYSTEM Wines Vines Analytics Visit winesandvines.com/OMS or call 866.453.9701 to set-up your free demo. Reach Thousands of Winery Decision Makers The Wines & Vines Online Marketing System is designed to help your business: • Increase sales • Generate winery leads • Manage clients and sales territories • Improve marketing effectiveness