Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/172581
SALES & MARKETING For example, people may be on bicycles and not want to carry wine. However, if they leave with a positive impression, they will be more apt to buy your wine the next time they see it at a store or restaurant in their hometown. 4. Grounds, rest rooms and cluttered counters How do you feel when you are out dining, and you visit the rest room and it is trashed? Chances are that it doesn't make you feel good about the food. Clean workstations, grounds and rest rooms are all parts of creating a lasting positive impression. While many wineries have maintenance teams to help accomplish this goal, a better rule of thumb is: When you find a mess, clean it up, whether it is on the grounds or in the facility. 5. Being "on" Have you ever gone to a concert where the crowd started dancing five minutes before the band started playing? It doesn't work that way. Always remember: We in the tasting room are the "band," and it is up to us to provide energy—both initial and ongoing. This work is like performing arts, and this kind of hospitality can be draining. But we are not just paid to pour wine and conduct tours, we are also paid to be upbeat and charming. Therefore, if you are coming to work and are feeling a little blue, you need to psych yourself up and consider being engaging and animated as an extremely important component of your work. For example, think about the employees whom you like to work with and who make you laugh. Challenge yourself to sell at least one or two wine club memberships. Focus on the quality of the product you are about to pour and the wonderful ambiance of your winery. 6. Fifteen-second rule It's absolutely necessary that people be greeted within 15 seconds of coming into your area, whether you are a pourer, stocker, cash register staff or performing any other duties on the floor. It is particularly important when working in the tasting room that you acknowledge customers in the second row because, very often in tasting rooms, they can be totally ignored. Also, a friendly good-bye is very important. 7. Open-ended questions A closed-ended question would be: "Do you like sparkling wine?" This calls for a yes or no answer and does not lead to dialogue, rapport or sales. Open-ended questions use who, what, where, when, why and how. For example, "What kind of food do you like with white wine?" It's best to use follow-up open-ended questions. If the answer to "What kind of food do you like with white wine?" is seafood, you may wish to ask: "What are your favorite types of seafood?" The trick is to ask at least three open-ended questions in order to get the conversational ball rolling. Obviously, we want to be talking about the winery's wines; however, let the conversation go where it has the most energy. The whole point of asking open-ended questions is that they lead to dialogue, dialogue leads to rapport, and rapport leads to trust. When the customer trusts you, and you ask: "Would you like to buy some wine today and/or would you like to join our wine club?" you are much more apt to make a sale. Being asked about themselves also makes the customers feel cared about. And finally, using open-ended questions can lead to lively conversation, which makes the day go by faster for you. Just be careful not to enjoy yourself so much with one couple that you forget the other customers—and your duty to support your colleagues. 8. Be adjustable a. Some people don't want conversation: If visitors do not seem to want to engage in conversation after you've asked two or three open-ended questions, don't pursue any more dialogue. Do continue to pour and describe the wines with enthusiasm. Also, to repeat, if you do have a good conversation with visitors, you still need to work the rest of the counter and support your colleagues. b. Be informative, not snobby (31 flavors): Americans go into BaskinRobbins and don't have any trouble choosing from among the 31 flavors. They go next door to the wine shop and feel intimidated. Whatever you can do to take wine off its pedestal will be greatly appreciated, particularly by the novice wine taster. For example, if a customer mispronounces the name of a varietal, don't correct them but pronounce it correctly a couple of times in the ensuing conversation. c. Talk with, not at, people: There's a big difference between listening and waiting for your turn to talk. d. Women by themselves/younger visitors: Women by themselves and younger visitors continuously report poor treatment in tasting rooms. If you cater to them, you will stand out in relation to all the other tasting rooms that did not. In the case of younger visitors, they may not have as much money now, but they will remember who was nice to them when they do have more money. In this case, you are planting seeds for your winery's future sales. 9. Educate yourself There are a number of low-cost ways to continually educate yourself in addition to search engines. For example, read the food and wine sections of major newspapers in print or online. Check out books from the library about food and wine. Another technique is to talk with cellar workers as often as possible, and ask them what is going on in production. Production can also provide you with trade magazines they subscribe to that are devoted to winemaking. Please read them religiously (especially Wines & Vines). Without continually educating yourself, you run the risk of becoming stale: a real turnoff to customers and sales. 10. You never know to whom you are talking Never be negative about any other establishment. Maybe the person you are talking to isn't a friend of the manager of that establishment, but the person 10 feet away, who can hear you, might be. I know of numerous examples of tasting room staff being rude or negative because they didn't know who was in front of them, which can cause problems, such as having your wines removed from a wine list of a restaurant you just insulted. One trick to always maintaining proper decorum: Pretend that everyone you are dealing with is a mystery shopper. WI N ES & V I N ES O CTO B E R 2 0 1 3 59