Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/437909
SALES AND MARKETING January 2015 WINES&VINES 107 regional organizations other than your own. Many states issue useful information. A good example of this practice is "Tuesday Tidbits," a weekly email produced by Donniella Winchell, head of the Ohio Wine Producers Association. Every Tuesday, Winchell sends a message with tips about how to better serve your customers and staff. One of my favorite tips suggested partner- ing with local realtors. After agents close a sale (if they are smart), they'll often give a gift to the new homeowners. Why can't that gift be a bottle of your wine, or a gift certificate for complimentary wine tasting for two? The cer- tificate could also be an "Honorary Wine Club Membership for One Day," so the recipients can see the great perks members receive on a regular basis. The beauty of this idea is that those who can afford to buy a house are prob- ably qualified wine buyers as well. Not all of the tips in "Tuesday Tidbits" will be applicable to you, but I've learned many useful pieces of information since I joined the mailing list at ohiowines.org. Incidentally, the Wines & Vines Directory and Buyer's Guide has a list of state and regional winery organiza- tions. Contact them to discover what kind of educational information they offer. 3 Keeping a messy house One more area of operations that can re- ally hurt repeat business is insufficient cleanliness in the winery's facilities. I do a lot of mystery shopping for clients, and in at least a third of facilities I see sloppy housekeeping. Last year I mystery shopped a place that was impeccable in terms of staff, museum- grade educational displays and interior cleanli- ness. The catch was that, at the beginning of the path leading to the tasting room, a wine barrel sat as a decorative touch. Unfortunately, several cigarette butts were floating in rainwa- ter pooled on top of the barrel: not a great way to start the experience. If someone from the staff had just done a quick property survey that morning, this eyesore could have been avoided. By the way, the cigarette butts were still there when I left much later. Be sure to check on all parts of your facility, including picnic areas, throughout the day. Think of it this way: When you go out to dinner and find the rest room trashed, do you want to return to that establishment? Well, the same holds true for your tasting room. 4 Delayed incentives Many sales incentives are paid to tasting room staff quarterly or monthly. I believe that these incentives are not as effective as daily incentives. Ask yourself this: are people in general and Americans in particular good at delayed grati- fication? Daily incentives keep the staff focused on the goal. As many of you know, POS pro- grams have two functions: the "Z out" is done at the end of the business day, setting the POS back to zero. The "X out" allows you to check where the sales total is at any time without setting the POS back to zero. Staff members at tasting rooms without daily incentives don't "X out" throughout the day, while staffers with daily incentives do. This is because they want to check how close they are to the goal, and when they get close, they try harder. 5 Hospitality understaffing The two places tasting rooms hurt them- selves the most are not doing tours and understaffing. I believe that tasting rooms experience four levels of attendance. The first is dead with few or no visitors. The second is a slow but steady WEST COAST SALES 1230 Shiloh Road Windsor, CA 95492 Tel +1 707 836 6840 Fax +1 707 836 6843 atp@americantartaric.com EAST COAST SALES 1865 Palmer Avenue Larchmont, NY 10538 Tel +1 914 834 1881 Fax +1 914 834 4611 atp@americantartaric.com VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION www.americantartaric.com - Enzymes - Clarifiers - Fermentation Products - Tannins - Specialty Products - Cleaners - Cellar Chemicals - Filtration Supplies - Rotary Vacuum Filtration - Cross-flow Filtration - Filtration Consulting - Lab Equipment - Micro Oxygenation - Crush Pad - Filtration/Separation - Desulfurization - Pasteurization - Thermovinification - Bottling/Packaging - Refrigeration - Stabilization SERVING YOUR NEEDS IN ALL ASPECTS OF WINEMAKING AMERICAN TARTARIC PRODUCTS Are (your top 50 buyers) getting a phone call two to four times a year from a principal at your winery?