Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/74662
M ar K eti NG More than 90% of Alpha Omega Winery's sales are direct, a statistic partner Robin Baggett at- tributes to good customer service. "People purchase things from people they like," Baggett says. The winery has four locations for tast- ings: inside and out (for the usual nice days) as well as in the barrel room and tank rooms. At busy times, a greeter out- side directs visitors to the right place, and guests are never two deep at the bar. Visitors are offered a choice of the $15 basic tasting of four wines at the wine bar, or a premium tasting in a private room. In addition, the staff can offer "back pocket" wines that aren't on the regular menu, such as specials made for wine club members. A barrel tasting is used to sell futures. The crew waives the tasting fee if the visitor buys wine. "It's rare that they don't buy wine," Baggett says. Sales representatives always ask for the buy, if politely: "What would you like to take with you?" for example. They have daily sales goals and team incentives includ- ing signing up people for the wine club. The winery sets sales goals based on historical data and expected business each day, and if those goals are exceeded, the whole team on duty then shares in 10% of the excess. Because this is calculated daily as well as weekly, employees get immediate feedback. This practice encour- ages the staff to take good care of late- arriving guests. "It discourages them from locking the door," Baggett observes. Since sales are up significantly at the winery, employees have been meeting their goals often this year. Employees get a $20 bonus for signing wine club members, but they are only paid after the member stays in the club two months. The wine club offers a basic 20% dis- count and six shipments per year; incen- tives for signing up include 30% off the first purchase and invitations to events. The club now has more than 3,500 mem- bers, with 30 to 40 new members joining each week. For $5 more, they can ship using Wine Assure packaging in hot and cold weather. (See "Direct Shipping Car- tons Evolve" on page 74 to learn about trends in packaging.) Highlights • these wineries on Highway 29 in the napa Valley throw their efforts into direct sales. • "Few join the club except at the tasting room," says Robin Baggett of Alpha omega Winery. • V. sattui's vast picnic grounds and gourmet deli have a bigger purpose: to sell wine. One thing the winery has learned is that many credit cards used by wine club members won't work, usually because they've expired. Rather than forfeit or postpone 15% of sales, one staff member calls people—usually in advance, because card expiration dates are on record—to update their credit card information. Now, fewer than 10% aren't valid. Baggett says that sales last year were up 30%, and for this year, they're up 50%. "We're seeing good traffic; I think the economy is coming back," he says. Alpha Omega doesn't carry much merchandise—just logo shirts and hats supplied by Straight Down from San Luis Obispo. Copper Peak provides its logistics, and the winery uses only Riedel glasses. "It's important to have the best, and Riedel glasses are," Baggett says. For their wine club and other account- ing, they use Microsoft RWS software, and eWinery created and maintains the winery website. Tasting staff at St. Supéry is hired primarily based on personality, not wine knowledge. St. Supéry: Using social media St. Supéry Vineyards and Winery has always been known for a good visitor experience, with educational displays about winemak- ing, demonstration vineyards, informative tours and even a dog-friendly patio. Still, visitor center sales have been down a bit during the past two years. "It's tougher to get people in the door," laments Lesley Rus- sell, the vice president of marketing. The winery is trying some new ideas to improve traffic. For one, it has recon- figured to replace some of its upstairs display with sit-down private tasting rooms. In addition, it's working more with tourism partners. It is also using sites such as Twitter and Facebook for outreach. "This allows us to reach a broader audience," Russell says. The winery is using Internet services to encourage visitors. Results are still mixed. "It's not driving hundreds and hundreds of visitors yet, but it helps," Russell says of the traffic, as high as 70,000 per year. An interesting development is the growing importance of Yelp!, the online service that allows individual consumers to rate products and services. The tasting room personnel at St. Supéry monitor these services and find that the winery is getting mostly good comments. "It tells us how we're doing, and if someone does post a bad review, we can respond and even apologize to them. We've had some change their reviews as a result." Russell says that the winery hires its tasting room staff primarily based on personality, not wine knowledge. "We can educate them and send them to classes like the WISE Academy, the local college and the CIA," she notes. St. Supéry offers team incentives, not individual ones. "We didn't want heavy competition among the staff trying to snap up the better buyers." She also didn't Wines & Vines JAnUARY 2011 81