Archive for Subscribers
It’s Almost Trade Show Season
Posted by: | Comments
Elizabeth Slater- Founder & Vice President of WIN
It’s almost trade show season. I say almost because even though it is only November and the first trade show doesn’t happen until January of next year, we all know how time flies… and no time flies faster than between now and the holidays! In addition to the large regional shows: Unified, the Midwest Wine & Grape Conference, and Wineries Unlimited, there are also many conferences happening in individual states.
As Louis Pasteur said, “Chance favors the prepared mind”… clever fellow was Louis. It’s not too early to start preparing for the upcoming conference/trade shows. Trust me, there is plenty of prep work to do no matter which side of the booth you’re on.
For wineries, take a look at the conference schedule and pick out the sessions that will give you the information you need the most. After you have honed in on the sessions, take a look at the exhibitor list and prioritize the “have to visit” booths and the “want to visit” booths. Plan enough time to walk the whole show. You never know what’s out there that will make your job easier or your business more successful. And of course, be sure and stop by the WIN booth to visit our team, we will be at all three shows.
If you’re going to be at the Midwest Conference or Wineries Unlimited, definitely don’t miss the full day Tasting Room Profitability/Wine Club Summit and kick your direct-to-consumer sales and service into high gear. Admittedly I am biased about these sessions as I am going to be participating, but I am confident that they are going to be great!
Finally, don’t forget to save some time for networking. Not only is it beneficial, it’s lots of fun too! Talk to people from different countries and from different parts of the county. A new perspective might trigger a new idea for your business.
The best thing about the conferences and trade shows…there is always something to learn and sometimes it’s in the place you least expect it. See you there!
Does Social Networking Sell Wine? Yes!
Posted by: | Comments
It seems that the question most asked these days about social networking is whether or not wineries are actually getting visitors into their tasting rooms or into restaurants and retail stores to buy wine that they have learned about through Facebook, Twitter or Foursquare among others.
It seems that wine consumers are visiting wineries they may not have heard of because of the wineries’ presence in social networking forums. One example we have is from Michel Schlumberger, a winery in Healdsburg, CA, who found this blog from a consumer visiting Healdsburg:
“I checked in on Foursquare that I was in Healdsburg. Foursquare also automatically updated my Twitter account. A couple hours later I get a Twitter reply from the Michel-Schlumberger winery inviting me to come visit; that they are only 8 minutes away. We already had a list of wineries we wanted to visit and they were not on the list. But….Because of the invite I went to their website. We were both impressed with the winery and decided to add them to the list of visits on Saturday. WIN!
Fast- forward to Saturday. We arrive at the winery and I again check in on Foursquare. I am immediately given a coupon for one free tasting because of the check-in. WIN! We sit down for our tasting and immediately fall in love with their wines. So much that we decided to have a picnic lunch on their grounds and buy a bottle of wine right then to have with lunch and another bottle to take with us. WIN! Now guess what. They have two new customers. How much did they have to spend to acquire us? Some time on Twitter and Foursquare and one free tasting.”
The erstwhile visitor – now a connected customer added a great review of the winery to Foursquare and told some relatives who often come up to the area about Michel-Schlumberger.
Michel-Schlumberger uses Foursquare and other social media channels to invite people who may or may not know about their winery to visit and once there gives them reasons to become connected with the winery. For the cost of one free tasting, they began a relationship that they can build on for years to come.
Quite impressive.
To comment click on the post title, and scroll down…
Tell Me A Story…
Posted by: | CommentsElizabeth Slater- Founder & Vice President of WIN
My friend John says often, “We are known to the world by the stories that we tell… I love telling stories and I love hearing stories. In my work I talk to lots of winery folks and hear lots of winery stories. Here is one of my favorites:
“We are a family owned winery, only using the finest grapes to make handcrafted, award winning wines.”
The reason I love this story so much; because it’s used by most of the wineries in North America to describe their winery. Many times the word small is inserted as the fourth word in the sentence. Do I think it’s a story that will differentiate a winery from most other wineries in North America? Not for a second!
While these are good things to tell visitors, customers, the press, distributors, wine shops, your dentist and the lady at the dry cleaners, it is not a sentence that will make you stand out from the crowd and bring people rushing to your door.
Is your story about terroir, quality, soil, micro-climate, grape clones or French oak? All good things, but will these things differentiate you from hundreds or thousands of other wineries? Once again, a resounding NO!
Keep this information as part of your story, the part you tell after you tell your real story, which could just as well be about the history of the land – A meteorite fell just two yards from your winery in 6000BCE (or BC) and is still stuck in the ground – or the fact that your dog can howl the tune to Red Red Wine by Neil Diamond (if the dog thing is true, make sure your post a video of the dog doing that on your website).
Okay, so one of those two is a little silly (you decide which one). My point is that your story can be about anything that will interest people and keep them delving further into your website and subsequently visiting your winery.
What is your story? Tell me your story through this blog or through WIN’s Facebook page and I will, in a future blog, post my favorites from the ones we receive, point out why these are good stories and how you can structure your stories to help promote your winery and wines to potential customers.
Can’t wait to curl up with a glass of wine and start reading!
-To comment, click on the post title and scroll down…
Social Media and Wine…Do They Blend?
Posted by: | Comments
Do you need to get your winery, brand, or business involved in Social Media just because everyone else is?
The better questions to ask are: How do I find out what is being said about us online and how can we use this new channel to build relationships that are going to strengthen our brand?
People are using the internet (and social media) in a very different way than they were even a few years ago. We still research and review online like we did when the internet was new– but now we have large niche networks and communities that provide platforms for discussions about our likes and dislikes, interests, ideas, reviews, and everything in between. These large segregated groups allow us to have “real time” interactions with hundreds (if not thousands) of our “friends and followers” and the outcome from these perceived “word of mouth” conversations can have positive or negative effects on your brand.
If you are not at least following your brand online via tools such as google alerts, social mention or blog pulse you may not be aware that people are already talking about you on a regular basis. The conversations that they’re having about your brand may be good or bad – but not knowing is NOT smart!
You may already have a large thriving online community of interested drinkers, aficionados and influencers who love (or hate) your brand. For those that love it – give them more to love! Engage with them, share your story, and continue to build those relationships. For those that hate it – find out why (even without talking to them or engaging with them by using the tools mentioned above) and then use that knowledge to make the necessary improvements.
But just be sure you are aware of what is being said about you even if you are not actively engaging.
A great passage that confirms this is from the post titled: Old World Winemakers Shun Social Media Grapevine
“Wine is a social beverage and with the social media, I want to be part of the conversation rather than being talked about,” said Cloudy Bay’s Ian Morden, a 41 year old winemaker who has worked in Australia and New Zealand who read bloggers.
His colleague, Nicolas Audebert, 34, a winemaker for Cheval des Andes, is amazed by how extensive social media is and appalled by how intrusive it can be. “My whole life is online, even before I was online,” Audebert said.
To comment, click on the post title and scroll down…
Get Your Creativity Flowing!
Posted by: | Comments“Dont think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity…”- Ray Bradbury
Being creative in your business and differentiating your winery, vineyard, product or service from others, is not only important these days it’s vital.
Fortunately, the wine industry is full of creative people and YOU are one of them. The problem is finding the time to be creative, to see things slightly differently, to give ourselves time to dream. If, as Ray Bradbury said, “…Thinking is the enemy of creativity,” then in my opinion, dreaming is creativity’s best friend.
If we allow ourselves a little time to dream, time for concepts to wander around in our heads without confinement or restrictions, we can become more creative. And it’s not only about new ideas, sometimes slightly tweaking an existing product or concept creates a product, program or event that is uniquely different.
So with a tip of the glass from me to you, lets get creative! Here are a couple of ideas to get those creative juices flowing:
- Take 15 minutes of undisturbed time (sit it your car if you have to) to allow your mind to wander.
- Soar up to the 10,000 foot level and see the big picture. What is it that you might have missed because you are too close?
- Don’t stop at the first idea, keep going until you have three or four.
Elizabeth Slater- Founder & Vice President of WIN
You can find more information on getting your creativity flowing in the Wine Industry Network’s Resource Center.
To comment, click on the post title and scroll down…
Tradition, please meet Technology…I think you’re going to get along famously!
Posted by: | CommentsI was sitting on a plane recently surrounded by people either banging away on their laptop or “thumbing” through their phone and it got me thinking about the wine industry’s relationship with technology. People have suggested that the wine industry is so steeped in tradition and so far behind “technological times”, that online marketing for suppliers will never work. They suggest that the industry is too “word of mouth” dependent, and that winemakers really do drive around with an 800 page dog-eared print directory in their pickup rather than research what they need online.
Is that really possible…would we chose to make life harder in the name of tradition?
I started to think about this and it occurred to me that the wine industry is all about making things easier…with two caveats. First, it leads to better quality wine and second, it helps sell the wine we produce.
Just a few examples to hammer home my point:
In the vineyard we’ve designed gentler mechanical harvesters. On the crush pad, pneumatic basket presses are better than the originals, and in the cellar, double sorting machines provide even cleaner grapes. We have products like Acrolon’s TankNet that allow you to monitor and manage tank temperatures from anywhere in the world and management systems, like WMS, that allow access to production activities anywhere you can get on the internet. Our tasting rooms have POS systems, like VinNOW, that can track customer behavior and buying habits at a level inconceivable 10 years ago. In the marketplace, we can monitor activities at the account level to see where our competitors wines are being sold and where our wines need to be. Online marketing providers, like the Wine Industry Network, is now connecting buyers and suppliers in a virtual marketplace never before seen, and are growing at a rate that exceed even the most optimistic projections!
With all that said….I hope we never lose the traditions that make the wine industry so special. Who doesn’t love walking the vineyards and seeing them change from one season to the next, the smell of fermenting grapes during harvest, experimenting with different blends in the lab and the excitement surrounding a new release. Best of all….celebrating the fruits of our labor in a way that other, more “technologically advanced” industries only dream about!
George Christie - Founder & President of WIN
To comment, click on the post title and then scroll down
Selling Wine…Meet Facebook!
Posted by: | CommentsFor the last two years, like just about everyone I know, I’ve been friending, posting, and indulging in a lot of general voyeurism on Facebook, but mostly trying to figure out how to use this channel to actually help sell. Not indirectly through clever posting…but really sell.
Well….leave it to the brain trust over at Cruvee to come up with a solution….and I love it! 
Not only have they been making it easier to control the accuracy of your winery’s online data, the new Facebook application they’ve developed allows participating wineries to add a “WINES” tab that not only markets their brands in a way never before seen but also links your fans directly back to their shopping cart. Wineries now have the opportunity to finally try to convert their fans into actual consumers. Here’s the best part….it’s FREE!
Check out a few that are already on board:
- Jordan Vineyards & Winery: FACEBOOK LINK
- Hanzell Vineyards: FACEBOOK LINK
- Twisted Oak Winery: FACEBOOK LINK
George Christie - Founder & President of WIN
Now I’m not here to tell you what to do…but this should be an easy one. Just visit www.cruvee.com , register your winery (if you haven’t already) and follow the instructions for the Facebook application.
Good selling!
To comment, click on the post title and scroll down
Do I Really Need A Video?
Posted by: | CommentsNo…you don’t really need a video, but one of the greatest characteristics of our industry (lucky for us) is the curiosity our customers have about day to day life at the winery. For those that are fortunate enough to work at one, it’s great…there’s no doubt about it, but certainly not always as glamorous as it appears from the outside. Nonetheless, all are welcome as we open our doors for our customers to take a peek behind the proverbial curtain!
But… what happens after a great visit? How do we extend the experience?
George Christie - Founder & President of WIN
For direct marketers, email, and now social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter, have been outstanding tools to maintain dialogue and relationships and provide a “virtual” extension of the “winery experience”, but how do we leverage the one thing that no one can copy…the people behind the brand?
This is where video crushes the competition! Nothing, and I mean nothing, captures the passion and personality of a winery’s people better than video! Good news…your customers would always rather watch a few minutes of video on your winery happenings than read another email and the bonus… search engines LOVE video!
Here’s the best part…your video doesn’t need to cost a ton of money or look like a Hollywood production. In fact, some of the most interesting and engaging videos that I’ve seen are the simplest and are shot with a flip camera. I know these videos drive the “real” videographers absolutely nuts, but guess what…the viewers don’t care. They just want something authentic. That doesn’t mean that hiring a pro isn’t a good idea, just don’t let a small budget deter you from exploring and including video in your plans.
Here’s a great example of video at its best: Seghesio Harvest Video. They wanted to capture the family’s involvement around harvest, and more importantly, give the viewer a real sense of their commitment to quality.
Harvest is just around the corner…think about bringing your customers onto the crush pad!
To comment, click on the title of the post and scroll down…
To Custom Crush or Not…Good Question!
Posted by: | CommentsThe last few years have seen more growers in Northern California wrestle with canceled contracts, a decline in grape prices or the worst case scenario….not selling their grapes at all! The question they face; do I cut my losses, take what I can and live to fight another year or….commit even more dollars to this year’s crop and gamble on making my money back on the bulk market?
George Christie - Founder & President of WIN
Sounds like a simple question, but as with anything related to agriculture, there are no guarantees…guaranteed!
For the conservative, the bulk market is definitely not the answer. Spend less in the vineyard, be as efficient as possible, hang a little more fruit and hope that buyers appear at some point before the rains begin. Hopefully they’ll make their farming costs back and maybe next year things will get better.
For the more aggressive, taking matters into their own hands and processing their own fruit to sell as bulk wine is the answer. They believe that wineries will continue to supplement the grapes they process with purchased wine and will be willing to pay for quality once they have a better read on the demand for their brand. They’re betting that the wineries already playing the bulk market will increase the amount of bulk they purchase. All of that, coupled with the increase in new world négociants and custom label business, is the best way to extend the harvest and protect their investment…even if it takes a little more time and money to get it back.
The truth is….no one really knows.
Perhaps the answer lies somewhere in the middle. Sell your grapes for as much as you can and allocate a small percentage of your crop each year to custom crush. Work with a good winemaker and reputable facility and if there’s an uptick on the bulk market for your varietal…you win. If the demand for grapes swings back around…bulk prices usually go up right along with it, so you can win there too.
One thing most growers can all agree on is that the business of selling grapes has changed…and may not be changing back for a while.
NOTE: To learn more about current market conditions check WIN Members: Ciatti Company and Turrentine Brokerage.
Are You Ready For A Successful Season?
Posted by: | CommentsElizabeth Slater- Founder & Vice President of WIN
The warmer weather is finally here and people are ready to get out of their houses and into your tasting rooms!
It’s time to get out your start of season checklist to make sure that you are ready to hit the ground running. So grab a pen, your checklist and a glass of wine, find a comfy chair and lets get started. If you don’t have a checklist now is a great time to make one.
Goals
How much wine do you want to sell and at what prices?
How many club members do you want to add?
How are the profit margins after you factor in discounts and other expenses?
Appearance
Is everything spruced up and ready to go? Walk around the grounds and buildings as if you have never seen them before and assess the overall appearance. Grade each area and make the necessary adjustments.
TR Team
In the battle for connection, sales and long-term customers the tasting room team members are your front line. They are the one who influence visitors to buy and to return so take the time to find the right people and train them well.
To read the complete article, including a list of personality traits to look for when you are hiring, click here.
