Archive for Tasting Room
Tell Me A Story…
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Elizabeth 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!
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Great Wines From Coast to Coast
Posted by: | CommentsOver the past four months I have had the opportunity to see the wine industry from one side of the country to the other. I have traveled from North Carolina and the Finger Lakes of New York, to Illinois and the wineries of Nebraska and British Columbia, Canada. Everywhere I have been I have tasted excellent wines, have met wonderful people, made new friends and have had a chance to renew ties with old friends. Even the airline travel (bouncing into Denver) and the 95º with 89% humidity weather in the Finger Lakes did not dampen my enthusiasm for the areas and their wines.
I am most happy to report that everywhere I have recently visited consumers were out wine tasting and buying wine. Winery open houses and special events attracted larger numbers of people than expected – Mac’s Creek Winery in Nebraska expected about 250 people for a release party and 750 people showed up! At Heron Hill Winery in the Finger Lakes, a young woman from California was buying wine to be shipped back home. I stopped at Tinhorn Creek in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia and tasted a delicious Cabernet Franc. I also dropped in to a couple of BC VQA stores and was impressed by the selection of wines and expertise of the staff. In the Yadkin Valley of North Carolina I had a red blend from Hanover Park that was yummy. In Illinois I enjoyed the consistently delicious wines of Lynfred Winery and thanks to General Manager/Winemaker Andrés Basso discovered my affinity for Brazilian style steakhouses.
In between the wine tasting I did manage to get some work done, promoting the Wine Industry Network and speaking at wineries and conferences about marketing, sales and increasing wine club sign-ups. All in all this spring and summer have been ones to remember.
It has definitely been heartening to go into wineries all over the country and see people in the tasting rooms (or wine shops as they are known in BC), tasting wine, buying wine, picking up their wine club shipments and more importantly enjoying themselves!
Elizabeth Slater- Founder & Vice President of WIN
Keep up the good work!
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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.
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Wine Clubs Make Life Better
Posted by: | CommentsJoining a wine club can enrich people’s lives. Though most wine club brochures and web information concentrate on the concrete things that people get when they join the wine club, without including the emotional rewards that initially make people want to join your club in the first place!
Wine clubs are a community of people that are interested in your wine. Many people do not have the types of traditional communities that we found in the past. We do not all live close to our families and many people do not know their neighbors or go to church regularly. So, we look for communities through hobbies or interests. Wine is a marvelous way of bringing people together and we should do our best to connect people who belong to our wine clubs and make them an extension of the winery family.
When we promote the emotional reasons for joining the wine club we are adding value to our wine clubs and value that makes members feel good about themselves. Discounts, while they are an important sales tool may, when used incorrectly, actually devalue the perceptions consumers create around the wine. Look on winery websites and you will often find that the first four benefits of joining a wine club are varied discounts that the winery is offering wine club members on current releases, older vintages, non-wine items, event ticket prices, etc. Certainly it is good to tell people about discounts you offer, but remember that we buy when our emotions are engaged and discounts, for most people, are an intellectual rather than an emotional reason to buy.
So with a tip of the glass from me to you, here are some emotional reasons that will not only increase membership in your wine club, they will also increase retention and enrich peoples lives:
- Tell prospects that they deserve to be a wine club member
- Remind them that wine makes life better and that they are worth it
- Show visitors how the recipes and pairing information you send them will make their dinner parties much more fun, less work and less stressful.
Elizabeth Slater- Founder & Vice President of WIN
For more information on how wine clubs make life better, visit the Resource Center of the Wine Industry Network (wineindustrynetwork.com).
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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!
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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.
