Last week’s blog talked about three of the six most important things that guests are looking for when they buy your products. In that blog I covered Identity (how your products relate to how guests see themselves), Quality (know what quality means to your guests before you start to sell) and Experience (guests remember a good experience).
Part two follows up with three additional things that guests want. The first is Connectivity/Community. As a winery you want to encourage people to connect with your products, your employees and your business. One of the reasons why wine clubs are popular is because it gives people who enjoy wine the chance to meet other people who enjoy wine. These days it may be harder to create a community; we don’t all know our neighbors, we don’t necessarily go to church on Sunday and we don’t always live close to our family. Wine clubs and wine events give people a community they can connect with.
Connectivity is also the reason you have a Facebook page for the business, post on Instagram and Twitter, just to name a few options for Social Media connection. Keep connecting in every way you can and create communities of customers.
What Need does your wine fill for your guests? You have a lot of guests. These people buy your wine for many different reasons and to fill many different needs. Find out what their needs are and add the information to their customer record. The more you know about them, the more you will be able to meet their needs.
To finish off, think about Value and what it means to your customers. The idea of value varies from one customer to another. To some, price is value, to others scarcity is value and others may value service. Ask everyone working in the winery what is of value to them in working for the company. You will get many different answers and the same is true for your customers. Don’t assume that someone else’s definition of value matches yours or the last customer you served.
A tip of the glass from me to you.
E Column
by Elizabeth “E” Slater, In Short Direct Marketing
A recognized expert in the fields of direct marketing and sales in the wine marketplace. Slater has taught more wineries and winery associations how to create and improve the effectiveness of their direct marketing programs and to make the most of each customer’s potential than anyone in the wine industry today.
