Discover:
- What your customers are looking for.
- What has stopped them from buying (from you or others) in the past.
According to Harvard Business Review: More than 50% of customer loyalty is based on the sales experience.
When prospective customers come into your winery it is probable that you don’t know them. Before you start talking about the wines (the varietals, taste, how the grapes are grown, how the wines are made, etc.) it is important to know more about the people standing in front of you.
- What are the visitors interests in wine?
- Are they wine aficionados or is this their first trip to a winery?
- Do they regularly drink wine, and if so, what kind of wine?
- Do they have a price point they are most comfortable with?
By spending a little time with each of your customers and asking questions and listening to their responses, you will have a much better idea of whether or not they will buy and how much they will buy.
Before we go any further, let me just mention that there will be times when you are busy and will not get a chance to spend this amount of time with guests. I understand that, however, if not having time to talk to guests is a regular occurrence, then consider hiring more people in your hospitality center. Creating the personal experience between you and your guests is the most important thing you can do.
Additionally, if your guests have viewed your social media sites before they come to the winery, or have signed up for emails, etc., they may already feel that they know you. If the information you have online talks about your friendliness and interest in your customers, you need to live up to that when these people come to visit. If you do not present what they come to expect, they will be disappointed, not only in the way they were treated but also in your wines.
Connection is the way, not only to sell, but to make long term customers who will be back to visit again and again and will bring their friends.
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.
Follow E on twitter @esavant and facebook.
