Wine club parties are a vital part of club member retention and can be as simple as a vineyard seminar with a box lunch or as elaborate as a Mediterranean cruise. In my experience members really enjoy getting together and finding out how much they have in common. Also the old 80-20% rule comes into play, twenty percent of the members go to eighty percent of the events. This means they really get to know each other.
These events help with retention i.e “If I drop out of the club I won’t get to go to the Lobster Feed that the winery has every May” or “ Both myself and my spouse/partner always have a great time so let’s prune our budget with something else.”
“Figure out your club personality and throw parties they want to attend”
Here is a good example, when I was the manager at a very busy winery in Napa, right across Hwy 29 was another busy winery. Both were owned by the same parent company so we had a lot in common. The winery across the road had club members who loved to “party.” They would have a large New Years party, followed by a casual super bowl party, followed by an elaborate Valentines party. My club members were more oriented to events that were festive but had an educational facet like wine maker dinners. The whole point is you don’t want to throw a Neil Simon event for a group who wants Shakespeare.
How do you figure out what your club “personality” is when your club is new? I have created over 100-150 clubs all over the U.S. My motto is a tasting room without a club is like a car without a carburetor or a fuel injector. What I recommend to my clients is that they include a short poll as part of the club brochure. Typically the brochure has a perforated section with all the sign up particulars. Put the poll on the other side of this brochure panel because you have to detach that section to keep on file. Ask what type of music members like and what type of events they like to attend and then list approximately 8-10 types of events that range from educationally focused (like the vineyard seminar) to fun events like the lobster feed, or a barbeque with a blues band. Be creative and try a unique idea like a murder mystery dinner (google it if you are unfamiliar with the concept). The point is you are trying to get a handle on what your audience wants and don’t forget to leave a section for suggestions.
I have found that people love attending club events on or around water and did a couple of very successful cruises on the San Francisco bay with wine tasting and lunch. We had gregarious wine making staff on board to schmooze with the guests, and the food, wine, and scenery were beautiful. We also had a couple of prominent buyers for hotels on board for free so it doubled as a trade event as well. Within 2 years you will have figured out your club personality but the poll can be an important step in the beginning.
In terms of pricing every winery has their own approach but I always priced the events at true cost because I wanted to attract a sell out crowd if possible for club retention and enjoyment.
“Provide easy ways to buy wine at your club events and make your profits there”
Lastly I wanted to discuss pick up parties. Why are they the one event that is free for members and a plus one? Imagine you are working as a staff member on the floor during a busy Saturday. All of a sudden two will-call pick up club members, Stanley and Stella Kowalski, come in to pick up their current shipment. The staff person has to stop what they’re doing and entertain the Kowalskis, pour them their free tasting, go in the back to pick up their shipment, make sure all the proper wine and materials like recipes are in the shipment and then take it back to the couple, pour more wine and have them sign the form indicating that they have picked up the wine (some people forget that they already picked it up 3 weeks ago) etc. Meanwhile the staff member is not serving new guests or up-selling club memberships.
If you have a large club, 20% of them will call/ pick up and that can be a lot of Kowalski’s coming in on a busy weekend. So if you have a free or low cost event with modest appetizers and wine you can aggregate as many will-call members as possible at one time.
Wine club parties are an important part of your club operation. They build a strong ambassador network, help with retention, and as noted in some special events they can also be dovetailed with trade visitors as well.
Craig Root has more than 30 years experience working with tasting rooms. For more than 13 years, he was first staff and then a successful manager. In the last 20 years, he has consulted with more than 150 tasting rooms (including over 90 start-ups, mostly in the United States but also in China, Canada and France). He is the only person who lectures on tasting room design and management at UC Davis in its continuing and professional development division.
