As event season is already upon us, it’s important that we are ready to ensure the success of the events we work hard to produce. Here are a few tips when hosting events.
Create An Atmosphere
You want your guests to associate your winery with good wine, pleasant people and a great atmosphere. Guests attend your events to taste wine in a comfortable atmosphere.
Owners and staff create atmosphere:
- Keep smiling.
- Be real.
- If you don’t like people, stay in the cellar.
Think About Your Attitude
If you are in a bad mood or impatient with guests, even if you try to hide it, your guests will feel it.
It’s okay to have an attitude as long as it is a good one.
Practice being patient for three weeks before the event
Sales Tips
Spend 18 seconds with each guest (or group) giving them your full attention. It may not seem like a long time, but it is longer than you think.
Tell guests you are glad they came to the event.
Give each guest or group a snippet of information that gives them reasons to buy the wine.
Have plenty of staff on hand. Waiting makes people irritable and irritable people usually don’t buy wine.
Things to Remember
- Smile constantly even if you think no one is looking.
- Keep the bathrooms clean.
- If there is a problem with a guest handle it quickly.
- Keep the grounds and winery tidy.
- Don’t put the food next to the bathrooms and don’t put the wine tasting next to the band.
Other tips
Consider giving each attendee an order form. It saves time at the cash register. Your guests can decide what they want and complete the form (with their name and phone number before they get to the cash register. They give the cashier the form to ring up the wine they have ordered.
The guests them take the form marked paid and their receipt to where the wine is being distributed. The packer packs the wine and keeps the order form (they keep their receipt.) If there are any problems you have a record of their order.
Have great events and sell lots of wine.
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.
