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WISE CORE COURSES

This comfortably priced two day boot camp provides a strong foundation for those working directly with consumers in the wine industry. It covers wine business basics, overview of sales, marketing and service best practices and the principles of professional wine tasting. The concepts learned in WISE #101 are foundational to most WISE Level I coursework.

Best suited for current winery employees who want to increase their wine tasting confidence and sales effectiveness with consumers; those who want a broader wine business perspective as they prepare to advance; restaurant, hospitality and wine retailer professionals; also appropriate for those with limited wine product knowledge or work experience.

Note: Seasoned wine industry professionals may be able to test out of this course as a pre-requisite for other WISE Level I courses. Click here to test out of #101.

Our Management Core Course is designed to raise the bar for wine industry leaders by sharpening their communication and people management skills as well as building their financial acumen. Principles learned in WISE #201 are foundational to all WISE Level II coursework. WISE #201 is a combination of both WISE #202 and #203 course at better pricing. The first two days (#202) focus on people management and the third day (#203) on finance and accounting for non-accountants. WISE #201 is a prerequisite for all Level II Management Certifications.

Best suited for anyone who manages people in the wine industry, especially those with teams focused on consumer direct sales; experienced managers who need a quick refresher on management basics; also appropriate for new managers with limited formal training.

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WORKSHOPS

This full-day workshop provides a hands-on overview of social media tools and strategies to leverage your online presence, understand your customers more fully, and market faster and further than ever before. Explore social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Yelp!, blogs, photos, videos, podcasts, bulletin boards, forums and more with a focus on growing brand loyalty, improving customer service, expanding the customer base and driving sales.

Best suited for executives, marketing managers and coordinators, customer service representatives and tasting room managers who want to understand the fundamentals of social media and how to get the most from limited resources. 

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TASTING ROOM SERIES

This Level I Certification Course focuses on in person sales and communication skills and advanced wine tasting and service standards required of all successful tasting room professionals. Successful completion of this course will result in earning WISE Level I Certification as a Tasting Room Professional. The skills learned in this course are foundational to future WISE coursework in Tasting Room Management, WISE #211.

Best suited for current tasting room employees and managers who want to improve their sales and service effectiveness; other winery employees who would benefit by a better understanding of tasting room best practices; also appropriate for those with no industry experience who want to work in a winery tasting room.

This Level II Certification Course focuses on all aspects of tasting room management, including building, training and managing successful teams, retail and merchandising fundamentals, tasting room sales best practices and mastering metrics and the budgeting process. Successful completion of this course will result in earning WISE Level II Certification in Tasting Room Management.

Best suited for current Tasting Room Managers who want to increase their effectiveness; other winery mangers who will benefit by a better understand of tasting room best practices; those who need multiple WISE Level II Certificates to begin their Level III DTC Leadership coursework; also appropriate for those with tasting room work experience as they prepare to advance. (Prerequisite: be a graduate of WISE #111)

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WINE CLUB SERIES

This Level I Certification Course focuses on various aspects of Wine Club administration and operations efficiencies, facility with data management and metrics, overview of shipping compliance and responsible hospitality and many more wine club best practices. Successful completion of this course will result in earning WISE Level I Certification as a Wine Club Professional.

Best suited for current wine club administrators who want to improve their effectiveness or as they prepare to advance; new wine club managers who need a foundation in wine club administration; other winery employees who would benefit by a better understanding of Wine Club best practices; wine retailer professionals; Also appropriate for those with no industry experience who want to work in wine club administration.

Note: Seasoned wine club professionals may be able to test out of this course as a pre-requisite for  WISE #113 Wine Club Professional Course. Click here to test out of #113.

This Level II Certification Course focuses on the effective club design (structure and benefits), member acquisition, sales, communications and retention as well as metrics and budgeting aspects of wine club management. Emphasis is placed on wine club direct to consumer best practices and integration with other DTC functions at the winery. Successful completion of this course will result in earning WISE Level II Certification in Wine Club Management.

Best suited for current Wine Club Managers who want to increase their effectiveness; other winery mangers who will benefit by a better understand of Wine Club best practices; those who need multiple Level II WISE Certificates to begin their Level III DTC Leadership coursework; also appropriate for those with some wine club sales or administration work experience as they prepare to advance into Wine Club Management. (Prerequisite: test out of or be a graduate of WISE #113)

Note: Seasoned wine club professionals may be able to test out of WISE #113 as a pre-requisite for  WISE #213 Wine Club Management Course. Click here to test out of #113.

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PHONE SKILLS SERIES

This Level I Certification Course focuses on phone sales, communication and customer service skills as well as develops confidence in wine knowledge and tasting ability required of all successful inside sales professionals. Successful completion of this course will result in earning WISE Level I Certification as an Inside Sales Professional.

Best suited for any winery or wine retailer employee who talks to customers on the phone; current winery customer service or call center employees who want to improve their effectiveness; other winery employees who would benefit by a better understanding of customer service and inside sales best practices; also appropriate for those with no industry experience who want to work in winery customer service or inside sales.

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WINE EVENTS SERIES

This Level II Certification Course focuses on the core responsibilities of successful events managers, including best practices in event planning, staff management, wine service standards and training, caterer and chef coordination, food and wine pairing, menu planning, event marketing, wine sales, success metrics and event budgeting. Successful completion of this course will result in earning WISE Level II Certification in Events Management.

Best suited for current winery Events Managers (or others who works closely with events) who want to increase their effectiveness; other winery mangers who will benefit by a better understand of events best practices; those who need multiple Level II WISE Certificates to begin their Level III WISE DTC Leadership coursework; also appropriate for caterers focused on wine country events.

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ONLINE MARKETING SERIES

This Level I Certification Course provides a complete foundation for anyone working with the Internet, especially as it relates to the wine industry. This comprehensive course covers everything from Internet fundamentals to effective websites, e-commerce merchandising and e-mail campaigns. It also includes a focus on website analytics and campaign metrics as well as an overview of social media marketing. Successful completion of this course will result in earning WISE Level I Certification as an Online Wine Professional. The skills learned in this course are foundational to future WISE coursework in Online Wine Management, WISE #214.

Best suited for anyone working in the wine industry who wants to become more effective using the Internet; also appropriate for those with an online background that want to enter the wine industry.

Note: Seasoned online professionals may be able to test out of this course as a pre-requisite for  WISE #114 Online Wine Professional Course. Click here to test out of #114.

This Level II Certification Course focuses using the Internet to on move the dial on wine sales and brand awareness. Focus is on best practices for online sales and marketing in the wine industry, including developing a comprehensive digital strategy that leverages the many varied tools available to online marketers. Successful completion of this course will result in earning WISE Level II Certification in Online Wine Management.

Best suited current winery Online or Brand Managers who want to increase their effectiveness; other winery mangers who will benefit by a better understand of online and e-commerce best practices; those who need multiple Level II WISE Certificates to begin their Level III WISE DTC Leadership coursework; also appropriate for those with some online wine experience as they prepare to advance. All students should already have a solid understanding of how the Internet works. (Prerequiste: test out of or be a graduate of WISE #114).

Note: Seasoned online professionals may be able to test out of WISE #114 as a pre-requisite for  WISE #214 Online Wine Management Course. Click here to test out of #114.

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DATA & METRICS SERIES

This Level I Certification Course focuses on fundamental knowledge of data analysis as it applies to DTC in the wine industry including the basics of customer relationship management (CRM) and the various metrics required to run a successful, multi-channel DTC wine organization. Successful completion of this course will result in earning a WISE Level I Certificate as a Data Analyst Professional.

Best suited for anyone who does DTC data analysis as part of their job and wants to improve their effectiveness and expand their DTC expertise; current wine industry DTC staff, managers and executives who want to better analyze and manage their metrics, dashboards and scorecards; other winery employees who would benefit by a better understanding of DTC data and metrics; wine retailer professionals; also appropriate for those with no industry experience who want to work in wine related data management fields.

As part of the WISE Leadership Series, this one day crash course is designed for busy wine industry executives who need to better understand the metrics required to manage the various DTC channels (tasting room, wine club, online, phone sales, direct sales, events, etc.). It is impossible to pan and budget for DTC programs going forward, let alone hold your DTC teams accountable, until you understand what the drivers are of your success and challenges. This course focuses on the DTC dashboards that make this possible.

Best suited for anyone who needs to understand metrics of how to run a successful DTC programs, from winery owners and general managers to DTC managers focused on selling direct to consumer.

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FINANCIAL SERIES

Part of the WISE Leadership Series, this is a one day crash course that demystifies finance and accounting for non-accountants. The financial fluency taught in this course is foundational to all WISE Level II coursework.

Best suited for anyone who needs to understand business financial reports or manage a budget.

Note: WISE #203 is also included as part of the WISE #201 Management Core Course. If you are planning to also take WISE #202 on Leading People, it is more cost effective to do so by taking WISE #201 instead of both #202 and #203

Part of the WISE Leadership Series, this is a one day crash course that focuses on the process effective budgeting for all DTC channels (Tasting Room, Wine Club, Online, Events, etc.) including break-even analysis, return on investment, bottom-up assumptions and gaining team buy-in. The budgeting mastery taught in this course is foundational to all WISE Level III DTC Leadership coursework.

Best suited for winery or wine retail professionals who need to create or oversee at DTC channel budget.

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LEADERSHIP SERIES

Our Management Core Course is designed to raise the bar for wine industry leaders by sharpening their communication and people management skills as well as building their financial acumen. Principles learned in WISE #201 are foundational to all WISE Level II coursework. WISE #201 is a combination of both WISE #202 and #203 course at better pricing. The first two days (#202) focus on people management and the third day (#203) on finance and accounting for non-accountants. WISE #201 is a prerequisite for all Level II Management Certifications.

Best suited for anyone who manages people in the wine industry, especially those with teams focused on consumer direct sales; experienced managers who need a quick refresher on management basics; also appropriate for new managers with limited formal training.

Note: Experienced managers may be able to test out of this course as a pre-requisite for other WISE Level II courses

As part of the WISE Leadership Series is a two day workshop designed to sharpen your skills in people management, including effective leadership and communications, hiring and motivating, building awesome teams and managing to peak performance. Fundamental principles in this course are foundational to most WISE Level II coursework.

Best suited for wine industry managers in charge of managing people and building teams.

Note: WISE #202 is also included as part of the WISE #201 Management Core Course. If you are planning to also take WISE #203 on Demystifying Financials, it is more cost effective to do so by taking WISE #201 instead of both #202 and #203.

Part of the WISE Leadership Series, this is a one day crash course that demystifies finance and accounting for non-accountants. The financial fluency taught in this course is foundational to all WISE Level II coursework.

Best suited for anyone who needs to understand business financial reports or manage a budget.

Note: WISE #203 is also included as part of the WISE #201 Management Core Course. If you are planning to also take WISE #202 on Leading People, it is more cost effective to do so by taking WISE #201 instead of both #202 and #203

Part of the WISE Leadership Series, this is a one day crash course that focuses on the process effective budgeting for all DTC channels (Tasting Room, Wine Club, Online, Events, etc.) including break-even analysis, return on investment, bottom-up assumptions and gaining team buy-in. The budgeting mastery taught in this course is foundational to all WISE Level III DTC Leadership coursework.

Best suited for winery or wine retail professionals who need to create or oversee at DTC channel budget.

As part of the WISE Leadership Series, this one day crash course is designed for busy wine industry executives who need to better understand the metrics required to manage the various DTC channels (tasting room, wine club, online, phone sales, direct sales, events, etc.). It is impossible to pan and budget for DTC programs going forward, let alone hold your DTC teams accountable, until you understand what the drivers are of your success and challenges. This course focuses on the DTC dashboards that make this possible.

Best suited for anyone who needs to understand metrics of how to run a successful DTC programs, from winery owners and general managers to DTC managers focused on selling direct to consumer.

What does it take to lead a fully integrated winery consumer direct program organization? This is the ultimate certificate in DTC leadership for the manager specializing in, or wanting in-depth knowledge of DTC sales. Not only will you learn how to best manage the various "silos" of consumer direct channels, but more importantly you will also learn how to close the white space in between into one fully integrated consumer direct program. This class provides a detailed understanding of what it takes to build a great DTC organization. Advanced take on CRM and best practices by channel (tasting room, club, events, online) are covered along with strategies for integrating systems and making the right resource allocation decisions. Emphasis on the leadership tools required to champion DTC within the organization (e.g. strategic planning, change management) are central to this course. Successful completion will result in earning a WISE Online Wine Management Certificate, Level III.

WISE #301 is best suited for Consumer direct wine industry experts and leaders seeking certification; Those with heavy DTC sales and wine industry management experience preparing to advance to the top winery consumer direct level position; Those who have completed two or more Level II WISE Certification Programs.