When we were young, one of the first things we asked our parents was ‘Tell me a story.’ After all these years, that hasn’t changed and we all are still entertained by great stories. Harnessing the power of a story to make guests fall in love with your brand is…
We can’t help but be constantly reminded that we aren’t the only winery in our region. We simply cannot get away from each other, but that’s actually a good thing. We don’t go to a mall because they have one good store, we go for the selection of many good…
Picture this for just a moment – our tasting room team is rocking it and the Yelp reviews are glowing. Customer satisfaction, sales, and conversions to wine club and email list are off the charts. Is this our lucky day, just a dream too good to be true, or is…
Magical moments happen all the time during WISE Academy classes. WISE instructors are privileged to hear the hopes and dreams and frustrations of our students. While we hold these specific confidences sacred (what happens in WISE stays in WISE), we encourage everyone to share the general lessons. With that spirit…
By now, most wineries are fully staffed with not only year-round staff but also seasonal ‘temp’ staff. It’s a busy time in the tasting room and there are plenty of moving parts. Each one of our team members – whether permanent or temporary – represents our brand. We want it…
Do you go to the beach and not bring a towel? We’re ready for summer – are you? After thousands of mystery shops, we’ve learned a lot (and are still learning). Based on our findings, we have come up with some best practices for the tasting room that can be…
It’s hiring season in the wine industry and it’s time to get all team members on board and ready for the high season. Ideally every winery wants to have an All-Star team, but how do you hire these superstars? Qualifications You probably have a tasting room associate job description that’s…
Often we are asked about tasting room staff incentives for wineries and best practices for a program. An Incentive Compensation Program (ICP) is a tool used to motivate and compensate a sales professional to meet goals or metrics – over a specific period of time – to help achieve business goals. When…
In one of our recent tasting-room-staff onsite training workshops, a “coaching moment” customer-service issue came up: ‘What do you do with a group of 6 to 8 persons who come to the tasting bar and want to share one tasting between everyone?’ First reaction from even seasoned Tasting Room Professionals…
