To tip or not to tip…that is the question facing many tasting rooms today. A few years ago, if you had asked us at WISE how we felt, many of our instructors and our leadership would have been against the notion of tipping. We are hospitality – we eat, sleep,…
There is an art and a science to delivering exceptional winery tours, and both are equally important. The science is in the choreography and the content, but the true art is in the presentation and delivery.
We know, in some regions, that traffic control is a real problem. Other areas – like Napa and Sonoma – are often looking for more qualified traffic into our wineries. And of course, when it comes to traffic levels in our tasting rooms, it sometimes seems like it’s either feast…
A lively conversation among WISE instructors was triggered by a recent article about one of the hot trends we’re seeing – the changing interests of visitors to wine county. Although this article targets Napa specifically due to the number of visitors that come to this progressive region, it can be…
We all recognize the value and profitability of calling our wine club members and customers. It is a very personal and powerful touch point that amplifies the ever-important relationship with our customers. What may not be obvious is that a carefully planned and developed outbound calling program can yield profits…
Data is King. Every marketing guru out there is shouting that from the mountain tops. What is a small winery with limited resources to do to understand their data? It all starts with quality and consistency of data capture. Let’s dive into a few best practices that wineries of every…
Name a product and there is a now club for it: razors, socks, meal kits, and on and on. Just about anything can be delivered regularly to our door via a club or subscription plan, which can save time and money. As a result, we’ve become a bit jaded about…
Wine clubs are the lifeblood of our direct-to-consumer program. We can’t let them just run on autopilot if we want to keep our members. Here are 10 tips to consider that will strengthen both our wine club and our relationships with our members for a successful wine club program. Customize…
In the past 5 years, we’ve seen a trend with our mystery shopping and the experiences wineries are providing. It used to be the exception, not the rule, when we would see a host surprise and delight a guest beyond their expectations. In the past, we used the ‘bonus pour’…
We are often hear: “How can I stop checking out on the job halfway through my day?” Or essentially: “How can I keep myself on task and motivated through my work day?” Often times people working in winery tasting rooms begin to experience a bit of burn out and no…