Why Great Brand Storytelling Is the Most Underrated Sales Skill in the Tasting Room Walk into almost any tasting room and you’ll hear a familiar introduction: “This is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. It spent 18 months in French oak. The fruit comes from three estate vineyards, harvested by…
One of the biggest mistakes we see wineries make isn’t during a wine tasting experience at the winery. It’s what happens after the tasting. A guest visits, they enjoy the experience, perhaps they buy a few bottles, but they aren’t quite ready to join the wine club. Then they leave…and…
Not Pushy. Just Helpful: Reframing the Wine Club Conversation There’s a quiet shift happening in tasting rooms right now, and it’s costing wineries more than they realize. A guest walks in. The experience is warm, engaging, and thoughtful. The wines are poured with care. There’s connection, conversation, even enthusiasm. And…
Train Like It’s the Championship Season (Because It Is) When the Super Bowl and Olympics approach, we celebrate the performance we see on the field. What we don’t see is the year-round conditioning, repetition, and skill-building that made that performance possible. Winning teams don’t train only when the lights are…
Beyond Discounts: How Loyalty Points Drive Customer Retention for Wineries For years, discounting has been the default lever wineries pull to spark sales and reward loyal customers. But in today’s crowded marketplace, deep discounts can erode brand value and condition customers to buy only when the price drops. There’s a…
Perspective is Everything: Are You Waiting or Winning? There are two ways to look at today’s tasting room traffic rollercoaster: You can dwell on empty seats, tight budgets, and yesterday’s numbers—or you can embrace uncertainty as the spark that ignites innovation, focus, and results. At WISE, we believe this is…
The reports are in, and traffic is down year on year (to date) in many regions. While all are hopeful it will return to at least 2019 levels, several WISE wineries are focusing on driving revenue beyond the tasting room. Here are three ways to drive revenue even when traffic…
OND – these three letters have a BIG impact for wine industry professionals. October, November, December – the three busiest months of the year. The pursuit of annual sales targets, orchestration of corporate gifting initiatives, and the crafting of captivating events and strategic marketing endeavors to harness the holiday sales…
It’s always important to make the most of every single guest walking through our tasting room door. While most wineries are hiring friendly staff with strong service hearts, sales skills continue to be an area of opportunity for our industry. Many people worry that selling wine is too pushy,…