Wine for Regularians

This is not a test. It’s just something for us to exercise, to keep sharp on.

Q1 : How many cases of traditional one-ounce pours does it take to keep a crowd of 3,000 people happy?

A1: About 10.

Q2: If someone says to you, “Could you give me more than just a taste this time?”

A2: First, let’s look at the qualifier ‘this time’. How many more times will it take with this person? As many as it takes to make a new friend. On the second pour, I believe one should take it to three ounces (eyeball it, study the regulated pours at your local watering hole – you’ll get used to seeing the amount). Then, without question, romance this person. You never know. (S)he could be scouting for the next best thing on behalf of a C-Level wine buyer, or… or anything. The possibilities are endless. Get a business card and/or handshake. Make it a reciprocal experience. Again, make a friend. Don’t sweat the “inventory loss” because human interaction is the true commerce to seek.

When you pull up your bootstraps and hit the road as a wine rep (meaning for your own wines, mainly), don’t be too concerned about giving wine away for free. Yes, there will be people at these events who take advantage of the situation and simply drink. Yet there’s something unique about where they went to drink, yes? And if you’re savvy (you’re in the wine biz, so you ARE sporting a certain finesse anyway), you’ll see this freebie-seeking lookie-loo lush from a mile away, knowing that IDs were indeed checked but that chronological age doesn’t necessarily mean everything you want it to mean at this moment. Take the good with the not-immediately-obviously-good. You’re marketing.

There are often two perceived choices to make when in this situation:  1) Roll over and take it like a victim, thinking of the whole affair as nothing more than schlepping 38 pounds all over Kingdom Come and pandering to the masses whilst your profits are thrown to the swine, or… 2) Make friends. Brand. Deal with it. Spread good vibes. Make friends. Make memories for people who just might be your next ten-year wine club member. Brand. Tell the story. It’s the story that wins the day.

My philosophy – remember the SAT?

If you can get rid of this analogy ————  customer: transaction

and replace it with this ———————–   client: relationship

You may find that just because you don’t see a credit card in that moment, you’re bound to be “burdened” with entering ten orders the next week, so long as you’ve left everyone with a positive impression. Don’t forget to BRAND because that’s the world we live in. Those of you with children, you get it when you consider what television can do to stultify, stupefy, STUPIDICATE a toddler left in front of it all day long for years on end. Many kids can identify products and sing jingles long before they even know how to spend money. It’s the world in which we live. Attention spans are but a glimmer, for now, so if you want to sell wine – sell yourself first.

And they said there wasn’t going to be a math test today. They were right – this is just an exercise.