Archive for Customer Service

Hire Nice and Teach Wine—Case in Point

Last October, I wrote a blog post called “Hire Nice, and Teach Wine,” and last week, I saw this principle work beautifully in action. In a time when every single guest to your tasting room will either help make or break you, it’s even more important to hire nice, teach wine—AND teach hospitality!

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How to Keep Customers Coming Back: Why Hospitality is Job #1

Do you ever wonder why we spend so much money on getting new customers when retaining customers provides more value to our business? Think about the investment your winery is making in customer acquisition (advertising, PR, social media, email, and direct mail campaigns) vs. customer retention (providing an outstanding customer experience for guests in your tasting room, wine club members, and customers ordering wine online). Which direction are your scales tipping?

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6 Ways to Blow Your First Date

Every time a new guest walks into your tasting room, you are on the equivalent of a first date. Think about it.

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Hire “Nice” and Teach Wine

If there’s one thing that can make or break a tasting room experience, it’s (no, not the wine) the service you receive.

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Held Hostage in the Tasting Room

Seriously. That’s how it felt. Maybe it’s because it was our first stop on what we hoped would be a fairly quick series of tasting room visits. We had five wineries on our list and limited time. This would have to be well-orchestrated. Best-laid plans …

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Overheard in a High-End Restaurant

Are your wines available in restaurants? If so, chances are you specially selected the restaurants because they fit with your wine’s brand—of comparable quality, aesthetics and expense. Some wines are “white tablecloth” wines while others are bistro, pop-up or even food truck wines.

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What Makes the Best Wine Clubs the Best?

By now, you’ve probably joined a wine club … or two … or three … or more! Most of my wine-loving friends are members of multiple clubs, as am I. When we get together over wine, the subject often comes up. “Which wineries are you members of? Why?” While Capiche has been studying trends and surveying current and past wine club members for specific wineries, the good, the bad and the ugly have emerged. We’re going to focus on the good.

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Tips on Tasting Room Merch: Interview with Retail Expert Anne Breck

This month, Capiche’s Chris Cook interviews Anne Breck, former VP for Harry & David’s retail operations and creator of the recently launched Postmark’d Studio.

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Never Show the Back of the House

“For a successful restaurant to flourish, there are many parts that must work together to create a positive experience and end result for the consumer.” The same goes for tasting rooms.

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Have Tasting Rooms Gone to the Dogs?

When Sunset magazine identified 21 dog-friendly vacations, Cannon Beach, Lincoln City and Portland, OR, all made the list.

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