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!
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?
Every time a new guest walks into your tasting room, you are on the equivalent of a first date. Think about it.
If there’s one thing that can make or break a tasting room experience, it’s (no, not the wine) the service you receive.
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 …
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.
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.
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.
“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.
When Sunset magazine identified 21 dog-friendly vacations, Cannon Beach, Lincoln City and Portland, OR, all made the list.
Southern Oregon is a little slice of heaven for wine aficionados, regularly earning accolades from esteemed writers at The New York Times, Wine Enthusiast, Sunset and Forbes. And while residents and visitors alike have grown accustomed to the seemingly endless stream of new wineries and tasting rooms opening throughout the Rogue, Applegate and Umpqua valleys, one winery’s tasting room with something new to the region opened in Jacksonville late last year.
