In just a matter of weeks, the nature of the wine business in the US—and the world in general—has drastically changed. Restaurants and bars have been shut down, wineries have closed their tasting rooms, and wine retailers have had to rethink the way they do business. Some have closed altogether, at least for now.
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?
Most tasting rooms experience downtime during which there are no guests. That leaves you with three options: 1) let the staff sit and wait, 2) send staff home, or 3) have them perform other strategic tasks. I’ll bet you can imagine what Capiche recommends!
Most tasting rooms experience downtime during which there are no guests. That leaves you with three options: let the staff sit and wait, send staff home, or have them perform other strategic tasks. I’ll bet you can imagine what Capiche recommends!
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 …
Last month we were in Portland for the Third Annual Oregon Tempranillo Celebration. We drove up a day early and managed to visit six tasting rooms along the way. Oh, the things we were told (by the tasting room staff)! Oh, the things we observed!
If you run a tasting room, you need to know about some positive changes related to music. Wine America, a public policy and legislative advocacy organization, has negotiated with ASCAP for new and less expensive winery music licenses.
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.
As winery tasting rooms shift into high gear this summer, it’s vital for winery owners to consider how to grow their business while keeping employee safety a priority and staying legally compliant with state and federal regulations.
Think about all the places you go and hear music. The grocery store, elevators, waiting rooms, restaurants, the gym, sports stadiums, funeral homes, bowling alleys, coffee houses, winery tasting rooms. The list goes on. In the US, billions of copyrighted songs are played at most businesses every year.
Now’s the time to plan for the new normal when we’re back in business. Things are different now and will be different then. Expectations are different. And your modus operandi had better be different if you want to retain, recapture, and attract customers.
