Name a product and there is now a club for it: razors, socks, meal kits and on and on. Just about anything can be delivered regularly via a club or subscription plan. As a result, winery staff may have become a bit jaded about selling wine club memberships. There can be push back from tasting room hosts who complain that no one is joining wine clubs anymore, or that everyone is pitching at every winery, and guests are tired of hearing about it.

WISE's current mystery-shopping reports reveal wine clubs are being presented less than 40% of the time. That means that 60% of the time visitors aren't being effectively presented the wine club and invited to join, likely because tasting room staff members convince themselves that people don't want to join another wine club. But one must remember the Platinum Rule - to treat customers the way they want to be treated. It's all about your guests and their preferences.

Pacing, not pouncing
If done correctly, selling wine clubs should not be a hustle. The people who are most successful at selling wine clubs have mastered the art of hanging with the sale. They focus on showing the customer what's in it for them by explaining features and benefits throughout the guests' experience. It's all about pacing instead of pouncing: Invite your customer to join after explaining what's in it for them and weave those benefits into the conversation and not just at the end of the experience.

What's in it for the customer?
Bring up one club benefit, exclusivity - receive wines not available anywhere else - then let it go. Serve others or ask open-ended questions to learn the customers' preferences.

Then describe another club benefit - it might be the next club event or invitations to other private, special events - then let it go.
Later, bring up another club benefit - savings - then let it go.

How about free tasting? For a party of four, if one of you becomes a wine club member, your first savings will be $XX (the cost of a tasting for four).

What's in it for the staff?
When they sell a club membership, there's typically a bonus, right? And it's an emotional high to help the customer treat him or herself to great wine on a recurring basis. Also, club members tend to buy much more than non-club buyers, and some love nothing better than to help sell memberships to others.

So, let's get out of our own heads (and wallets) and remember that we have something our customers want - our wine clubs!

WISE Academy (Wine Industry Sales Education) offers a comprehensive curriculum designed specifically
for wine industry professionals, and is celebrating
its 10th year in 2018. Learn more at wineindustrysaleseducation.com.