WISE Bites
Based on more than 500 mystery shops in the past two years, we know that:
• Only 21% of tasting room professionals are telling a compelling brand story.
• Less than 16% of tasting room professionals are profiling customers’ buying needs.
• Only 17% of staff people are effectively selling wine club memberships.

Your team might be wonderfully entertaining as performers, but if they aren’t selling, are they really succeeding in their role at your winery? The number of tasting room professionals who ask for the sale has increased in the past two years from 2009’s astounding low of 22% to 30% in 2010 and 40% so far this year (as of June 30), but as an industry, we’re still leaving 60% of our sales on the table. It’s time to get that figure to zero.

How much revenue will you lose this week due to lack of sales training?
Source: WISE Academy

Tasting Room Trends
Local items move like express trains
Local products are always best sellers in tasting rooms. That’s because people love to pick up things they can’t get anywhere else. But it’s not just what you are selling that matters, it’s how you are selling and maintaining your merchandise.

Tricks of display that encourage sales
• Make merchandise look abundant.
• Thin stock is a turn-off.
Take away message: How do you feel when you are in a clothing store where it seems like everything is picked over? Chances are good that you are going to walk away.

Do monthly inventory analysis of non-wine items
Classify items into three groups:
• Stars are continuous sellers.
• Middlers are items that sell, but not as swiftly.
• Dogs (no explanation required.)
For Star items, it might be worth raising the price a buck. Dogs should be moved out by discounting in a separate location.

A good display is a speed bump
If your tasting room has a middle island, that’s a good example of a speed bump.
• It does not stop the customers, but slows them down and catches their
attention.
• People tend to walk right by items on the sidewalls.
• Good lighting helps (items in the shadows stay in the shadows).
Source: Wine Business Monthly