Every Monday I toss out a challenge to derail readers from the norm and get their heads into a different mindset. This week: find a Q4 mindset in Q1. The first quarter of the year is always so fascinating in the wine business. Sales people relax and get back into their routines. Buyers are off Read More…
Month: January 2017
Company culture and long term employees
The idea of culture building gets bantered about far too much in many corporations, and ironically the ones that talk about it the most are often the ones that have a cultural problem on their hands. Culture is built through actions, not mission statements (see the 9 worst of all time), and thus by definition it starts with Read More…
Large and known vs. Small and unknown
Large wineries have brand presence, resources, marketing departments, sales forces, trend reporting and analysis, marketing materials, and larger overall goals. Small wineries lack brand presence, lack resources, often have no marketing department, maybe a sales force of one (and often the owner/winemaker), no trend reporting or analysis, no marketing materials, and smaller overall goals. When Read More…
Monday Challenge: Listen to yourself
Every Monday I throw out a challenge, something to keep in mind for the week. This week’s challenge was going to be called “Don’t say anything stupid.” Then the title changed to “#AlternateReality.” In the end I decided to stick with something more simple: Listen to yourself. After an amazing weekend of strange communication with Read More…
Four tips for a perfect wine staff training
A staff training, getting in front of the people that will actually enact and conduct the transaction that leads to larger sales of your product, is an incredible opportunity. It’s an opportunity to instill confidence and excitement, and also an opportunity to screw up royally. Here are four tips for a perfect staff training. Announce Read More…
Find the customers that embrace the New and Unknown
If you do what you did yesterday, you’re doing okay, right? If you buy the brands you have found and like, and they do their job, you’re okay, right? Most people are satisfied with most things, and this applies to wine. Most people buy what they know and are comfortable with. Most people want things Read More…
We are all salespeople
Servers at restaurants are salespeople. Hosts who answer phones and take reservations and greet customers and say goodnight to them are salespeople. Bartenders are salespeople. Retailers that put wine the hands of a customer and earn their trust are salespeople. The ones that ring up the order at a wine shop are salespeople. The delivery crew at Read More…
The lay up challenge: Slow down to speed up
My workout routine is quick. I’m not a patient person and I don’t believe somebody has to sweat for a full hour to get benefits from exercise, as long as you do the right things and do them consistently (15-20 times per month). So from the time I walk in the door of my health Read More…
Monday challenge: Do your performance review for the whole year, now
Every Monday I throw down a little challenge for readers, something to knock people off the daily predictable grind. This week: write your 2017 performance review, but do it today, 50 weeks before the end of the year. This exercise will take all of ten minutes if you’re a fast typer, maybe 20 minutes if Read More…
Success, and the people around you
Congratulations, you are a successful restaurant owner/operator (or artist, or musician, or sales rep, or wine retailer)! You watch your P&L statements like a hawk. You pay your employees fairly and on time. Your vendors appreciate their relationship with you for the same reason. You open multiple locations, each building more success for the other. Read More…
The Newbie Mindset
The new sales rep, with zero wine sales rep experiences, that crushes her numbers right out of the gate. And she’s one of the most charming and charismatic people you’ve ever met. The new retail wine consultant, with little prior wine experience and no sales experience, who suddenly brings in dozens of new customers as Read More…
… but if you do work for a gigantic wine wholesaler
Yesterday I wrote about the problems with large, commodity, goofy, and quotas. If you haven’t read that article, please check it out, for it puts this one in context. I bumped into four people that read yesterday’s post. Two of them worked for very small distributors and basically gave me a high five. “Thanks for telling Read More…
The problem with large, commodity, goofy, and quotas
Large wine wholesalers amble about, seem to pitch products with a slight sense of entitlement, have layers upon layers of management and division leaders, and change up sales reps and territories all the time. Commodity wine brands are created, not grown, and are perfected in their naming, branding, and marketing to hit the most profitable slice Read More…
Problem identification, Problem solving, and the first step
I like to tell wine sales reps that they are not salespeople. They are problem solvers. When I say that to a group, I notice people sit up straighter and have a curious look in their eye. It’s really just another direction to look at the job from, and it’s a crystal clear way to Read More…
Monday Challenge: 1.92%
Good day and welcome to another great week! Every Monday I throw out a challenge, a wee bit of a push to get you on the right track, and occasionally a nudge to knock you off the track and see things from a different angle. This week: 1.92%. What does this mean? What is this Read More…
The Reactive Rut
I had a great conversation last night with a local wine retailer. Her shop is small, based on convenience for the neighborhood, and with more and more competition moving in she’s having a hard time standing out and growing her business. The backbone of her business is reacting to the needs of her customers on Read More…
B2B vs. B2C vs. Reality
I met with two energetic heads of a wine distributor yesterday, people that love catchphrases and acronyms and buzzwords. I imagine they have the Harvard Business Review podcast playing while they sleep so they can absorb all the jargon of the moment. Some of the jargon of the moment is the whole “B2B” and “B2C” conversation. The idea Read More…
A good day to ask (the right) questions
Happy New Year! Every Monday I throw out a challenge to the readers, something to push you a bit into an uncomfortable place (that place where growth occurs). This week: A good day to ask (the right) questions. I suggest you print this page and handwrite your answers. How are you going to look back Read More…