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…

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…

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…

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…