Choose carefully

Think about this: if you see an account for a good sales meeting 30 times a year, and you show them four wines at each meeting, you show them 120 wines in a year. And if you have 2000 wines in your portfolio, it will take you 16.7 years to show all of them, without Read More…

Calm waters and making waves

Swimming in the calm waters is easy. It’s fun. It’s what everyone wants to do. Swimming in the waves is harder, it’s challenging. It’s demanding. It’s not what everyone seeks out. It takes a special type of person to seek out the waves. And then there are the wave creators. The ones that make the Read More…

Say thanks, now

We are on the cusp of the holiday seasons. Within the next ten weeks the stores will be packed with Halloween displays, followed closely by Christmas chaos. Our homes transform from bats and ghouls, to turkeys and leaves, to trees and lights. As we enter the holiday season, cards arrive in the mail and we Read More…

Free is never free

Freebies abound in the liquor industry. Look at the umbrellas on the patios, the credit card embossed checkout books, the logos on the beer mugs. And behind the scenes, free cases are delivered to retailers. Free menu printing, or covering the costs for someone else to do it, is a regular offer for restaurants. And Read More…

Speak three months ahead

This isn’t a sales trick, hack, or tool. It’s just a good habit for a wine sales rep to get into. Talk three months ahead. Not all the time, but at least once during every sales call with a customer. In September: “Let’s start mapping out December’s features for the holiday season.” In November: “I’m Read More…

A simple question to ask

“Is what I’m doing today improving my life?” Be it personal (physical health, mental health, personal finances, relationships), or work (solving problems, having control over your day, saying yes when you need to and saying no when necessary), this is the simple question to ask. Have you written down what you plan to do today? Read More…