You’re not in the wine sales business. Sorry to burst your bubble.
You’re in the asset building business. It’s the only way to survive the future. Here’s why.
Across the nation the wine industry is fragmenting in very interesting ways. As large distributors, retailers, and restaurant groups invade more regions and states, a counterculture is forming. Small niche distributors. Importers of only Croatian wine. Wine shops devoted to only ‘natural’ wines and their ilk. Restaurants buying from only tiny strange distributors.
As a result, hours spent on the streets and in face to face meetings should not be judged directly by the amount of wine you sell. Of course it’s a primary metric, but far from the only one.
For two weeks think instead about building assets. Curating relationships and connections with no immediate objective of the sale or the dollar sign. Focus on the right customers, the up and comers, the people that can really drive some great energy into your world. Build the assets by educating, detailing, analyzing, meeting, talking, helping, and delivering for them with no pitch to buy any wine for two weeks.
By shifting focus to building assets instead of pushing for more sales you achieve two things as a sales rep:
- Your value to the customer goes up.
- Your impact in the industry goes up.
After a couple weeks of building assets for these customers, return to approach them with selling some wine. Then watch what happens!