Don’t tell. Show. (The power of the leave-behind)

I see many sales reps making the same mistake. Over, and over, and over again.

They present wines without giving the buyer anything to look at, anything to study, anything to take notes on, anything to learn from, or anything to keep.

At the very least, the bare minimum, have a blank sheet of letterhead from your company and write down what you’re tasting and give it to them.

Better yet, print a list in the morning of what you are presenting, and give it to them.

Better than that, print a list of the wines plus the technical info sheets from the wineries and a map of the region.

And if you want to be the leave behind superstar, print articles around the topic of what you’re pouring. Tourism to Portugal is up triple digits. Cool kid wine bars in New York are pouring Zweigelt left and right. The New York Times 36 hours series is a great one to keep an eye on; the moment a wine region is featured use it to help sell your product.

Then if you want to be the superstars of superstars, bring a manila folder with you to package everything into. Your goal is to not have your information join the glacier of paperwork that all buyers build up. Label the folder, tuck the papers into it, and hand it back. Want to get creative? Order a custom rubber stamp that says “Important Wine Information from ______ at _______!” and stamp your folders before you arrive.

Or … just pour the wine and tell them about it, like everybody else does.

This is a good example of how low the bar gets set in our industry. This encourages others to not think big, think different, or redefine the rules. As a superstar sales rep, this is blue sky ahead of you. Take advantage of it, starting today.