It’s about the people, not the wine

A wine wholesaler that has an abundance of supply (an incredible portfolio, amazing brands, and a warehouse full of inventory) does not get a free pass into every account they want to be in.

And conversely, a wine wholesaler that has a lack of supply (a few wines in the portfolio, obscure never-before-heard-of brands, and a garage with one pallet of product) does not exclude themselves from the possibility of selling to any particular account they want to.

Nobody gets the privilege, the honor, the genuine gift of the transaction of selling, automatically. And nobody is excluded from the list or the club automatically.

What I’m saying is this: often what you are selling is not the wine. It’s yourself. 

Think about that the next time you 1) imagine you can demand business simply based on your inventory (“You’re a French restaurant and we have the most French wine so you should buy from us!”), or 2) believe that cracking into the platinum level accounts is impossible (“We are small, we are new, but we have passion and would love to meet and talk.”)

It’s all about the people. It’s not actually about the wine.