Direct Marketing for Hire?
Posted by Dan Chapin on October 9th, 2007In a recent conversation with one of our small, boutique winery clients, some interesting information came to light. When they analyzed their Sales across all channels, the sales through traditional wholesale channels represented nearly 70% of their sales volume, but only 40% of their revenue. On the flipside, their Direct Sales represented roughly 30% of their sales volume, but nearly 60% of their revenue. Upon further exploration, their wine club and online sales represented over 60% of their Direct Sales…which begs the question, ‘Why do I employ the least amount of resources to this channel?’
This simple analysis is not complex by any means, but points to a problem that we find more and more with our winery partners. It seems these days that everyone is excited to exploit the DTC channel opportunities, but they do not invest enough to make it happen. A successful DTC program cannot be implemented without 3 simple things…
- Mind share for DIRECT TO CONSUMER that starts at the top (CEO, owner, etc.)
- Dedicated person/team to the Direct Sales Channel (Wine Club and Ecommerce)
- Common goals across all departments incentivizing employees to drive customers to the winery website
So often we find that the various channels within a winery compete against each other rather than drive toward one common goal -> driving Sales. By funneling all Direct Sales through one person/team, they can share the same goal for building sales and making sure that everyone works in the same direction. Next steps…hang up the FOR HIRE sign in your front window and add someone to your team to manage the most profitable area f your business.
