REthink Wine Blog

Last week I got this call from a younger relative expressing all their plans for the summer. It quickly brought back that feeling we have all experienced. You remember how you felt when you walked out the door after taking that last test of the year. That first breathe of fresh air after 9 long months of schedules, tests, long days and sometimes long nights. I then quickly realized that I will not have that feeling again for at least another 30 years! Now I’m not here to be a Debbie downer but the true take away is the understanding of what TIME means to us. TIME is the currency that can’t be earned, it can’t be given back, it’s all in how you use the TIME that you have been given. So instead of saying that I will give you back the time used to read this blog, I will hopefully provide you a couple quick tips to help you Re-prioritize your time so that you will have a better return in the time you do spend at your job. (These tips are meant specifically for wineries)

Customer Appreciation
During slow times in the tasting room, call your top customers and thank them for their loyalty to your brand

Communication
Instead of being over-whelmed with sending a mailer, send a email to a specific audience providing them a specific incentive to purchase

Support your key supporters
Keep track of your top customers and keep them on the list to call when certain “limited” wines come up. Instead of taking the time to move it through your tasting room, simply make a couple calls to your key customers. This will not only sell through the wine but also bring those customers closer to your inner circle.

Don’t recreate the wheel
Instead of racking your brain to come up with new ideas in your office, take a day to visit other wineries. Enjoy the day, keep your eyes open and you will not only be refreshed but I guarantee you will walk away with ideas to build upon.

Support your staff
Don’t get so caught up in the busyness that you forget to make the time enjoyable for your staff. This will make everyone enjoy the time they are working. Once you get them to enjoy their time, their time will be more productive.

Listen
Take time to listen to your customers and staff before trying to change your customer experience, tasting room tours, wine club, or events. This will not only increase the efficiency of the transition but will keep you from having to go back to the drawing boards.

Although most of us will not have our summers back for a while, we should make the most of the time we do have so that we can more efficiently do our jobs. Always remember that the goal is to work so that we can live, not live so that we can work.
Enjoy the day!

This entry was posted by Michael Coffey on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 at 3:00 pm and is filed under Email Marketing, Customer Relationship Management (CRM). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.