Tag Archives: Wine Sales

DTC Wine Sales Management Series 2015

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DTC Wine Workshops

REGISTRATION IS OPEN for “DTC Wine Sales Management Series 2015″ kicking off January 13th and includes four weekly online workshops on January 20th, January 27th and February 3rd, as well as an e-workbook for managers and a 1.5 hour one-on-one consultation to build a strategic plan for 2015. Space is limited and early bird discount is good through December 15th. REGISTER HERE

Start 2015 the right way and grow your winery’s direct to consumer sales division with a strategic plan. Key takeaways include:

1. Data Analysis instruction to understand who your customers are, how to communicate with each segment and where to target your marketing.
2. Online Store Audit to make immediate improvements that will convert visitors into shoppers and keep them coming back. Identify the ideal shipping plan based on your price points and ship to states.
3. Direct to Consumer Incentives and marketing that WORKS! Case Studies and data will be revealed from 2014 DTC marketing initiatives that will equip your sales and marketing managers with insights needed to grow sales and reach new audiences.
4. Member Retention Touch Points to stay connected in between visits and allow your staff to cater by customer preferences. Lean how to effectively use CRM and Social CRM monitoring and management tools.
5. Strategic Planning tips for managers that can be communicated to internal teams so that everyone is on the same page. Set realistic direct to consumer sales and retention goals to take advantage of this growing sales channel.

What are winery managers saying about DTC Wine Workshops Webinars? Here are a few notes:

“The DTC Webinars are insightful, time-efficient, and effective for me and my boutique winery. Sandra’s presentations reflect both research and practical experience, and she follows up promptly on individual issues. Every seminar I come away with several immediately actionable ideas to improve my customer’s experience.”
Lise Ciolino
Montemaggiore Winery
Healdsburg, CA

“It’s rare when you find a webinar series that is this inspiring. Sandra has put together a clear, informative, and creative series that gives me tons of fun new ideas. Our winery’s marketing and web presence has improved with each month’s presentation. Thanks for all the great ideas and information Sandra!”
Kielly Lewis
Foxen Vineyard
Santa Maria, CA

“Sandra has been incredibly helpful in assisting us define and achieve our Direct to Consumer goals as a young, boutique winery. I look forward to working with Sandra in the future as we continue to grow and further our DTC reach.”
Tricia Record Swartz
Record Family Wines
San Miguel, CA

Congratulations on ending the year strong!

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champagne bottleDTC Wine Workshops and the DTC Consultant Network would like to express our sincere gratitude for your business and support in 2014. It has been an incredible year for us as we have helped wineries sell direct to consumer! According to Wines and Vines, DTC Shipments 12-Month Total Approached $1.8 Billion*. Direct-to-consumer shipments of wine in November grew 21% from November 2013 and barely dipped from their usual annual high point in October. Performance during the 12 months ending in November was 16% higher than a year ago, and nearly reached $1.8 billion.

DTC Wine Workshops served a variety of wineries throughout the nation in 2014 and assisted with implementation of new processes and technologies to increase direct to consumer sales, expand market share and retain loyal club members and long-term customers. Some of the biggest improvements experienced in 2014 include:

1. Mobile POS has replaced traditional POS stations in several tasting rooms. Winery staff have become more equipped to serve club members in special club lounges using iPads to ring up orders, check preferences and order history. Wineries that traditionally struggled with over crowded tasting rooms now service a larger audience on a busy weekend with use of mobile POS allowing for increase in DTC sales and exceptional customer service experiences.

2. Social CRM really took off in 2014. Wine club and tasting room managers have used social monitoring tools such as VinTank and Google alerts to stay on top of online brand mentions. Many of our clients have made social management and monitoring a top priority and the results speak for themselves. By allowing club members and super fans to tell the brand story through pictures, posts, likes and shares, our clients have seen impressive growth in brand reach and significant improvements in customer loyalty. Taking time to say “thank you” online has significantly improved customer service and retention.

3. Shipping incentives boosted online sales in 2014. Our friends at Vin65 are constantly running AB tests against the backend of over 1000 winery e-commerce sites to understand consumer preferences as it relates to online store promotions. Here’s what they revealed: Vin65 wineries in the top 20% of sales only charge about 5% for shipping. Shipping discounts win over product discounts time and time again. Recently, a Vin65 winery A/B tested their product offering on Amazon. One promo was free shipping; the other was 40% off the wines. Shipping outperformed. Then, the winery tried it again; with shipping included, or 60% off the wines. Shipping included outperformed again. Shipping incentives are a no-brainer.

4. Wineries using action emails Won! Across the Vin65 platform, action emails have a 60% open rate. MailChimp records e-commerce industry standards for email open rates at 17%. This is proof that action emails (highly targeted and based on an action) are well received. There’s one catch - you have to capture the email address. One Vin65 customer recently shared that he pays his staff $1 for every email address they capture. He’s figured out that each email address is worth $206 in repeat purchases, pulling his customers back to his online store with action emails. Brilliant.

5. Wineries offering advanced reservations and VIP tasting experiences are building long-term relationships with new customers. The ability to cater to a group visiting for the first time by offering a variety of tasting options online creates an excellent first time impression. Winery staff can better prepare for group visits by customizing the experience and better qualifying the group with advanced reservation tools such as CellarPass and Vino Visit. As mobile shopping and reservation tools continue to advance, consumers expect luxury style experiences when planning their time in wine country. Data collected from reservation management systems can be used to follow-up and invite group members back for a special experience or release party.

LET’S MEET UP IN 2015. We are looking forward to a productive year in 2015 and hope to connect with you at the DTC Wine Symposium January 14th and 15th in Concord, CA. Visit us at exhibitor space #6. Sandra Hess, founder of DTC Wine Workshops is the Workshops Sessions Chair for the Symposium and has a great line up of sessions set. View the schedule at: http://dtcwinesymposium.com/schedule/

Sandra will also will be speaking at the Women of the Vines Global Symposium in Napa on March 13th on “The Do’s and Don’ts of Direct to Consumer & Direct Selling”. Check out the full line up at: http://www.womenofthevine.com/#!speakers/c1pwt

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

DTC Wine Workshops and The DTC Consultant Network

* http://www.winesandvines.com/template.cfm?section=widc&widcDomain=dtc

DTC Consultant Network Intro Webinar #10: DTC Sales, Marketing & Strategy

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Join us for a unique webinar series hosted by members of the DTC Consultant Network. Officially launched on August 27th, the DTC Consultant Network is a full-service consulting group supporting wineries throughout the nation to grow direct to consumer business, retain loyal customers and expand brand awareness.

Whether you want to increase wine club retention, implement a new ecommerce solution to reach a national audience or improve your tasting room experience, our diverse group of consultants can help put you on the road to long-term success. Learn more about the DTC Consultant Network and our members.

In our final episode of 2014, DTC Consultant Network Member, Alicia Kelly Raymond will present best practices around DTC Sales, Marketing and Strategy. For information about the full webinar series, please visit our Eventbrite page.

Alicia Kelly Raymond, DTC Wine Sales Consultant. With more than a decade of experience and dozens of successful projects behind her, Alicia works from experience and with intention, to create world-class brands and effective consumer marketing where sales, profitability, customer acquisition, retention and sustainability are foregone conclusions. “You’re spot on… about the wines and just about everything else. I think, for the first time in my life, I finally understand marketing and have loved watching this turn into a real wine business after almost 30 years.” – John Caldwell, Caldwell Vineyard

Read Alicia’s full bio.


Full webinar schedule:

  • Sales Strategy 9/4 & 10/28
  • E-Commerce & Mobile POS 9/30
  • Member & Customer Retention 9/16 & 10/14
  • Brand Strategy 11/4
  • Email Marketing & Customer Retention 11/11
  • Online & In-Person Marketing 11/18
  • Ecommerce & Mobility 12/2
  • DTC Sales, Marketing & Strategy 12/16
In 2015, we will add episodes on these additional topics:
  • Training Services
  • Goal Management and Dashboards

DTC Wine Sales Management Series

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DTC Wine WorkshopsDTC Wine Workshops presents the “DTC Wine Sales Management Series” ideal for any winery manager responsible for direct sales, customer service, marketing and customer retention activities. The series includes four weekly workshops (each 1.5 hour online session), one e-workbook and a 1.5 hour one-on-one coaching session. Online workshop dates for this series are: January 13th, 20th, 27th and February 3rd.

REGISTER HERE

Start 2015 the right way and grow your winery’s direct to consumer sales division with a strategic plan. Key takeaways include:
1. Data Analysis instruction to understand who your customers are, how to communicate with each segment and where to target your marketing.
2. Online Store Audit to make immediate improvements that will convert visitors into shoppers and keep them coming back. Identify the ideal shipping plan based on your price points and ship to states.
3. Direct to Consumer Incentives and marketing that WORKS! Case Studies and data will be revealed from 2014 DTC marketing initiatives that will equip your sales and marketing managers with insights needed to grow sales and reach new audiences.
4. Member Retention Touch Points to stay connected in between visits and allow your staff to cater by customer preferences. Lean how to effectively use CRM and Social CRM monitoring and management tools.
5. Strategic Planning tips for managers that can be communicated to internal teams so that everyone is on the same page. Set realistic direct to consumer sales and retention goals to take advantage of this growing sales channel.
What are winery managers saying about DTC Wine Workshops Webinars? Here are a few notes:“The DTC Webinars are insightful, time-efficient, and effective for me and my boutique winery. Sandra’s presentations reflect both research and practical experience, and she follows up promptly on individual issues. Every seminar I come away with several immediately actionable ideas to improve my customer’s experience.”
Lise Ciolino
Montemaggiore Winery
Healdsburg, CA“It’s rare when you find a webinar series that is this inspiring. Sandra has put together a clear, informative, and creative series that gives me tons of fun new ideas. Our winery’s marketing and web presence has improved with each month’s presentation. Thanks for all the great ideas and information Sandra!”Kielly Lewis
Foxen Vineyard
Santa Maria, CA“Sandra has been incredibly helpful in assisting us define and achieve our Direct to Consumer goals as a young, boutique winery. I look forward to working with Sandra in the future as we continue to grow and further our DTC reach.”
Tricia Record Swartz
Record Family Wines
San Miguel, CA

DTC Consultant Network Webinar Series - Three Pack

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DTC Wine Workshops

DTC Wine Workshops presents the DTC Consultant Network Intro Series that launched August 27th. Enjoy a three pack of Webinar’s that will help direct to consumer winery managers grow sales, retain customers and expand market share.

Tuesday, November 18, 2104 - Nicholas Karavidas shared his top DTC wine brand strategy tips. Presentation topics include:

  • Fortune Thinking & Romantic Notions
  • Analytics, Demography & Segmentation
  • Target Determination & Asset Alignment
  • Designing to Targets vs. Targeting from Design
  • Options for Portfolio Diversification

Watch the video at:

Tuesday, November 11, 2014 - Mitch Tarr presented best practices around email marketing to effectively communicate and also retain customers. Mitch shares:

  • Background – why email?
  • What’s the value of an email address?
  • Increase the value of your newsletters
  • Avoid this colossal follow-up mistake
  • Use auto responders

Watch the video at:

Tuesday, October 28, 2014 - Christopher Huber shared insights into “DTC Brand Strategy & Savvy Selling.” Selling doesn’t mean being aggressive. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. In this episode Christopher guides us through the following steps:

  • Cultivate MINDFULNESS
  • Connect to Build RAPPORT
  • Seek to UNDERSTAND
  • Present to ENTICE
  • Create the OPPORTUNITY

Watch the video at: