How Can Wineries Improve Their Customer Experience?

Wineries have quickly grown in popularity over recent years, so it is wise for businesses to know their options to fulfill their customers' experience. Wine tasting is a great way to draw in customers as it is a fun activity to do with friends and family and can be used to showcase your product. Here are some other methods to improve your customer's experience that will also lead to more sales.

Knowledgeable Personnel

Allow your customers to get the most out of their experience by training your staff to be knowledgeable on questions customers may have. Going beyond the general knowledge of wine is helpful and having a wine background is ideal to be even more informative. However, it is imperative that they have enough information to guide a wine tasting and answer questions about the taste and what foods or events each wine is a good fit for.

Enforce a Maximum

You will want to do what you can to prevent overcrowding (which may need more attention on weekends during the late fall and summer) so that everyone can be provided with quality service. Over-crowded areas are a hassle for everyone and can put a big damper on the overall experience. Some ways to handle crowd control are:

• A “No Vacancy” sign, putting a cap on the tasting rooms, and offering other incentives.
• Incorporating more VIP components in the tasting rooms, such as special “reserve rooms” where more expensive wine is sampled for a larger entrance fee.
• Providing plenty of outdoor seating or offering a snack space to enjoy other goods while waiting.

Simple Pricing

It is perfectly acceptable to charge for extensive wine tasting sessions of various flavors and vintages from a list, collection, or simply as a fun activity. The key to pricing tastings is to make it simple. Consider creating price tiers for certain types of wine or how many wines were tasted. This will help guide them when deciding what to taste. These lists can feature basics, highlight new wines, or stick to a fun theme.

The Power of Personable

Nowadays, consumers tend to lean towards local products and the feeling of mom-and-pop shops. Consider sticking to a down-home vibe with personal marketing components. Inform customers that your wine was made straight from the vineyard they saw on their way over or that local farms had a hand in making your product. Highlight those aspects that are both on-trend and also what makes your wine unique. Your customers will relate to local products more than the numbers or scores that a wine ranks. Impressive numbers can still be displayed, but the focus should be on building a rapport with potential customers.

Offer Exclusives

You may be selling products at a local grocery or liquor store, which can help spread brand awareness, but it is helpful to still offer special winery-only wines. This will be a huge selling point for your walk-in customers. People are naturally more enticed by something in limited quantities that may be difficult to get anywhere else. Have a menu of winery-only wines in the wine tasting room, so your customers feel special and are more inclined to try and then hopefully purchase a bottle or two.

Ask Questions

Why not learn what your customers like and would like to see by simply asking them? The location of your winery will significantly impact the type of customers, such as tourists vs. a small-town crowd. Ask your customers their thoughts on the wine, winery, what they would like to see more of and what they liked best. Consider using questionnaires as part of the tasting experience. Getting feedback is key to improving your customer experience. It will also allow you to get to your customers better so that you can cater your products and services to them. This will significantly improve customer loyalty.

About David G. Sayles Insurance Services

At David G. Sayles Insurance Services, we help our clients decide which of these options is best for them based on their current situation and risk factors.  Contact us at 1-855-977-1842 or insureme@dsayles.mysites.io for a consultation!