Comments on: 5 Easy ways to improve the tasting room experience

By: Bean Fairbanks

Bean Fairbanks — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:08:34 +0000

Great article Eric. I especially appreciate your advice about telling the story behind the wine. I have been thinking about this topic a lot lately. Here are some of my thoughts.
Tasting rooms don’t have to be big splashy affairs. I have had some amazing tasting experiences in true garage wineries like Lantz Cellars and Perennial Vintners and some horrible experiences in some classy joints that will go unnamed.
Training is important but it doesn’t have to be intensive. People working the tasting room should at least know the basics of the wines being poured. Recently was at a tasting room where the staff couldn’t tell potential customers if they were pouring any sweet wines that day. The pourer had never tasted half the wines being poured!
Personnel please sniff, sip and spit before your start pouring, at the very least sniff. No reason to pour obviously cork tainted wine.
When we were in California in August, we had an appointment at St Supery. My friends were shocked and delighted when our name was on the reader board welcoming us. The warm welcome extended through out our visit and was instrumental behind my friends loading the car with FIVE cases of wine from there. Most wineries don’t have a reader board, but a warm and genuine smile, attention to questions and telling the story go a long ways in establishing a profitable relationship with customers.

By: Emily

Emily — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:23:16 +0000

Hi Eric,

Thanks for the insightful article. Jody and I occasionally have brought our two children along to wineries, and have experienced the whole spectrum in that regard — from cold shoulder to warm welcome.

Tablas Creek in Paso Robles is one tasting room that stands out as family-friendly, while still providing an excellent experience to all its visitors. (This likely is due to GM Jason Haas’s position as dad of two small children!) When we were there a few years ago, they had bins full of ice-cold bottled water, and a very non-obtrusive kids’ coloring table with crayons and coloring sheets. We visited on a personal industry-arranged tasting, and ended up joining their wine club because the entire experience was so positive.

I know the idea of kids at wineries can be controversial. We have taught our two that family visits to public places — restaurants, libraries, wineries, wherever! — require a very high standard of behavior. Any uncomfortable feelings we’ve had at wineries we’ve visited with the children have been a direct result of the automatic attitudes of winery staff who see a couple with children approaching. The fix to which, I guess, is an extension of your “don’t judge a book by its cover” suggestion.

By: Eric Hwang

Eric Hwang — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:39:09 +0000

Hi Jaya,
Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. You’re right, training is very important. I wasn’t really dismissing training as unimportant and believe that too few people working in the tasting rooms have received adequate training to work with the public. What I was really referring to was the particular case I used as the example. In his case, all the training in the world wouldn’t have helped. Some people have the temperament to work in customer service, some don’t. I think recognizing who simply shouldn’t have public contact is as important as proper training.
-E

By: Jaya

Jaya — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:56:57 +0000

That was a great article, Eric! While I agree that “…having the right people representing you” is key, I think you hastily dismissed training as unimportant.

I teach customer service and sales in spas. Very parallel to the wine tasting room, as they are both experiential sales environments. Yet many people new to lifestyle retailing, get it wrong. Some people that think being snobby, stiff, and cold is “professional.” Other people think that it’s all about the product (or in spas, just what happens in the treatment room) and don’t put any effort into the overall hospitality.

I say it’s a training problem because few business owners take the time to teach staff about customer psychology. Short on time, budgets, whatever, employers will show people how to work the cash register and bare essentials, but RARE is the employer that truly coaches, mentors, and role-plays.

Experiential sales is like blowing up a balloon. It takes many breaths to blow it up, bright and full. It takes just ONE pop to wreck it.

By: Ed Thralls

Ed Thralls — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:27:37 +0000

Nice job, Eric…

I noticed you thanked Trione and I agree they do a great job. My wife and I stopped by on the last leg of our bicycle trip and they were the nicest folks even as we tip-toed across the floor in our socks (took off shoes w/ clips) and looked (were) a little sweaty… however, their two dogs were a little rowdy that day, which was a little crazy…

Great tips!

By: Robert Dwyer

Robert Dwyer — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:50:11 +0000

Very insightful tips, Eric. The points about dump buckets and non-alcoholic beverages are particularly thoughtful.