The Importance of First Impressions in your Cellar Door
Imagine your cellar door as a restaurant. Just as regular guests return time and again to their favourite spot, visitors to your winery have the potential to become regular, loyal customers. These repeat guests are invaluable, often thinking of your brand first when they're celebrating special occasions or simply seeking a familiar and reliable experience.
Is your cellar door currently the front door to your wine brand? As welcoming hosts make people feel at home, skilled cellar door staff have the power to curate the perfect experience for guests, moving them along the journey towards brand loyalty.
More than just pouring wine?
Cellar door staff play a crucial role in showcasing your brand and driving sales. They need to be knowledgeable about your wines, attentive to customer needs, and able to upsell and cross-sell effectively.
Product Knowledge: A deep understanding of, not only your wines, but a general understanding of wine across the world; including characteristics, tasting notes, and food pairings.
Customer Service: The ability to engage with customers on their level, whether they're wine novices or connoisseurs.
Salesmanship: The skill to upsell and cross-sell without being overly pushy.
Brand Representation: A strong understanding of your winery's values and mission.
Can your Cellar Door staff read your customers?
Cellar door staff must be adept at reading their customers' cues and adapting their approach accordingly. This involves paying attention to nonverbal signals, such as body language and facial expressions, as well as verbal cues, such as tone of voice and questions asked.
By understanding their customers' preferences and knowledge level, cellar door staff can provide a more personalised and enjoyable experience, increasing the likelihood of repeat business and positive word-of-mouth.
Cellar door staff must be skilled at adapting their service to match both the variable margin associated with each customer and their individual preferences. This requires a combination of product knowledge, salesmanship, and customer insight.
Are you maximising revenue at your Cellar Door?
Your cellar door staff should be able to identify the potential value in each customer, recognising that while the minimum spend might be low, there's always the possibility of a higher margin sale.
By understanding the art of upselling and cross-selling, your servers can maximise revenue and contribute to the overall success of your winery.
What areas of training do your Cellar Door staff require?
The amount of training invested in cellar door staff can vary significantly between wineries. However, ongoing training is essential to ensure that staff members are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to deliver exceptional customer service.
Here are some common training initiatives:
Wine Education: Regular wine tastings, seminars, and certifications to keep staff up-to-date on the latest trends and developments in the wine industry.
Customer Service Workshops: Role-playing exercises, feedback sessions, and training on communication and conflict resolution skills.
Sales Training: Techniques for effective upselling and cross-selling, as well as strategies for handling objections and closing deals.
Brand Awareness: Workshops on the winery's history, philosophy, and unique selling points to ensure staff can effectively communicate the brand's message to customers.
By investing in training, wineries can empower their cellar door staff to provide a superior customer experience, drive sales, and build brand loyalty.
Do Cellar Door staff really matter?
In short, yes, cellar door staff do matter! They're the face of your winery, and their performance can directly impact your brand reputation and sales. By investing in their training and development, you can create a memorable and positive experience for your visitors which creates brand loyalty.
Tania supports your management team in developing and delivering, regular staff product knowledge training.
Need help training your cellar door staff?
