Ten ways to sell more grapes or wine Paul Wagner, President, BALZAC

1. Ten ways to sell more grapes or wine Paul Wagner, President, BALZAC

2. There are only two ways to increase your profits.  • You can cut you costs • You can increase your revenues. 

3. I CAN’T TELL YOU HOW TO CUT COSTS • BUT I CAN TELL YOU HOW TO GET MORE MONEY FOR YOUR GRAPES, OR SELL YOUR WINE MORE EFFECTIVELY

4. #10. Call your customer • Say hello, ask them about their family, and tell them about yours.  • It's the first step in building a relationship that goes beyond just doing business.   • That's the first step in making the cut. • It’s also a great to augment your sales 

5. Propaganda ends where dialogue begins • Marshall McCluhan

6. #9.  Call your potential customers • Say hello, ask them about their family, and tell them about yours.  • It's the first step in building a relationship that might just pay off if your current customer disappears.  • That keeps your options open if you don't make the cut. • And you need to measure your success.

7. Build relationships • Customers can be bought and sold • Friends are BFF

8. #8.  Put a sign up on your vineyard—a website for your winery • That way people will know who you are.  • And make it look good, not like something you found in a goodwill shop and "repurposed."  • Think of it as a "label" on your grapes • Use QR codes to make the connection

9. Don’t hide it in the garage • The Millennial generation is connected, and they are enthusiastic about wine. • Are you as enthusiastic about reaching out to them?

10. #7.  Create a facebook page about your vineyard • This is just like putting up a sign, • only it's on the internet, where more people can see it. • Interact with your friends. Make them part of your family.

11. You goal is to create a community • Invite people into your home • Meet them and greet them.

12. #6.  Tell your story on your facebook page  • Facts tell. Stories sell • Make your vineyard and wines memorable.

13. Don’t have a story? • Use good marketing strategy • SWOT analysis • Make sure you know what your USP is.

14. #5.  What kind of story? • People don't remember things, • They remember stories about people.  • They care more about the kind of dog you own that the kind of dirt in your vineyard. Or barrels!

15. What is your story? • Does is get people interested? • What is your elevator speech?

16. #4.  Learn how to sell • Running any business, even a vineyard requires three things:  • farming and winemaking expertise, • financial sense, • knowing how to sell your product. • They all matter

17. Selling is a skill that can be learned • Success is not making good wine • Success is making wine and selling it at a good profit. • Selling is part of being successful 

18. #3. Take the time to sell • Every week, spend one hour thinking about how you are going to sell your product for more money. That’s marketing. • Then spend one hour every day doing it. That’s sales.

19. Don’t put it in third place • Your customers are like your vines: they need constant attention • They are like your barrels, they cannot wait.

20. #2.  Don’t just pick one of these to do, pick three or four.  • These aren't hard, but they all make a difference.  • And not all of them will work.  • But some of them will, and you should keep doing them. 

21. There is no silver bullet • Each day, do something that makes a difference. • EVERY day, do something. • Build the wall, one brick at a time.

22. #1.  Have your son or daughter marry a winemaker. Or a distributor • It’s the only way to guarantee a ready market for your grapes and wines!