This week I’d like to share a lesson learned this past week from one of our key and most engaging customers: How to prepare their Tasting Room staff for the busy summer season ahead.

Yes, those staff need to be trained to execute a fantastic hospitality experience. Yes, they need to be informed about the wine and price points. They also need to understand, clearly, the value and importance of gathering customer data.

That last item – gathering customer data – hasn’t necessarily been at the top of the list of wineries who are gearing up for the summer season. But it is there now.

Here’s why: Data has never been more important, particularly for creating an “Order to Re-Order” experience for your customers.

What does “Order to Re-Order” mean, exactly?

In an ideal situation, that means an “Order” in the Tasting Room (for an experience, say, or a flight of wines) extends to a “Re-Order” of Wine Club sign up or a Website sale. But even if that doesn’t happen every time, there’s still a lot to be gained when a customer walks through your Tasting Room door.

Why does your Tasting Room staff need to gather customer data?

In a nutshell, the answer is that data is necessary for reaching out to those customers in the future, after they’ve left your Tasting Room floor. Afterwards – after the “Order” of their initial visit, that is – is when the magic of the “Re-Order” happens.

That customer data is absolutely critical to that process.

Here is the minimum kinds of data that wineries can train their Tasting Room staff to collect, and why each of those pieces of data is important:

• First and last name, so that you can personalize your message

• Email address, for email marketing campaigns

• Phone number, for texting and telemarketing campaigns

• Birth date, because Millennials need different messaging and different communication strategies than Boomers

• Zip code, so that you know whether they can pick up from the winery or attend “Locals” events

• Sales associate responsible for the sale, in order to track performance but also to enable them to maintain the relationship

Gathering data isn’t easy, and we’ve posted some tips on how to encourage Tasting Room staff to do it better. But, especially with foot traffic to Tasting Rooms having trended down in Q1 2023, it’s never been more important.

Take the tip from your winery peers, and take the time to train your Tasting Room staff on gathering the data from every customer who walks through the door.

It will pay dividends in the future.

Thank you, as always, for reading –

Cathy