I became a big fan of a winery, not going to mention their name, but after several years of visiting the tasting room and posting their wine tasting notes on Inatagram I received a package in the mail with two free bottles of wine and a hat. Now they get it!! But they are a small winery and probably do not have as large a customer base to keep track of as others.
Hey Michael,
Curious to know (if you can share) what percentage of sales is from Wine club members vs retail vs restaurants, etc. Do you have any insight into how much effort and resources the winery is investing in the growth of the wine club?
Has membership increased or decreased during the Pandemic (last 9 months)?
In general terms wine club buys way more wine than anyone else and the club continues to grow. We add at least 10 -20 members a month. Retail to non members through the tasting room is second, wholesale is a distant third and restaurants are last.
Most new club members are signed up after a tasting. Tasting room employees are offered a token bonus for signing up a new club member. Getting a new member is almost more a matter of pride among tasting room employees.
We offer incentives to members: best discount, free tastings or glasses of wine every time they stop in, logo glasses and flat rate shipping.
Shouldn’t you both be noting that you’re ITB in your signatures? I know there’s no ‘formal rule’ but it seems that most who work in the biz tend to do so . . .
I used to be in the industry a couple of years ago, but not at a winery. Understanding lead gen, retention of users, marketing to them, etc is not specific to winery operations.
Any business should have a good understanding of their customers, investment in operations, and ROI on their marketing spend.