CLIENT TESTIMONIALS
My experience with the SF Vintners Market has been nothing but positive. As a small winery with no tasting room, I’ve found that this event provides an environment rich with what we all need… the buying public. I was so impressed to see the massive number of tasters of all ages who I was able to give exposure to my wine, my story, and my experience. Being part of SFVM since their first event, I’ve found that the more prepared you are, the more successful you will be. Simply showing up isn’t enough as the room is electrified and can be very fast paced. I sold around $6,000 at the Nov 2010 event thanks to lessons learned and advice from other wineries and the SFVM organizers. The use of Square for credit card processing on my iPhone and iPad has made a tremendous difference in the speed in which I can ring up the customer, run their card, and in good conscience hand over their wine. Create prepackaged gift boxes and offer an event special to get people interested and ensure a fast transaction.
SFVM has made it insanely affordable to attend their event, it’s up to you to close the deal. Just standing there pouring your wines will not make you successful; engage with the consumers.
Don’t wait for the customer to volunteer their information, ask them to register for your email list, ask them to buy your wine! Follow up! I was amazed to see how many people ordered from my post event email marketing. I personally wish that there was a SFVM every month (and in more than just SF)!
~ Jason Moore, http://www.moduswines.com/
The first SF Vintners Market was Pech Merle Winery’s first event ever. We literally obtained our licensing to sell, the day before the event. We were the new kids and excited just to be there in hopes of making our first sale. Having been to many wine tasting events where you are not allowed to purchase, we didn’t know what to expect and hoped that the crowd was there expecting to buy.
No one knew our label, but this venue gave wine drinkers the opportunity to visit “the wine country” all under one roof. The people were there to discover “new” wines and the ones they liked- they bought. It was a great way to introduce Pech Merle’s wines to so many people at once. We were thrilled to see everyone loved the wine and couldn’t have been more happy with the return on our investment.
~ Laree Adair, http://pechmerlewinery.wordpress.com/
As owner of the micro-winery you never heard of, I was a bit freaked about my marketing spends in Year One. So the market was something a bit extravagant to me. I’d been burned throughout the year at other events, seeing my bottles drain and my brand go to the Forgotten File in thousands of brains – because consumers couldn’t purchase. The SF Vintners’ Market allows me to perpetuate positive memories for my peeps, and I hear from them all the time since I took the plunge on the market last fall. One of the consumers who ordered a couple of bottles came back to me with an 18-case order for his Christmas list. Closing a deal on the spot is great for a winery with no tasting room. Seeing that wine get opened the same night is even better. Follow-up orders are the icing on the cake. So, to Bridget and Cornelius, whatever you’ve done to prospect real quality wine buyers, keep it up. Your events are a no-brainer for me. ~ Christian Lane, http://www.simplemathcellars.com/
