Dear Supplier,

Why hello there! It’s great to see you again, and I see you’re now working with a large distributor since leaving our company back in May. I’m happy to see someone working with your wines. Quite honestly, I really haven’t missed your brand as they were always priced much too high for their performance with very little discounting with which to gain any traction. I remember our workwith last November with… well… I wouldn’t say fondness, but I regard it with a certain nostalgia. Buyers didn’t want to see us because it was the week before Thanksgiving, but you have family here in my neck of the woods, so hey… might as well get the trip written off. If I remember correctly, we sold 1 case of wine all day but the warehouse was temporarily out of stock of the SKU and we couldn’t get it to them before the December 1st list reprint, so the order was eventually canceled… but I almost enjoyed driving you around all day just so I could subject you to the barrage of rude remarks from those very accommodating buyers that I had to beg appointments from. I see you’re using a similar tactic this year.

What’s that you say? You are having an incredibly successful day with your new sales rep? Well that’s interesting and maybe a little surprising but… oh… Looks like our buyer is ready for you two. I’ll be over here, quietly listening to your presentation while inputting my orders…

Oh here we go, this all sounds familiar… but… Wait a minute… that’s the same wine we showed last year… What the… ? OH! A library release. Yes of course. I see now. Oh, and at almost half of our original NET price? AND it discounts from there?

Yes, of course your day has been successful.

Remember last year when we were driving between accounts? And I was relaying to you some of the stumbling blocks I was finding with your wines in my territory? I believe I said something to the effect of, “People like the wines, the packaging is nice too, but I think they’re just a little bit too pricey. If they were just under the $200 mark, I could move them. Or if there was some sort of by the glass pricing or quantity discount…”

I recall your response: “There’s not enough wine to merit the discounting. This is a small premium brand, not meant for discounting or glass pours. We’re staying firm with our NET pricing.” But clearly the wine wasn’t selling. It must have been the fault of my company and all of our ineffectual sales representatives. It couldn’t have been the pricing.

And lookie here… our Dear Winebuyer is ordering 3 cases to pour by the glass at your now appropriate $176/case price…

Of course he is.

Best,

Wine Rep

“I’m sorry, I don’t have time to taste today.”

Oh, that’s too bad… I have (insert hipster/culty/somm’s current wetdream wine here) open…

“Oh, I have time to taste that…”

sigh.

A few of my recent faves from my winebuyers:

Me: “I noticed my Grüner Veltliner has fallen off the list… it did really well for you and I know you really liked it… What happened?”

WB: “We got a Grüner from California now, so we don’t need an Austrian one.”

Yes, that makes sense. Because customers hate options… 

WB: “But I already have a riesling” (emphasis is my own)

He points to the Dr. L on the list …as I pour a Pradikat level vineyard designate Riesling. Well done, Winebuyer. Saving your patrons from options once again. 

Same Winebuyer as above as I pour a glassable NZ Sauv Blanc: “Hmm… I like it, and it’s the right price point… but haven’t I seen that wine at Trader Joe’s?”

Yes. Yes, you have. Right next to your precious Dr. L…

At a farm-to-table restaurant that puts strong emphasis on the quality of their food sources:

“I really liked the Pinot Grigio I was getting from you, but it was just a little too expensive for by the glass. The new one I brought in isn’t nearly as good, but the kind of people ordering Pinot Grigio aren’t really concerned with the quality of the wine.”

Hmm… Those same people who care so much about the quality of your food? 

In a retail establishment: 

“I like that Pinot, but I’ve already got this other one that flies off the shelf! I can’t explain it… it walks itself out the door!” Customer walks in, says he’s looking for a good Pinot Noir… WB hands him the wine… “This is our best selling Pinot Noir. I can’t keep it in stock. You should buy a case of it!”

image source: http://www.jacksonvillewineguide.com/

I have a lot to say about this, but not enough time to say it.

Luckily, my girl Talia did the topic justice over at Eater.

Sunday fun day. This makes me thirsty. And I rep a few of these…

A special request from the REPublic today…

I don’t have a letter to submit necessarily but I’d love to see a post about what tools or technology other reps might use to help them organize their workload, schedule and requests. I’ve been seeking an iphone app that would remind me to follow up on specific accounts on specific wines. It be great to have something other than Excel to use to reference what days of the week the buyers are available for tasting and further notes such as their stipulations for drop-ins or not.

Cheers, 

Danielle

———————————————————————————————–

So let’s discuss…

I love this stuff. I’m such a geek about my organizational tools, and I usually go through a different system about every 6 months… but I finally found one that struck a cord for me and I’ve been using it for a little over a year now.

Personally, I use an app on my iPad called Awesome Note. I’ve tried several other data management and CRM systems, but this one works best for me…
It’s available for the iPhone as well, although I can’t vouch for that platform as I haven’t tried it on my phone. I’m not a huge fan of all of the colors… the interface could be a little bit cleaner in my opinion, but one could argue that the colors can be useful for organization/delineation. I create a folder for each of my accounts and I have them alphabetically organized. In each folder, I have a note with the buyer’s name and what his preferences are for tasting times, drop-in vs appointment, etc. Then I keep a note to list what I’ve poured and when with reactions/reminders, and I create a new dated note for each order, which I can email to my company directly from the App. I keep a top listed to-do list with time-sensitive requests for tech sheets, samples, shelf-talkers or follow-ups that might otherwise get lost within the folders. I can set alarms for to-do items or appointments. It syncs with my Google Docs so I have access to the data from my laptop… and it also syncs to Evernote, which I don’t use very often.

My hope is that soon they’ll be using the Cloud or whatever so I can open the app on either my phone or my iPad and the data will be completely and effortlessly synced. That’s really my only complaint about Awesome Note… besides my aforementioned aversion to brightly colored folders.

So now I put it out to the REPublic, all the other sales reps out there…

What tech tricks do you use? Please share in the comments below and help our friend Danielle out!

Dear Winebuyer,

I’m so appreciative of the placements I’ve been given at your establishment. I know you’re a very small account, but also one of the newest, hippest spots in my territory and all of the reps are clamoring for a piece of the action. And although I don’t have the lion’s share of the list, I’m pleased with my slice of the pie thus far.

We’ve been going along at a pretty good clip for the past 6 months or so since you opened, and now suddenly you’re asking me to drop off full sample bottles of my wines you pour by the glass with which to train your staff.

And here’s where I give pause.

You pour these wines by the glass, which means you have them open at all times. You’ve been pouring them for a good two months now. And you have a staff of four servers. So let’s say you pour each of these servers a generous 2-ounce portion of each wine… that’s about 8 oz. I’ll round up and say that is 237mLs of each 750mL bottle.

Okay, so I’m not going to get all petty about the remaining 513 mLs in those bottles and what you’re going to do with it… since we both know you’ll be selling it all off later that night. It’s really no big deal to pull you a couple samples (even if it is illegal and puts both our licenses at risk)… I’m just saying that this seems a little silly.

I have a new proposition. How ’bout we set a meeting. A staff training with yours truly. And I bring the wines you have on the bottle list too… the wines your staff really doesn’t get the opportunity to taste. I pour the 2-oz portions for your staff of four… heck, I’ll even offer to pour more if anyone needs to revisit anything. I’ll bring my best game face and win your staff over so that they’ll want to sell my wine before anyone else’s.  And at the end of all this, your staff can also sell a better portion of your list with confidence beyond the wines you pour by the glass… and I can pour the wines for my appointments the following day. No laws broken, you don’t feel dirty for basically stealing from my company, and your staff is more incentivized to sell a larger number of wines.

Win/Win, no?

Best,

Wine Rep

Whew. It’s been quiet around these parts. Spring has sprung, new accounts are popping up left and right, December invoices are being ignored… and between selling, cold-calling, chasing down credit apps and collecting money, I’ve been busier than a three legged cat covering up shit on a marble floor.

I had a special request a few weeks back from one of those “small ‘artisan’ pain in the ass winemaker types” (her words, not mine) for an etiquette post of sorts for newer winemakers, winery sales managers, or suppliers.

I’m in a responsive mood this morning, so rather than ignoring the email for 5 more months or so before getting around to complying to a winery’s request, I’ll get right down to it. (kidding, people. mostly.)

I do ask that my fellow wine reps and even wine buyers chime in below in the comments section… I’m sure there are other guidelines that I’m missing in my list.  I’ll start today with the oh-so-beloved Workwith.

DO…

• … contact me with requested dates far enough in the future for me to put together a good day. Two weeks is almost too short notice. Three weeks to a month in advance is preferred.
• … check in about a week before to confirm… it lets me know you care and lights a little fire under my ass to finalize the plans for the day.
• … plan on being on-time to our requested meeting spot. Most times the schedule I’ve prepared is pretty tight, and starting off the day late will most likely cost us at least one crucial appointment later in the day.
• … sell yourself and your wines to the buyer. Share your story. Toot your horn. I’m happy to help with this, but please bring me your best and most authentic energetic sales face. I’m not asking you to be phony, and I certainly don’t want you to OVER-sell, but if you’re on your 4th week straight on the road, and I hear the monotonous rote droning of a barn-sour sales manager come out in front of my buyer, I am not going to be happy.
• … bring business cards and make sure they’re on your person. I can’t tell you how many times my winebuyer has offered up a card, and my workwith pats his pockets uncomfortably and mumbles something like “left them in my car” or “gave my last business card yesterday…” C’mon, buddy. Come prepared.
• … keep in mind that my winebuyer may want to discuss other wines I represent besides yours. If I see a parallel to your wines, I may be so inclined as to try to turn the subject back to you… “That other Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is a dollar more a bottle by the glass… and you liked this one… how about pouring this instead?” But if we’re talking other regions, other varieties, other styles, please DON’T chime in with your own opinion. If your winery wants me to ONLY sell your wine, offer me a job I can’t refuse. Oh wait, that would be your job I’d be taking. Never mind, keep it.
• … understand that I only have so much control over how our day unfolds. Winebuyers can be flakey and fickle, just as anyone can at any given time… Sometimes they stand us up. Sometimes they cancel an appointment with 15 minutes notice. Sometimes they make us wait for 45 minutes. Sometimes they treat us both like the dirt under our feet, and to some level, we’re expected to put up with it. THIS IS PART OF OUR JOB, and as such, it is now part of your job. The percentage of workwiths that have actually gone exactly to plan in my time as a wine rep is pathetically small.

DON’T…

• … show up with any sort of list of accounts you’d like to see that day. Any requests should have been submitted to me at least two weeks in advance.
• … rave about how many gold medals or silver medals or people’s choice awards you’ve won at any State Fair or the Meeskogee Art & Wine Festival. No one cares about medals. Some people care about points, sadly. Me? I don’t. Unless my buyer cares, and your wine just got a 96 in WS. Then I do too.
• … expect to start the day before 10 am. Unless you want our first three stops to be kwik-e-marts.
• … tell me how to do my job. This is not to say that I don’t value a little critical advice from time to time, but don’t pretend that you know this gig better than I do. You may have worked the streets in the past, maybe you were a wine rep just like me. But you didn’t work in my territory, and you didn’t call on these particular accounts. Also…
• … think you know my account/buyer better than I do. Yes, you may have been visiting him once a year or so for the past 12 years in your arsenal of previous winery sales management employments, but I’ve been calling on him once a week for the past 6 years. I win.
• … feel it is necessary to taste alongside every account. However, if you do want to taste, please spit. I may be driving you around, but that doesn’t mean I’m volunteering as your DD until I drop you at your hotel later tonight.
• … be afraid to let your personality shine through. No one wants to spend 30 minutes (much less the whole day) listening to RoboSalesManager. That being said…
• … talk about yourself too much. It’s like a first date, really. And just like a first date, you’re less likely to close the deal if you yammer on about yourself and your wines the entire time. Ask the buyer about their program, their shop or restaurant, their background. Converse.

We all know this scenario. In fact, this exact same story played out in my territory a year or two back. Wine Buyer from a previous restaurant (that had only a beer/wine license) called me, all excited to be able to work with me again in his new position at a large, swanky place (with a full liquor license) opening later that month. We discussed a sizable opening order as he was quite familiar with my offerings… but before the ship date, he confirmed only a quarter of what we had discussed. The rest of the budget had been eaten up in the owner’s recent meeting with The Big Boys. I love a good cocktail, but a full liquor license often means a wide open door for SWS and the likes which can make my job a little trickier.

Republic posts are reader-submitted.

Dear Wine Buyer,

I see the stress on your face and it makes me sad. You are a loyal and a fun to work with customer who wants to pioneer good wine in a sea of glog. You understand how our city doesn’t promote wine as much as it should instead of the cocktail mania that is everywhere.

I am happy you are moving on to a new, bigger restaurant that will bring you a better opportunity to create a beverage program that rocks. We need better wine lists that have wine with soul and not something to fill a price point. Our city needs more talented and brave beverage directors that want to tell a story that compliments the food they offer and shows off how fun wine can be from around the world. You are exactly what this city needs!

To see you compromise and get stressed by your owner worries me. The fact that your owner is listening to the big corporate distributors is trouble enough. But to let them bribe the owner with $10k to “assist the opening of the restaurant” is awful. The fact they control the entire liquor selection AND 25% of the wine list for an entire year is outrageous. I feel your pain. The lack of creative control is unfair and the corruption has to end. These big distributors do not have to fight for placements like I do. They sell you quote wine that they are not afraid to sell to the supermarket down the street. They do not provide the over the top service that I do. Maybe they can provide crap wine you can make a profit on but your cash flow will die if you adhere to their drops. The new business wont be regarded as a destination of excellence in this city. It will just be another half assed idea. Greed is not good if quality is compromised.

Don’t give up. Make the 25% the wines you really don’t need. Power through and really put a shining light on the wines with soul that YOU have selected that you can be proud of.

Your trusted sales rep and moral compass,

the little guy