THE REORDER 02/15/19

Building the New Wine Director – Looking Ahead

The New Wine Director will be built. It is possible.

If I could build a terminator Wine Director, the Wine Director of the future – the below is where I would start.

The Real Knowledge

I am sorry to say, but wine knowledge today means much less than it once did. I know, I know, knowledge is power, but let me explain…

Pretty much everyone I work with (sell to) is more knowledgeable about wine than their colleagues were last year. There are multiple reasons for this, but primarily: information is immediately available to anyone who is interested. Anything can be found and recited back in less than a minute on google.

Here is the real wine knowledge: knowing the market. Knowing what is available and how it stacks up. This is where it is at, and in the more than eleven years I have been doing this, the best of the best have this type of knowledge in common. They know what is out there, and by extension, they choose their partners wisely.

The New Wine Director will be market fluent.

Service

This one I am particularly sensitive about. Decant this, siphon that, pour that person first. Who isn’t all in on these skills? You have to be able to handle wine. But, become great at talking to people? Be a great tableside conversationalist with wine and other stuff, too? This seems to be on the downturn.

The new Wine Director will be a GREAT listener and salesperson. A tableside service assassin who can teach others to do the same.

Leadership

There are some that do this well and it is notable. But let me ask this: who is taking the time to create GREAT wine directors today. Who makes those around them advance forward towards their ultimate goals. I know this exists in rare occurrences, but not to the level we need it to in the top market in the world. If we are building the next generation, we need leaders that can motivate selflessly.

The New Wine Director will be an expert leader.

“ The new Wine Director will be a GREAT listener and salesperson. A tableside assassin.

Business Time

The New Wine Director will have to be business fluent. The level of businessperson that can hold the attention of a restaurateur or an investor and convince them of a new direction that can be validated by the day-to-day. A Futurist. A collaborator. An Excel Spreadsheet Master.

The New Wine Director is a strong Businessperson.

Travel

Travel is currently handed out like free pamphlets on the street because every wine area and consortium is actively trying to build fans, but most have little idea which direction will bring the most lasting effect. Every appellation wants to have a Chianti Classico camp with a superstar sommelier ambassador, but it just ain’t going to happen. Want to go to Georgia, even though you would never buy Georgian wine, or even make a dent as an ambassador? Here is a ticket. Have fun. How many followers do you have again? The best Wine Directors I know travel with ideas for their future list, not to see sights.

The New Wine Director will travel with a purpose.

Mission

The best Wine Directors have an area or charity they want to get behind. They will have a mission that informs their overall direction that isn’t just business building, but community building.

The New Wine Director will be a community builder.

THE REORDER 02/07/19

To Begin Again

There will come a time where you will have to begin again. To forget what you thought you knew about wine and sales and the market.

The Traps

It is likely that many of the below have come up for you:

Those wines don’t sell.

They would never like that.

He/She is not a good Wine Buyer.

I have nothing they want.

I am going to ignore that producer in my portfolio because the wines aren’t up to “my standard.”

They don’t know what they are doing.

Everything is out of stock.

They will never email me back.

Why don’t buyers taste anymore?

“ To get out of your own way it is vital to begin again. You must change your perspective.

I know this change isn’t easy, but I am certain it is vital.

I am getting clarity daily by asking two simple questions: What is this for? Am I just doing the same thing again because it is obvious?

Anselme Selosse leveled up when he asked himself why he was doing what he was doing. You can, too.

Begin again.

THE REORDER 01/01/19

The Dark Side Part IV – Breaking the Jade

Ever find yourself hopelessly locked in jaded thoughts? Is the spark eluding you?

How do you go about breaking the jade?

Jaded thinking is a prevalent problem in the wine business – especially with salespeople. I have definitely been there.

So, I have placed a few jade-breakers on your table below.

Head up. Stay in it.

Surround yourself with better people.

If the people around you know a shitload about wine but consistently drag you down, you have to reduce the time spent with them. This may be obvious, but it is easy to forget that you are the average of who you choose to hang with.
Further, Salespeople that commiserate on how “bad” things are without bringing constructive, forward-thinking ideas to the table are a dime a dozen. It is much easier to bitch and not create. If you surround yourself with the drama, you are the drama.

Breaking the typical frame

Last year I ran into a very successful salesperson who lamented that he had become an order-processing machine. The common response to this is some bullshit question like “do you wish you didn’t get so many orders?” Or a statement like: “well, aren’t you lucky, doesn’t everyone want that problem?”

I asked: “what advice would you give yourself on how to find joy in placing orders?” followed by“Do you give yourself space to not place the orders as they come in?”
He was shocked – normally he gets the typical nonsense answer. Ultimately, I don’t know if it made a difference, but here is what I do know: if you think you are an order-processing machine, most likely you are one.

Endeavor to find joy in repetitive and challenging things or, stop doing what other people do.

Quiet the mind

Meditate often. Close your eyes. Stop repeating for a second. Circular thinking can be shifted by simply noticing and paradoxically, taking a circular breath. You are an elegant machine because you are “at choice.”
There is NO perfect form or technique in this business – remember that.

Decide your values

Running around like a chicken sales drone with no head is what many do. You don’t have to.
Sit down and write the five things that you really care about in your sales world. The pillars that you can look to daily.
They will most likely evolve, so don’t worry about the right answer. But you must commit and start somewhere. Shape your sales world for the moment and notice what happens.

“ If the people you surround yourself with know a shitload about wine but consistently drag you down, you have to reduce the time spent with them.

Draw a boundary

If you want to drop bottles and follow up all day long, do it. If you want to prospect one day a week, do it. If you want to answer every email and text as it comes in, do it.
Undoubtedly, you will come to a place where you have to decide when NOT to do things. The best at this (that I know personally) have a few boundaries that they stick to.
You will earn more trust, respect, and clarity while at the same time being more present.

The busy and downtrodden rep is a stereotype for a reason – it is because it has been fulfilled over and over again. Leave that neighborhood of thinking to those who choose to be there.

Step away – the nuclear option

Shut it down completely. Then call a loved one, look at something beautiful for more than 20 seconds or do something that doesn’t compute. Challenge yourself to learn something new. All of these help to break jaded thinking. Attempting this halfway is not an option – You have to completely forget about sales to do it.

THE REORDER 12/24/18

The Sales Drones – A One Scene Play

The sales drones of today – A one scene play.

[Salesperson at Bar, Buyer arrives]

Pleased to meet you, have you heard of our portfolio? We have the best [insert category here].

Our portfolio of wines are never [insert technical fact here] or [insert another tech fact].

Cool cool, I love the space.

Ooooh, I love that champagne, I had it with [insert name of known buyer instagram friend].

Didn’t we meet at Compagnie? I was so [you know].

Oh, yeah – I think we did meet at that thing…best [insert sexy event] in the city.

Sorry, it is locked up for [insert hot shit resto here] – she took it all. Damn.

“ Faceless drones talking sweet sending that pretty sheet...

I do have this, [insert trendy-licious spot] used to pour it. I could maybe get you a few cases.

Let me send you a sevenfifty sheet with some other stuff.

You around next week?

Fin.

Salespeople roaming the streets – all saying the same thing over and over again like cogs in the machine.

Simply notice the difference.

How would you do this if there was no meaningless dialogue dance?

What if you could only ask two questions?

THE REORDER 12/17/18

Type-Casting

Sales rep type-casting is self-inflicted.

Are you a sales rep that feels you are part of a type-casting scheme to box you into certain accounts or style of buyer? Well, look in the mirror and examine what you say and do – chances are high the problem is you.

Messaging Matters

I have heard sales reps talking about their own “brand” recently and I was reminded again of one of my favorite quotes from Seth Godin: “You aren’t a brand, you are a person.”

The stories you tell within the company you work with and the stories you tell in a marketplace are your choice. No one I know of has a concrete script. And if you do, I hope you are asking how much you can play with the script because locking into the same ol’ same ol’ is a recipe for disaster.

“ The stories you tell within the company you work with and the stories you tell in a marketplace are your choice.

If you feel you are being boxed in, I ask you this: have you done everything you can to open new doors, or are you hoping someone does it for you?

This could be a courageous moment. Make a change.

Don’t be the angry, “typecast” rep in the corner wondering why they never get the “right” accounts. Be the wavemaker.

For the record (again): high-level accounts are never the gimme they seem to be. Today, one can still build an account run that will make heads spin and wine roll without one account that appears on the Heatmap.

THE REORDER 11/15/18

Play the Course

Play the course.

I was recently asked who my competition is. They assumed I would say a particular Rep or a certain company.

THEY ASSUMED WRONG.

My answer: I compete with myself first and the full spectrum of the market second.

Reps that compete narrowly with a few companies or a few reps in this scene are not really doing what they think they are doing.

The Competition

I compete with a tough, never give up SOB: Myself.

I have a clear understanding of what I am doing, how I am failing, the issues, the constraints, challenges, shortcomings, and what I am working on. I take full responsibility and I am extremely competitive with myself. The moment I start thinking about someone else’s numbers, the wine that I don’t have to sell, or the coveting of another portfolio, I am lost.

I compete with the full market landscape second.

Every day I commit to trying to understand what is going on with the market below the surface. Not through Instagram or some social media facade (which is not real), but by being out and noticing. I compete with the market like I play a golf course – understanding that I may get stuck behind a tree, or that the wind may come up and there is nothing I can do but just play the shot and move on.

“ You must decide to study this beverage market to gain intuition.

One cornerstone here: You have to study the market to have a feel, to know what moves what.
I knew that this wouldn’t be an easy year for Rosé…how is that possible? Am I some prescient genius? Nope, far from it. I just study the market, and I have a good feel on how it goes. You can have a feel, too.

Start noticing today.

THE REORDER 10/15/18

The Dark Side Part III: Pillars of the Functioning Account Run

What are the pillars of a functioning account run? Does comfort exist?

You are working a group of accounts where (ideally) momentum is building, and there is no longer the time to do the opening account dance that you did before. Your accounts have needs.

If you want to get to dialogue and make waves, below are some guideposts that lead to a functioning account run.

Diversify

You need diverse accounts to sell a diverse portfolio. Don’t get hedged to one big account, one superstar producer, or one buyer. Your goal should be a broad spectrum of accounts without spreading you thin.

Shape not Graph

Look at your run like a shape, not a graph.
I don’t mean ignore metrics, I mean step away and look at it like an abstract shape that is continuously changing, because it is. Buyer turnover combined with the relationship-driven nature of the market equals immense volatility*. It is a constantly changing shape, so treat it as such.

Always. Be. Opening.

Opening accounts will never stop. Get used to it. It bears repeating: you have to feed your account run with new projects and help them grow organically. At the same time, you must protect your time, so don’t go around opening accounts as if you were at the beginning. Look at what is interesting to you first.

Cherries

Know which wines you represent that garner attention, and which should garner more. Also, know where the deep well is in your portfolio for lots of regular wine.
You must have a working perspective of what you offer from the viewpoint of the wine director. If approached correctly, this can really increase the dialogue and in turn, run up the numbers…

Market Knowledge

Know the market better than anyone else. Know it as if your very relevance depends on it.
This is immense work, but worth more than what it takes to get there.
The better you know the market, the more clearly you see space, the more waves you make.

Stay in Contact

Find new and inventive ways to stay in touch regularly that isn’t an appointment. Do it in your way. It will be imperfect, so don’t worry about it. Just reach out.

NO

At this point, you just can’t be around the way you were before. That bar you always went to, those in-store tastings you always did or those late night meetups — you will have to say No. Get used to it now and do it as gracefully as possible. Done properly with yourself and those you seek to serve will help, not hinder growth.

“ You must have a working perspective of what you offer from the perspective of the wine director. If approached correctly, this can really run up the numbers...

House Style

Find your “House Style” and lean in.
If you have things that differentiate you style-wise as a rep, do them more and/or make them more clear.
But at the same time, don’t get addicted to some ridiculous act* that is fabricated. That will explode fast.

Trust

Sample less, dialogue more and you will gain trust.
I don’t mean allocate like a monster (unless, of course, your portfolio demands it). Be forward about what you believe in within your portfolio. Anticipate needs and tell the truth.

Sample Theory

You have been sampling too much. I guarantee you have thrown a grenade in a lake in the hope it hits something. What if you couldn’t sample anything? What would you do? Think about this right now.

Comfort?

Some reps obsess about their daily numbers and others sit in the park and take orders. While I don’t identify with either of these approaches, I find comfort in the fact that I know who I am serving and that I am actively trying to do it better than I did it before. I sleep at night because I know what all this is for. Try and find that for yourself and you will find comfort. Perfection is fucking boring and not memorable. Remember that when something goes wrong.

*an unfortunate by-product of this is that you may be down in accounts sometimes (shocker! be prepared for questions: management generally looks at your run through the reds and blacks on a page). Accounts ebb and flow. Shit runs out. If you are paying attention, the downturn of accounts is less painful.

*sidenote: I am noticing that some reps are choosing the A-hole vibe as an attention grabber style. Do not make this choice unless you are actually an asshole (Being honest is different than being an asshole).

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