THE REORDER 01/31/20

The Blueprint of the Artisan Salesperson

I used to think there would be a time where things would just happen and it would be near automatic. Wine would flow like a river, spirits would tumble into cocktails and an ease would be ever present as you influence/witness/serve as the salesperson. It would get “easier.”

The truth is that the artisan salesperson never arrives at this heavenly place. You have to always keep reinventing your practice, rethinking why and how – not just with your customers but with what you do on the regular.

Below are five fundamentals that will open the door to being an artisan salesperson – a salesperson that wants to do right.

If you get off track – start here.

#1 Philosophy – It starts with you.

You cannot do this at a high level without a philosophy. You have to know where you start and where the work finishes. You have to know why you are choosing to do the practice of sales. If it is just for commission, at your best you will only ever be just good enough.

#2 The Customer – never a number

Customers are not randoms or black and white numbers in a cell that could be raised 3 percent, they are people. Even in this persona over personal technological world where it can be difficult to know people, and many want to just click and buy, it is better to have a personal connection. I would argue further that you need to have a feel of what it smells like in that restaurant or why that retailer does so well on that block. These observations cannot be faked – get to know who you serve by showing up.

#3 What are you selling?

What is the context of the products? All technical details aside, where does what you offer fit in? Who are the competitors? What makes yours unique? Why this one over that one? This takes effort and you must taste more than you talk to acquire reference points. Actually taste the competitors and see what comes. Have a way that looks at the wine beyond the quality call. Look at the style.

Hint: pricing is almost always the last thing to sell first

“ Most salespeople (often at no fault of their own) get hyper-fixated.

#4 Buyer thinking – Think like a buyer.

Think like a buyer and you will be able to be a savvy matchmaker. It is not easy to do and takes real intention, but if you can put yourself in the buyer’s shoes, you can truly see what drives their choices; not just product or what they like, but something deeper.

#5 Look for the spaces

You must pan out and look more broadly to see the spaces. Most salespeople (often at no fault of their own) get hyper-fixated. I have often. The only way to really be “in it” is to pan out and look at the edges.

The customer just inquired about a pallet of this – why did that happen? What is really going on? If you can figure that out – you will always have a head start.

SPLASH DECANT 12/31/19

The Best of 2019 – a List

I give you the best of 2019…

Best Restaurant Conversation – Heard at Bar Pisellino

Q: What’s the name mean?
A: It means little dick.
Q: Oh, do you have lattes?

BTW, this is a brilliant Bar for Vermouth and cocktails in the evening and incredible coffee and pastries during the day.

Best Wine Service – Andrew Newlin, Raouls

I was lucky to be served by so many greats this year, but Andrew Newlin (now working for Thomas Keller in Miami @ Surf Club) is about as fast on his feet with table side banter as it gets and in my mind, he made wine service great again. Watching him serve wine multiple tables at Raoul’s looked not only like a blast – but he made it look real easy. Slow clap for Newlin.

Best New Restaurant – The Banty Rooster

This was a tough one. The Banty was a late entry and offers a brilliant and delicious menu of southwestern food (you need anything with Hatch Green chiles, thank me later), a room with a purpose, and the most charismatic, intelligent and lovely proprietor and chef team you could imagine. Go here yesterday.
Infatuation review here.

Best dish – Estela

Not really a shocker, but the red shrimp and mushroom dish from chef Ignacio Mattos and the team at Estela was an epic and sensual wave of umami, texture and balance. The dish is James Brown’s Get On Up meets the Mozart Requiem Lachrymosa; a religious experience of dark and light.

And Smeltz + somm crew know how to have fun and pair wines as well as any wine team in the city.

Best Cocktail – Momofuku Ko (Bar)

The 3/4 cocktail at the Momofuku Ko bar could be served anywhere and would be loved. Simplicity and beauty in one cocktail. I drank it and couldn’t help think – “why didn’t I think of that?”

Recipe:
¾ oz. white rum
¾ oz. bourbon
¾ oz. Braulio
¾ oz. Nonino

Stirred, served over large rock. Lemon twist expressed, but not in the drink.

Best Wine – Capellano Super Barolo 1947

Super Barolo from Capellano 1947 shared by a trusted and generous friend. This wine that whispered “carpe diem” like that scene in dead poets society and I didn’t laugh – I took it friggin’ seriously.

Best Winemaker – Nate Ready of Hiyu/Smockshop Band

I admit, I am biased. I also have the pleasure of working with many epic winemakers. But the winemaker challenging current viewpoints while changing the future of American wine is Nate Ready of Hiyu and Smockshop band. The work he is doing is without category and evades the easy bucket we all want to place wine in. He also shepherds (along with a wonderful team), a place that is equal parts faviken, permaculture farm, and monastic meditational dream where the team creates a bit of art everyday with nature. The wines are not for everyone, but isn’t that the point?

Best Wine Event – Running of the Scales, De Maison Selections

Andre Tamers of De Maison Selections pulled of the most incredible wine event that will ever be put on.
This was like pulling off the fyre festival of wine and spirits that actually worked – ran smoothly and completely as planned.

“ This was like pulling off the fyre festival of wine and spirits that actually worked - ransmoothly and completely as planned.

Best lunch – Alain Passard Farmhouse in Normandie

Lunch at Alain Passard’s garden and farmhouse in Normandy.
Jedi service, incredible company that understood the nuance, execution and soul of the food in an open and generous setting. The farm tour was pretty awesome, even in the rain.
This was a lunch for the history books. Note: you can believe the hype – Alain Passard is not just a charismatic showman, but one helluva cook. Watching him is like watching a Cata. He knows every move, every subtlety.

Best Dinner – Olmsted

After eating at Olmsted this year, it embarrassed me that I hadn’t been there before.
Casual, warm and pulsing – this room and the charming outdoor space is perpetually packed for a reason. All of the food was layered and delicious. And Bonus -the Wine Director, Zwann Gray, could be the most smile inducing and intentional somm you encounter in the city. Go here yesterday. A total must.

THE REORDER 12/01/19

The Fluid Salesperson vs. The Tweaked Salesperson

I was sitting with a fluid, jedi beverage salesperson recently and he said something to me that made immense sense.

He said:

“I sacrifice earnings for quality of life.”

While this may seem like an obvious statement, to most owners of importer/distributors, it would sound like heresy.

This is a strong salesperson who has been doing this a really long time – I don’t mean a few big years, I mean 25 plus years of present and high “earner” work. He is a legend.

Ten minutes later I ran into a young and up and coming salesperson. One who has talent pouring out of his wine bag and immense potential. His eyes couldn’t focus, his gaze and manner went towards the ground and he couldn’t bear to listen to more than three words before interrupting.

“I am so busy,” he said.

He was tweaked to the gills. No focus, no balance, and as he tripped over his words, he less than casually mentioned that he was “way up” over last year.

“ ...His eyes couldn't focus, his gaze and manner went towards the ground and he couldn't bear to listen to more than three words before interrupting.

This is the image I want to stay with you: your number could be sexy as fuck, but what if for a little less you could last a lot longer?

What if you could run at a steady clip and not tire as much? Compounded interest works.

If you are so tweaked as a salesperson that you can’t concentrate and it seems so hard you can barely get through, chances are it is you who are adding pressure and constraints. You are the problem.

Try doing less. Try finding another way. Try looking at the possibilities instead of the daily numbers.

SPLASH DECANT 11/15/19

NYC Beverage Market Quickfire – November 2019

NYC Beverage Market Quickfire – September 2019

We are in the last quarter of 2019 and the NYC Beverage landscape is wacky as F#$(&.

Below are some broad trends that are shaping the market today.

Mayday Mayday Rosé

Was this a good Rosé season? Maybe for some, but saturation is pushing the rosé category into the danger zone. For a while, selling Rosé seemed like a sure thing. Not anymore. If we want to Maké Rosé Great Again, the buyers are going to have to adjust – and the importer/distributor is going to have to be smarter.

I will tell you this – my earlier Rosé article holds true; if you DI’d Rosé and let the rest of the season go you are probably laughing at those that have thousands of cases left.

Portuguese Wine…WTW?

Portuguese wine has been building over the last year, but more and more real wine coming from Portugal is flowing through the market. Luis Seabra broke through on the top end and premier NYC retailers are putting Portugal on offers and selling them out like crazy. Quality, story, price, well-launched. I see this continuing to grow. Look for Importers to start looking for more…

Natty Wine Story – The Tribe and OG’s

Natural Wine is not built on the wine, but the Tribe. Sick of hearing about Natural Wine? So what. What about all the people that are just hearing about it? That’s the build and trajectory. The definition of Natural wine isn’t what everyone says it is or isn’t. IT ISN’T THE WINE. It is the people that make and drink it that define the movement. This is BeBop – it ain’t for everyone, and that is part of the strength.

There are going to be more tussles about who the cool kids are in the natural wine cafeteria and who the uncool folks are; the Natural Wine version of what do you bench…And heads up, the OG Natural Wine ambassadors are not too keen on stepping to the side so the young and new can jump in. Look for some Fratty Natty hazing.

I take over your bar, you take my wines…

There have been and will continue to be many wine takeovers, so many your head will spin.

And they will always be the best deal on wine and food and work out well for everyone involved. Kidding…

Alt-Burgundy

Since the one-percenters burgundies are getting even more expensive as demand grows and the wines are traded like baseball cards at auction, alternative Burgundy is having a moment. Any ghetto category that used to be laughed at like Rully or Givry now has a chance at some play.

“ Is the Orange Man in the white house driving the NYC crowd to drink? UMMM...HELL YES.

Educate the People

A few wily marketers in the restaurant biz have attempted to stake a claim on educating the consumer at low cost and with a very high impact/return.

Education isn’t just for the retailer anymore – and this will continue to expand. Another interesting attention-grabbing move. Bravo.

The Trump Bump

Is the Orange man driving the NYC crowd to drink? UMMM…HELL YES. The press got more subscribers and we got the uptick in consumption. This will most likely keep going until he is out.

Wait, we can’t taste that?

Act now or this wine will be gone! Email me for an allocation, this is so rare and hard to get.

Alice Feiring put up a post on instagram about the email blast and the comments are hilarious and at times insightful.

The truth is that smaller importers are starting to get used to offering a few cases here and a few cases there – acting like there is so much demand for the wines they represent that the wines sell out immediately. This model only resonates with me unless they are being honest. So I ask you…are they being honest? Are they using the word allocation as a manipulation?

My take is this: sometimes the wine does actually sell out before release. And if you have an addiction to these wines and want to support them, you should respond. Ask if you can pop a bottle to check out the new vintage.

BUT, anyone who engages with a dishonest messenger or HAS to have that wine (as if there are no other options), or chooses to work with importers who can only buy small amounts for the whole US and fake allocate has decided their own fate.

SPLASH DECANT 10/15/19

Chances are high you have Inventory Bloat Disease

Chances are high you have Inventory Bloat Disease.

Q: Who is having trouble “controlling” their inventory balance?

A: Everyone of a certain size.

For nearly every restaurant, retailer or importer/distributor that isn’t small, inventory will always be the noisy player within the tension trio of buying+inventory+sales. The pattern of the sales, the inventory you carry and the need to buy more are in a state of constant tension.

Distressed inventory in the wine and spirits business is a symptom and not a cause.

Below are the symptoms of Inventory Bloat Disease. If you are failing with two of these, I don’t need to look at your inventory, sales, or committed allocations that you haven’t taken this year – you have IBD big time.

I have simplified as much as possible below, but as always, nuances abound.

If you want a quick refresher on some important info for Importer/Distributors – read a previous post: The Closeout Recipe.

Belief System

Do you really believe in what you are buying, or is it just a commodified category? Polaner had to close out the first release in the market of López de Heredia. THEY CLOSED IT OUT. Let that sink in for a moment. Chapeau to them, they believed it was top-tier and the market would catch up so they brought it back in and didn’t think twice. Now it is the banner bearer of the Rioja appellation.

If you buy with belief, it will strongly impact how you sell. And also, you can always get lucky. Something can fly out and it has little to do with your buying genius.

Belief matters just as much as dollars, likely more.

The top importer/distributors/restaurants/retailers in NYC can articulate what they believe in and this translates to inventory movement. They don’t flip out after some random turn time – they believe. And in concert, they also know when to make moves when something isn’t right.

Launching

How you launch (sell) a new wine or spirit within the company and into the market is so vital it can literally hide a producer. A great producer with lots of promise can just sit there in the dark, unlit corner of your inventory.

Either you have a plan to launch or you don’t. “Let’s just try” is only good enough 1 out of every 10 launches, and is the long-term tactic of the fool.

How you launch can kill the release of a producer or elevate them immediately.

Timing

There are seasonal buys just like there are seasonal restaurants. If you can think about when you are bringing something in and acknowledge at the outset that it is seasonal you can avoid some ghastly errors.

Are you bringing in a bunch of Rosé on September 15th? It better be hot as hades and this NYC Market must be showing more commitment than I currently observe with Rosé.

Timing matters. Even when you have to jump to grab a producer…

The Market Decides

This may seem obvious, but you must pay attention to the Market. That portfolio of “small, natural growers” will sound the same as the portfolio that everyone else is offering. That group of tiny producers from Swaartland that you represent that is ‘exceptional’ may be dead on arrival.

Ultimately, the market will decide if you have the goods. And you must be out there in the game – not just an #InstagramPeepingTom. Really out there. Faking market knowledge is obvious to the real observers.

Knowing the market takes real work, but it will save you from the inventory blues. You have to be a savvy observer.

“ Polaner closed out the first release in the market of López de Heredia. THEY CLOSED IT OUT. Let that sink in for a moment.

Internal distrust

If there is internal distrust (normally within upper management) about the quality of product bought or the direction of a portfolio or the list or the section in a store, you will have problems selling internally to the sales staff and by extension externally to the market. Especially with new products.

Deal with it. Not articulating what the company believes in and talking badly of your buying team is a sure-fire way to create a non-trusting environment and create dead inventory.

There are always at least two markets: the internal one of the Company and the external of the Market. Trust is built by actions and not words.

Pricing Purgatory

While pricing will never solely decide the fate of any product (and actually is the first question of the narrow-minded), you MUST be aware of the perception of quality and pricing of the category you are selling within.
If you price off of a formula, you could kill a wine or spirit that has real potential. Even further, it could take multiple releases or vintages to get it launched again properly if you don’t know the reason you have chosen pricing.
EX: I was once asked why a Cru Beaujolais was not selling as fast as it should be. I then communicated what the wholesale cost of the current release of Lapierre Morgon was and the person asking didn’t know. Lapierre was 4 dollars less per bottle wholesale than the Beaujolais we were selling. This is a top producer at a fair price with a serious following.

Pricing doesn’t ultimately decide the fate of a producer, but you have to know the landscape to position a wine or spirit or you will watch it sit there and have to change directions to get it going.

THE REORDER 09/15/19

How to Inspire a Wine Salesperson

“How to inspire a Wine Salesperson”

The million-dollar question in the NYC Beverage Market today isn’t about inventory or debt ratio or the “quality” of the producers in the portfolio but actually, how do you inspire a wine salesperson? How do you build a sales team that can make the market move?

I know Companies wrestle with these questions: Why aren’t they taking this wine out? Why aren’t they putting this in their bag ? (I hate this phrase, BTW). Why are certain producers being forgotten? Why do the salespeople lack energy?

The below may have an answer or three – and it speaks less to the product and more to how to inspire your team. Portfolio Managers/Owners/Upper Management take a gander…

Before you go further, this is a FACT: enlarged commission is rarely the answer. Daniel Pink has written extensively about this; money presents like the answer to motivating others, but it rarely is. Can you think of anything else?

Telling a better story

Tell your salespeople a spectacular and also true story. Especially about the Company that they work for. Give them something to believe in. Building trust drop by drop and word by word with honesty and thoughtful care is intentional and takes real work. A sales team that believes and trusts is unstoppable.

Producer “knowledge”

Besides all the technical and “do you like this” talk in a sales meeting, have you passed along a vision of where the producer’s wine belongs?

If you can translate the producer through your lense of the marketplace you will win more often. Show the sales team you see the spaces where the producer fits in.

Have you communicated a gem that isn’t on the tech sheet and/or isn’t some droning handharvested/nativeyeast/lowsulphur BS? That isn’t a story. If a salesperson walks out of a meeting, feels like they have met the producer, and wants to tell others – you are laughin’.

Less Email, more “Eye to Eye”

Is sending more emails to the team working for you? Great results? I doubt it.

Email may feel like the go-to move, but try connecting more eye to eye. Salespeople want to be seen and heard, and email often isn’t the best tool for that. If you are mad when your emails aren’t read, it might be your fault – maybe consider some other way?

The Micromanage Move

Micromanaging doesn’t work. Full stop. Managers who micromanage don’t know how to teach or inspire. Stop micromanaging and lead with actions. Offer a helpful suggestion, an empathetic action and work in some follow-through. The salespeople are the buyers of a wine company – if they are micromanaged and not connected to properly, you are going to see company consequences that hurt.

“ A sales team that believes and trusts is unstoppable.

TALK. LESS. SHIT

This may seem obvious, but talk less shit about the salespeople. Complain less. Try this for a change: how can I help them? Is it possible that the problem is my tactic?

Respect that salespeople earn…(high energy output and low gross profit for the salesperson is not a good formula – no matter how it is packaged).

Repetition Works

Some folks need repetition. Repeating something with a slight alteration so it doesn’t present like some sort of corporate-speak can really help. Think of how sticky natural is. That word was repeated by the godfathers of the tribe for a reason. Find something that resonates with the sales team and repeat.

THE REORDER 08/25/19

To the Salesperson: What to do in a Down Month

There have been long stretches where I have been on a roll and couldn’t even imagine what a down month looks and feels like.

The moment you think a down month can’t happen to you, guess what comes a knockin’?

This is precisely why I am writing this down. Read it when you need to.

The Down Month

It is August of 2019 and I am not having my greatest month of sales. It will likely be a down month year over year, and I have never had more understanding of the movements of the market and what I offer. But, shit happens and here I am.

Did I see it coming? Yes. In many ways, it is just one of those things. A perfect wine storm. It is a super rare pop up in 12 years of hard-hit line drives. I tend to not think any month is worth the worry (I think in 6-month blocks), but in the beverage sales game it is much better to understand why a month trended a certain way.

A few years ago, I would have been sweating myself to sleep. Dreaming of the suffocating action duo of coulda and woulda. But today I breathe easily.

So – when you are having a tough one, lean on this message: what defines our sales game is how we deal with challenges, not any percentage. There is no perfect and there are few (if any) constants. In the most volatile and fast-changing beverage market in the world, yo’ shit will get f’ed up and you will need to be able to roll with it.

So what does one do?

How to deal with a down month

Find a Win

Look beyond the surface and pat yourself on the back for a few things. Realize that keeping glass pours and wine flowing in the most competitive market in the world is a total win.

Good people

Go see someone you truly treasure.

When I struggle, I do everything I can to laugh and spend time with people I really dig. It’s one of the great goldmines of our business. You can always just hit the bar and have a blast.

To do or not to do?

Look at what you can actually do.

Don’t tighten up and just email more. Do something that makes actual connective sense. A real action that propels dialogue in an empathetic way.

Find a Challenge

Is there a curmudgeon-y bro somm that needs to be taken down with a thoughtful Jedi wine move? Go connect them to the absolute right wine for them. Surprise with forethought.

Get. A. PHILOSOPHY

I have gone over this in many posts. I am on record. Having your own philosophy is crucial.

What are you trying to do? If moving boxes and numerical attaboys/attagirls is the philosophy, I can see the meltdown coming. And…it will be devastating.

My philosophy is like my secret mantra. When all else fails, I meditate on the mantra. The constantly changing nature of the NYC market is a beast and having something to go to that is yours will only serve you.

Don’t go Dark

Decide not to engage with the worrying gremlin in your head. Breathe deeply. Enjoy wine, make art, listen to ‘trane. Try the opposite thing.

I know people who are constantly in a recession mindset. Pay attention – but stay off the dark side of the sales game. That side of the aisle is crowded and a bad neighborhood.

Let it go

IF you find yourself really struggling…

Look at the history and write down what led up to the month – what went right and what went wrong. Then write down what you plan to shift around or change next time. Now – let it go. Or reach out to me. @iamlooper

“ ...what defines our sales game is how we deal with challenges, not any percentage.

Epilogue – A Related Story

A conjoined business you have…

Heads up: You are tied to the business of your accounts. You cannot control or predict the trajectory of their business.

That account that is on complete fire today could be in a legal battle tomorrow. A partner could go rogue and disrupt that business forever. A 10k a month account could go to 0 tomorrow. I don’t mean to sound fatalistic, but you must have a longer viewpoint. When it is going well, enjoy it fully and at the same time don’t engage in the thought that it will be that same lovely dynamic forever.

Years ago, I had the biggest sale of my career (an ocean of wine) and a month later they were late paying. I coordinated with the wine director to pick up a check the next day, and when I arrived the doors were chained up and the account was closed forever. In fact, the restaurant that took that space over sold some of the wines for profit. And the crooked previous chef with the closed restaurant took all the expensive Burgundy to his house.

Due to a recent rant post from an Instagram Crazy Wine Importer, I feel the need to make this clear: better people make better business people. They also make better business partners. Keep that in mind when you make that sale to the chum hunting shark who views you as a pass-through or the hot shit restaurant in a constant #metoo brawl.

You can’t control the business of your customers.

If they are dead and struggling and you decide to send 20cs of wine to them, are you a great partner? Only if you have their best interests in mind.

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