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  • Blog
    • THE REORDER (Sales)
      the salesperson experience
    • SPLASH DECANT (Market)
      streetwise stories of the beverage marketplace
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      insider questions and answers
    • TASTE (Gastronomy)
      a view from the table
  • About Ryan
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THE REORDER 09/15/20

The Worst Word in the Wine Business

The worst word in the wine business is…drum roll please…the appointment. 

May I have an appointment?

Imagine looking at your email and having 25 plus people email you requesting the same thing: an appointment.

Appointments are for dentists, therapists, and proctologists.

I wish I could jettison this word forever. It immediately brings a strong connotation of a bothersome necessity that belongs to the old postal service model of sales in the beverage sales game. So, why did we decide to use this word? A question for the ages.

An appointment is supposed to be a dialogue, an interchange, a discovery, a connection, a first dance, a new direction. A new opportunity to see something beyond what is in front of you.

I have said this often: appointments are highly overrated – but if you want to do one, fine – just make sure it means something more than an appointment.