Advice to a rookie salesman

I’m asking the wine pimps of this forum for some advice from senior to a junior wine salesman.

I’ve recently started this job on the side, it grew out of my passion for wine and when the opportunity to become a rep came along i jumped on it with all the possible enthusiasm!

I love studying, drinking and discovering every day more about wine and i’ve been assigned some real top producers to work on, and on a greenish market too.

That said, even starting with the best enthusiasm i failed to make any consistent sales in the 3 months i’ve worked. I have top producers, very fair prices (compared to the competition!) and restaurant managers and sommeliers tell me they’re interested in the wines, yet fail to make the order call. Some of my wines really need no introduction, and i’m fairly well prepared at introducing them, and getting better all the time as i study. Furthermore i’m sensing there’s some kind of cartel in my market where long-time importers and sommeliers have established very concrete relationships that are proving very difficult to deal with.

Doing this as a side-job doesn’t help either but i don’t really have an option as i wouldn’t be able to live on this for now.

What do you experienced sales people would advice to a rookie? How would you get into a new market and make it big!

You could become cute and female.

Are you asking for the sale? You would not believe how many sales people pave the way, know their stuff, do a good, not pushy pitch, show the wines… then don’t ask for an order. Waiting for them to call you isn’t going to work aside from people who are reordering.

Welcome to the board arthurk !
Here’s hoping you’ll receive some helpful guidance from those in the know.

+1

Arthur, what you are experiencing is likely the cause of the economy, not your ability level or sales skill - at least a good part, anyway.

Now’s a great time to start developing relationships, however, so that when the economy picks up again, you are well positioned to have the orders take off as stores start buying. Just ingratiate yourself to as many as you can, show your promptness, fairness, and lack of pressure, and hopefully it will be rewarded when the buying flows back in.

When calling on retailers…BRING FOOD!

Arthur,

As Todd pointed out its the current economy.

Unfortunately, you couldn’t have picked a worse time to start as a rep. We purchased 20% less wine this year because demand was down. We also went with wines people are looking for. As a retailer, we’ve been offered wines that were previously restaurant or winery only. Even got a call or two from wineries who outright said they needed cash flow. Overall, our internet and walk-in wine sales were down 23 percent. Fortunately, our cigar sales were up nearly 50 percent.

There have been at least 10 restaurants in Napa either close, sell or cut hours and employees in 2009. Some are being very creative, lowering wine prices, lowering or eliminating corkage fees, etc., just to get the cash flow to stay in business.

There are a number of wineries and vineyards that have changed hands too. The price of grapes this year is the lowest its been for some time. There were ads in the newspaper offering entire grape crops cheap. Caymus SS in Costco for $96.00??? Wines are being dumped by both wineries and distributors to generate some cash flow.

So I don’t think its you or your approach, it’s the way it is right now. Hand sell wines are slow moving, particularly in a restaurant at typical restaurant pricing of three to four times wholesale cost.

See, there you go Serge. You give him a list of how to be successful. I try to build the kid’s confidence back up so he knows he’s not a failure and can run with your list. Then you go right back and point out that if he had been doing it right in the first place he’d be rich by now.

Thanks all for your kind advice it’s much appreciated.

I’m not gonna blame it on the economy, because there’s always a small pocket of people that still spend a lot of money, even during crisis. I could have done better but when i get a sommelier tell me “i’ll call you back with a date for when we can organize a tasting” i naively expect a call, after all i’m giving him the opportunity to buy top wines. But i could be a bit more proactive like saying “do you want me to call next week to remind you to choose a date for the tasting” or something on that line.

Also if i was telling you the brands i’m selling, you’d bow in front of their names so it’s really not even a matter of introducing the wine and i’m giving it to them at the price our competitors sell inferior wines of the same kind.

I’ve been playing around with the idea of starting a 1 page printed magazine on the line of Wine Advocate (sans the authority!) that would be distributed freely at wine bars and that tried to educate people on the matter of wines, styles and grape varieties so that i could write an overview of, say, Chianti and sneak in a positive comment about the one i sell.

Also i’ve been thinking in terms of writing a wine guide, of course very different from the ones available around and try to have it attached to some wine and food magazines, to try create demand around my wines.

What do you guys think about these ideas?

Serge wins
I’d buy from him even if it were Beringer White Merlot

Two traps I see I’d like to point out:

1. There is a sea of great wine out there. They are going to buy from someone, not something in particular.
2. Be there. Instead of asking if you can call next week tell them you will be there next week (and do so.)

Even if you present them with a great opportunity (which isn’t usually the case with top producers like you’ve mentioned representing) they are much more likely to pass or “think about it” if they don’t have a strong relationship with you. If one of their regular sales reps pops in that week with a similar proposal they are more likely to take it.

Is your portfolio all high end wines? I would worry about opening a relationship where you are delivering wines before you focus on extra materials like pamphlets, emails, or websites.

Please note this is advice from a rookie salesman to a rookie salesman, I am speaking more from a retail background.

I think your attitude is the problem. “Also if i was telling you the brands i’m selling, you’d bow in front of their names so it’s really not even a matter of introducing the wine and i’m giving it to them at the price our competitors sell inferior wines of the same kind.”

Um - get over yourself and your portfolio. If you came into a shop with that attitude, I’m surprised they let you back in much less ordered. YOU might be impressed with the names, but I guarantee that any experienced wine person isn’t - they’ve seen it all, as have the customers who buy high end wines. None of us are impressed by names anymore, esp when those name wines can be hard to sell and for customers, those names are nationally available.

You act like you’re doing them and us a favor by making the wines available - you’re not. You’re selling something that people might want. They’ll buy if they like you and feel they can sell the wines you have. If they don’t (either one) you’re toast.

“Also if i was telling you the brands i’m selling, you’d bow in front of their names so it’s really not even a matter of introducing the wine and i’m giving it to them at the price our competitors sell inferior wines of the same kind.”

Vinifera?

Paterno?

Chadderdon?

That statement could have come from a rep from any of those…

Without knowing the particulars of your situation–your company, your portfolio, your customers–it’s difficult to know how much of your lack of sales is due to the economy, how much is due to your portfolio, how much is due to whether your wines are a good match to your customers, etc. You could carry an incredible portfolio of well-priced wines, and it could still be the wrong fit with the potential customers you’ve contacted.

Restaurants wine lists, for example, can be very difficult to break into after they’ve been established. The restaurant’s finances may be such that they can only support one or two pages of wines, and once they’ve filled those spots, they are less likely to add new wines to the list. And yes, some sommeliers/beverage dept. managers DO have existing relationships with certain reps and certain distributors.

In addition to “making the ask,” you might also consider gently and diplomatically asking for feedback if someone says they love the wines you pour yet still don’t give you an order. If you have good people skills, and if you listen well, you should be able to find out WHY you’re not getting orders you think you should be getting.

Bruce

“Is their a wine on your list that you may be looking at eliminating and if so I may be inclined to help you with that If mine wine is the replacement”

Ask how many btls need to be taken care of.

Find a way to take care of them or replace them.

NC goods as in a trade.

Buy one btl give it back and have the rest poured off as a feature or glass pour.

If it is a wine I like, I buy (at establishments cost) it and take it with me.

Most importantly, when is the last time you got laid without asking? You have always got to ask for the sale!! It’s called clossing.

So true!

Anyway thanks everybody for the advice!

Arthur-

Having a good portfolio to work with is important because it can mold your relationship with an account, but the relationship is the most important thing in sales. If you just started working the last quarter, it doesn’t surprise me that sales weren’t consistent for you because you hadn’t established any real relationships with buyers yet and during the holiday season, buyers tend to work with the people they know, not with Johnny come latelies. Now is the time to forge new relationships with buyers. Be polite, be persistent, don’t make promises you can’t keep, follow-through, don’t be afraid to ask for the sale and develop thick skin.

Cheers,

Brad

Arthur, I’ve never sold wine but I’ve sold other things and trained about 400 salespeople in one way or another. I’ll offer a few words of advice, many of which have already been addressed by others.

1. People buy from people they like and trust. Develop your relationships and you’ll be better off in the long run. To the extent you either allow or cause your book to be reduced to a commodity you’ll always fall prey to price-shopping. Within certain limits, a case of onions is a case of onions and the lowest price will prevail. Put another way, a high-volume retailer like a supermarket will create an end-cap display where they can palate-stack whichever wine will move fastest and give them the greatest margin, regardless of what’s in the bottle. That’s where whoever is selling Yellowtail is in competition with whoever is selling Columbia Crest, and that is NOT the environment you’re trying to create.
2. Your customers are always looking for the WIIFM - “What’s in it for me?” Especially in this environment, what Rick Gregory said (though I’ll attempt to be more delicate) holds true. The mere fact that you have highly-rated or desirable wines in your book means very little in and of itself. 99% of consumers won’t care if you’re offering Screagle at a price that will end up as a $250 bottle of wine on the list. They’ve never heard of it, so it will sit.
3. Your customers are interested in making money, so help them do that by offering them wines that will sell, not gather dust. Once you’ve done that, help your customer sell the wines by thinking of creative ways to sell them - tastings, by the glass programs, food matching recommendations, etc. If I owned a restaurant, I’d be giving away free 1-ounce pours of especially attractive wines to encourage sales. Maybe you could suggest that and perhaps you can help your customer train his staff. “Would you like to see the wine list,” and “Would you like to order wine this evening,” don’t cut it. Something along the lines of, “The Vieux Telegraph is mind-blowing with that lamb you’ve ordered. Let me bring you a taste,” works more often than not.
4. Selling is much like a seduction. It’s something you and the customer do together for your mutual benefit, not something you do TO your customer. The objective is for everyone to wake up tomorrow satisfied, with no regrets and certainly not wanting to chew off the offending arm. The worst thing you can do is be clever, tricky and manipulative.
5. Ask for the order. Always. Don’t allow your customer to fall back on “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.” Respond with something along the line of, "Let’s get together on XXXX at XX time to finalize this, and pull out your appointment book. Would you end a first date with Charlize Theron without asking for another?
6. Ask questions. Lots of them. LISTEN to the answers. Find out how you can fill your customer’s needs and do it!

Good luck. Feel free to PM me if you have questions.