Anyone else getting these? Is this a new thing? Not like the recent SQN list call, but an actual sales call from a winery I’ve purchased from in the past. I got two this week, from two different wineries under different parent companies, asking me how I am, if I’ve recently opened , etc and finally the sales pitch. They can very much personalize the call based on purchase, time of year I visited, etc. One actually mentioned getting commission, so if I decided to purchase online, be sure to mention their name in the notes during checkout. One was in Napa known for cabs and the other Sonoma known for chard/pinot and sauv blanc. Is this market saturation or trying to ramp up sales or something else? I’ve been in numerous winery customer databases for years and have never received one of these calls until now.
Paul Hobbs has done this with me on their last two offerings. Didn’t really bother me.
A lot of new PR companies cropping up with outsourced services like DTC phone wine sales. You give them your mailing list and they do the calling. We get pitched by companies like this a few times a month.
I have. Although it was a higher end wine so I just thought it was part of the deal.
Based on what Karen says above it makes sense now.
I have received calls from a few different wineries over the past several years. All are from wineries I have purchased from before. The wineries sell good wines, but they are not necessarily the high end wineries.
I get them every few months. Been going on for a few years. I don’t mind but I have asked them to stop calling.
From car dealers too. I finally got them to stop when I asked them if their cars are pure shit. Taken aback, the caller said no, they weren’t.
“Well unless I was in some kind of danger using the car I’ve so recently purchased, why then are you calling me to warn me that I should pick up a new one ASAP?”
I have received calls from a few wineries in the past. When they are wineries I have a connection to (have tasted with or corresponded directly with them) I do not mind. When it is a call from a winery I buy direct from but do not really have a connection with or had signed up for the list and then decided against it when the offer arrived, I find it offputing.
The 707 area code seems to pop up on my phone more frequently than it used to. Its usually a follow up to a release or when they are clearing wines out.
I have received cold calls from wineries that I have never purchased from nor have I signed up to purchase. Some of these people are buying other people’s mailing lists. I consider this predatory and would never buy from someone who cold called me.
ok that would totally piss me off. I haven’t experience that yet. Only calls from wineries I have purchased from. I do see emails from wine vendors I haven’t done business with before. They always get blocked.
Yes there are companies who make a business of emulating wineries in a call center setting. Each client has its own number coming in so any calls on that line are answered “X Winery, how may I help you today?” Read the script and most people won’t notice.
Did they offer you a good deal? I wouldn’t appreciate a sales call if it wasn’t offering me a good deal. Then again, I pretty much never answer calls that come from unfamiliar numbers.
I haven’t received sales calls from any wineries. Wineries may have called and didn’t leave a message. With all the robo calls these days, I don’t answer the phone unless I recognize the number. Sad state of affairs these days with the obnoxious amount of these types of phone calls.
Seems to me we are seeing a classic case of supply and demand at work.
+1
It’s ridiculous. I pay $100/month for a phone that I routinely won’t answer calls on because of robo-calls and sales pitches that have zero relevancy to me. Since when does the consumer pay for the platform for themselves to be marketed to?
Maybe the most irritating aspect of robo-calls, is that they are literally a business telling me that the call is not worth their personal time/actual minutes of their day while attempting to occupy mine.
Thankfully I just get emails. The rare winery call is the one ftom Joe Donelan thanking me for my purchase.
I’ve gotten them in the past, it doesn’t bother me too much if I have a relationship with the winery. The robo-calls I hate are the ones asking me to re-finance student loans (that I haven’t had for 8 years).
One of the more memorable calls was a few years back in October asking me if I had my holiday selections worked out and just double checking to make sure I didn’t need more of any of the winery’s wines. I distinctly remember it because I thought to myself - WOW that’s good marketing. I didn’t buy, but it was a good pitch.
TW
I agree with every word you said and I like your “most irritating part…” the best. I make calls to organizations in the wine industry to provide them with information (not sell) about my service. If I have to leave a voice mail and I see “someone” (not recognizing the number) calling back, I don’t answer it. I wait for voice mail to make sure it’s not a robo-call. Extra time spent = Grrrrrrr.
New iOS software gives the option to silence calls that aren’t in your contacts or you haven’t had a recent phone/message contact with. The missed call notification still shows and a voicemail will appear if left but otherwise it silenced the robo calls. As someone who rarely answers my phone if I don’t recognize the number this is an awesome feature for me.
Soujourn Cellars DM’ed me on Instagram with a coupon code once. Thought that was odd.