2 weeks into my start in retail. Wine knowledge helps, but I’m learning it’s about SALES/SELLING
What kind of store is it? Hand sell, harder to find wines, or, stack 'em, best prices, move 'em out warehouse store?
For the most part medium priced niche wines as well as the more known expensive brands.
In a hand-sell type of store I would say the percentage is 60%/40% wine knowledge to sales skill. They really go hand in hand. At a box store where you are pushing numbers at a lower margin, that ratio is likely more like 25%/75%. Sometimes it only takes a couple of words to tip the sale in that environment. But at the end of the day it’s still sales, so you have to be good at that, regardless of wine specific knowledge.
Learn what style your customer’s prefer, then go from there. You will eventually become their ‘go to’ guy.
Congrats on making the move. Great industry.