Our Articles
Covering topics from public speaking and presentation skills to sales skills and winery hospitality.
Executive Speakers
Use Emerging Trends to Your Advantage as a Public Speaker According to the Wall Street Journal, we receive more than 5,000 advertising messages a day. When we add all the verbal interchanges, telephone calls, and written messages, we can see why it's so hard to get anybody to pay attention to what we have to say. If [...]
Corporate Leader, Polished Speaker
10 Most Common Pitfalls of Public Speaking We truly "make or break" ourselves by what we say, and more importantly, how we say it. For example, a young salesman rose to speak at a regional meeting of the Conoco Oil Company some years ago and did so with confidence, clarity and vigor. I happened to be [...]
Relationship Sales Success: Selling a Wine Club Membership
Selling Wine Club Memberships The majority of wineries now focus their business model on growing their direct-to-consumer (DTC) business. At the core of that strategy is converting winery visitors to club members, where they will receive extra care, focus and attention, to retain as loyal customers. Selling wine club memberships, in addition to on-the-spot wine purchases, may be [...]
How to Win a Customer for Life
8 Ways to Win Back a Customer for Life In one week, I became a lifelong customer of one business and I walked out of another business forever. These personal experiences of customer service are examples of why some companies thrive in tough economic times and some have a sagging bottom line. THE HORROR STORY: Looking [...]
Relationship Sales Success: Selling Wine on Busy Weekends, During Special Events, and with Big Groups
Selling Wine on Busy Weekends Making wine sales during busy periods and special events can be more challenging than during your regular tasting experiences and appointments: Guests may be less patient for responses. You may have limited or no access to POS systems to easily ring up sales. And your attention may be split in ten directions simultaneously! [...]
Coaching an All-Star Staff
8 Ways to Develop Motivated People "An effective leader skillfully blends the first three roles but doesn't actually have to be superhuman," says Lynda Paulson, president of Success Strategies, Inc. Instead, aspiring leaders and team builders need to learn how to guide employees to the path of productivity and positive attitudes by discovering their motives [...]
Relationship Sales Success: Telling Stories to Sell More Wine
Romancing the Grape, Stories and Words that Sell, Evoke and Enhance We're all hardwired to remember stories, particularly simple, well-told ones. On the other hand, when was the last time you remembered the details about a wine "with 30% malolactic fermentation, 3 daily punchdowns, aged in 50% new French oak barrels, unfined and unfiltered"? Huh? Those words may mean [...]
Relationship Sales Success: Creative Selling
Getting Creative in Wine Sales These days wineries can no longer rely solely upon tasting rooms for all their direct-to-consumer (DtC) sales. It’s simply impossible to generate enough sales volume with the restrictions that may exist on visitor volume and tourism traffic. In the 21st century, there are now numerous opportunities for making direct-to-consumer sales in and out [...]
Relationship Sales Success: Selling a Wine Club Membership
Selling Wine Club Memberships The majority of wineries now focus their business model on growing their direct-to-consumer (DTC) business. At the core of that strategy is converting winery visitors to club members, where they will receive extra care, focus and attention, to retain as loyal customers. Selling wine club memberships, in addition to on-the-spot wine purchases, may be [...]
