QB Winery Solutions

2019 DTC Surveys Compare Results

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The Wine Industry Network compared 2 major reports on DTC sales and marketing trends. I typically read industry reports with a grain of salt because they tend to refer to the large-winery-wine-industry, which is very different from the small-winery-wine-industry. However, I noticed the most successful wineries I work with have already implemented the article’s advice.

According to Dawn Dolan of the Wine Industry Network Advisor, these are the Quick Take Aways:

  • Online sales are increasing; be sure your e-commerce is accessible and user-friendly for not only your computer-using clients, but optimized for ease of use from your mobile users. Online sales represent the biggest opportunity for growth.
  • Utilize your tasting room for client acquisition.
  • The better trained your tasting room personnel, the higher the returns. Invest in staff training.
  • High intensity marketing = high returns. Develop a multi-pronged marketing plan.

To read Dawn’s entire article Click here

The reports discussed in the article were:

2019 Silicon Valley Bank State of the Wine Industry Report

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Last Wednesday Rob McMillan from Silicon Valley Bank hosted a webcast to discuss the annual wine industry report that he and his team put together. The report is a good read, really. I recommend that you at least read the Executive Summary.

Rob has valuable insights for the wine industry, however many of his comments are aimed at the larger wineries because the small wineries do not bank at Silicon Valley Bank. Right at this moment I have to climb down off the ledge due to a few comments made by the panel during the webcast that, if taken out of context, the team at a small winery might take the wrong way. I will make some comments, but first I I am going to digest the report.

They will be doing a follow-up webcast on January 23rd. Check out Rob’s blog for information on how to join that webcast Rob’s Blog

Have a look for yourself:

2019 SVB Webcast Replay

2019 SVB Annual Wine Industry Report

 

Cheers!

Jeanette

SVB Annual Wine Survey – Heads Up

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The winemaking team is preoccupied with the crush, and the accounting team is just twiddling their thumbs (Ha, we never get to do that…). Rob McMillan at Silicon Valley Bank is preparing his annual Wine Report and he needs your input. Each year, 20 percent of the wineries in the US participate in this survey. Of course most of these are the large wineries. Let’s make sure that the boutique and family wineries are represented. If you want to know some benchmarks that are useful for you, the small winery, this is how they are generated.

From October 1 to October 19, the survey will be open. If you participated last year, you will receive an email. But if this is your first time, look for the announcement in industry publications or check back here for the link to the official survey.

In the meantime, here is the list of questions so you can prepare your answers.

SVB Annual Survey Questions

 

Cheers!

Jeanette

The Crush

Your first step to running a profitable winery and crushing your business goals.