Being a WineShop at Home consultant is better than being a Girl Scout (and, uh, also totally different): not only can you earn badges, but you can also drink wine!
I never got to be a Girl Scout myself but I totally wanted too so why not make up my own badges now? I’m pleased to introduce to you the WineShop badges: the honors you can get for navigating these tricky WineShop at Home situations with grace, poise and panache!
Which ones will you earn this year?
The Wine-Away Cleaning Badge
This badge is for the savvy consultant who handles a wine spill graciously and effectively cleans it up on the spot!
I definitely earned this one this year. At one tasting, I spilled half a bottle of red wine on my hostess’ new, plush and super-expensive white carpet. It was mortifying to say the least. I instantly turned five shades of cabernet myself and muttered over and over again that I would clean or replace the carpet, whatever it took.
In front of seven stunned and horrified guests I got to work with a handful of paper towels and Wine Away. Guess what? I pulled all the wine out of the carpet (as sweat dripped perilously and thankfully unseen down the back of my neck).
I successfully cleaned the wine out of the carpet AND recruited the hostess, who is now an enthusiastic member of my team. Ding ding! I am now the proud owner of the Wine-Away Cleaning Badge.
(PSST – make sure you carry Wine-Away with you at all tastings to avoid a more disastrous version of this story. You can purchase it HERE.
The Wine Rescue Badge
This badge is for the level-headed consultant who manages to salvage a bottle of wine even if the screw cap won’t come off or the cork won’t come out. Bonus points if the cork crumbles into the bottle and the consultant saves the wine anyway!
It’s usually just when I’m poised to demonstrate how easily our screw-top wine opens that I happen to get one of the few screw-tops that just won’t unscrew. It spins and spins while I laugh in a voice five octaves too high and hold the bottle between my legs to do whatever I have to do to get it open.
Sound familiar?
You can also earn this badge if the cork gets stuck in the bottle and you still manage to save the wine. Or, if it’s an older bottle and the cork gets a little crumbly but, thanks to your expertise, the guests still end up with their one ounce pour. Nice work!
Side note: make sure you have a top-of-the-line corkscrew to save yourself embarrassing situations where it’s actually the crappy corkscrew that causes the problem. Click HERE to buy WineShop’s recommended corkscrew.
The Wine Navigation Badge
This badge goes to the consultant who accidentally puts the wrong host address in the navigation device but still arrives at the tasting within 30 minutes of the start time and runs a successful event.
How many times have I somehow put the wrong address on the calendar only to realize I’m in the wrong part of town 15 minutes before I’m supposed to be there? Yikes!
The trick to earning this badge is to stay calm, call the hostess and tell her what happened, and proceed as usual. Not an easy task! I’m embarrassed to say how many times this has happened.
The Wine Hunter Badge
This badge is for the clever consultant who nimbly tracks down sold-out and hard-to-find bottles of wine for a persnickety client.
Don’t you just love it when a client comes back to you requesting a specific bottle of wine that you know has been sold out for months? Or – my personal favorite – if a client insists on ordering a bottle from you that you know isn’t a WineShop at Home wine?
Been there.
If you’re able to successfully procure the wine despite all these obstacles, you’ve earned the Wine Hunter Badge – congratulations!
Being a WineShop at Home consultant comes with challenges, huge rewards, and the benefit of living the WineShop lifestyle. Yum! If you think WineShop at Home might be right for you, click HERE to learn more.