Twelve years into the business, I still occasionally lead a WineShop at Home tasting where nobody buys. And every time it happens I can hold a mirror up to myself and see what I could have done differently to have a better outcome.
In other words, when nobody buys, instead of seeing it as a “failure,” look at it more as an opportunity to get better at your job.
Here’s what to do when you’ve led a tasting that, well, sucked.
Step 1: Pick Yourself Up…
…dust yourself off and move on to the next. Everybody – and I really mean everybody – has the experience of leading a tasting that doesn’t have any sales.
Okay, okay, you can have a pity party for yourself for a little while if you need to. (Maybe finish off one of those bottles that the party-goers didn’t care for…)
But then, get it together! Remember that WineShop at Home couldn’t have hundreds of successful consultants if nobody were buying. In other words, this business works. There’s nothing wrong with you. There’s nothing wrong with the wine.
It was just a bad night.
Step 2: Hold Up the Mirror
Once you’ve had your pity party (and yes, I do it, too), take a deep breath and reflect on everything you did (or didn’t do) leading up to the event. Did you miss some steps in the host coaching? Did you choose the right sampler?
Trust me – and I’ve learned this the hard way – if you show up with the wrong sampler, the whole night could be a bust.
In fact, I recently brought the wrong samplers to two tastings one right after the other. I think I must have somehow mixed them up, and boy… that was not fun! In the first tasting, I brought six dry wines but everybody wanted sweet. In the second, everyone wanted dry and all I had was sweet. Yikes!
Afterwards when I looked back at my process as a consultant, I could clearly see that I’d neglected to pay close attention to the wine samplers, and that’s why nobody bought. Mystery solved. Won’t make that mistake again!
Step 3: Cover All Your Bases
If it’s not immediately obvious why your tasting was a bust, here are some questions to ask yourself:
- Were there too few people?
- Were the guests not interested in purchasing wine?
- Did the guests have the wrong expectations when they walked in the door (in other words, did your host fail to communicate exactly what was going to happen)?
- Did you mistakenly think that pouring a tiny bit of extra wine on each pour would generate more sales (that rarely works)?
- Were there too many people at the tasting?
- Did you miss any important points on the sales script?
- Were the wines too inexpensive for this crowd? Or perhaps were they too expensive for this crowd?
Sometimes this just happens. Whether you’re brand-spankin’-new or a seasoned pro, sometimes that’s just the way the chips fall.
Bonus Round: Call Your Reorder Clients
Sometimes a bum tasting can be a great excuse to reach out to previous customers to make up for the difference. When you get home, pick up the phone and see if you can connect with any previous clients who may need more of their favorite wines to get them through the holidays.
You can do it!
No matter where you are on your journey, leading a tasting with no sales is never fun. Just remember that it happens to the best of us… and find another way to make up for it!
If you’d like to learn more about how WineShop at Home can help you reach your goals, let’s talk. Click HERE to connect with me directly.