There are so many wonderful things about working as a wine consultant with WineShop at Home, and I have written a million blog posts about the perks (getting to sell wine, awesome wine discounts, meeting like-minded people, the opportunity for personal growth, etc.)
But Lord knows I’m nothing if not honest (some have even called me “blunt”). And not everything can be all sparkles and rainbows and ponies, right?
So let’s take the opportunity today to look at the more difficult aspects of the business. I’ll lay it out for ya: my biggest obstacles, the stuff I hate doing and the things I struggle with.
Deep breath. Here goes…
Picking Up the Phone is Hard!
I don’t know if I’ll ever understand exactly why it’s so difficult to pick up the phone and reach out to people (although it probably has something to do with fear of rejection, self-doubt, etc.).
Even after over a decade of experience in this business, it’s still challenging for me to call people and ask them if they want to book a tasting or purchase wine. It’s much easier to slip into a more passive mindset, thinking, “I’ll just wait until somebody wants to book. They’ll call me if they’re interested.”
Anyone who’s ever been in sales of any kind knows the flaw in that thinking. No, people do not always reach out if they want to book, you have to ask them. The truth is that there are tons of people on the other end of the phone line or the instant messenger or the text message who want to book—but you have to ask them!
Since we’re being honest here, check out my top excuses for not picking up the phone:
• There’s not enough time
• I don’t want to be pushy
• I don’t know what to say
In other words, even though I know people will book tastings with me if I ask them, I still justify my inaction with those three excuses. I know. It’s crazy. It doesn’t make logical sense, but hey, I’m only human and I deal with the same self-limiting thoughts and have to overcome the same sense of self-doubt that everyone has.
It’s Easy to Get Stuck in the Excuse Zone
Speaking of making excuses, see if you can relate to this: you put off phone calls one day (using one of those handy-dandy justifications I listed above) and the next day it’s harder to pick up the phone—even harder than it would have been the day before, because now you’re living in the Excuse Zone.
If you go too far down that rabbit hole, it’s really hard to pull yourself out of it. Trust me, I’ve been there. I’ve been deep.
Look, we all have baggage. We worry about whether we’re good enough or whether we’re too pushy, or we’re simply not good at prioritizing. Women especially have so many things on their plates that it’s really easy to push something off and make excuses because there are other, “more important” things to get done. You know, like your 15 stop long errand list, laundry, dinner and um, a SHOWER!
We Work with (Mostly) Women
We work in a business full of women and that can be hard. More than men, women tend to post their highlight reel on social media to make themselves feel better, which can also result in our friends getting sucked into the world of, “My life sucks compared to hers!”
I will be the first to admit that I have found myself on the slippery slope of thinking that everyone else is doing better than I am… and it makes me shut down. It can be challenging to pull myself out of that “compare and despair” mode.
On the flip side, women tend to be extremely supportive, and I have found that women in the wine industry are open-hearted, generous and supportive.
The Solution: Get Something on the Books
The best cure for all these challenges—or any others you may face as a WineShop at Home consultant—is to do a tasting. Everyone has one or two friends that they can level with and ask to JUST book so you can break through and get back to the tasting zone.
When you lead tastings, it’s easy to remember how fun they can be, how successful they can be and why you got involved in the business in the first place but the first step is getting out the door!
You deserve the level of success that you want. Stop letting the challenging parts of the business stop you from getting where you really want to go; trust me, you can get there if you want to!
If you’re interested in joining Wine Shop at Home, let’s talk! Click HERE o connect with me dirtectly and find out if WineShop is a fit for you.