It’s that time of year again where shipping wine gets challenging. In the south it’s already over 100 degrees, but consumers still want their wine. That said, here are a few reasons to call customers, provide exceptional customer service and sell more wine this summer.

Ship overnight or 2 day air at ground rates

As it starts to heat up, shipping wine ground isn’t an option. One way to give customers an incentive to purchase wine is to ship the wine next day or 2 day air and charge the customer ground rates. The good thing is, you are not damaging the brand by discounting the wine. The customer will receive their order now, drink that wine and buy more during the holidays.

Have a Pick up Party

Invite them to stop in, try some new wines and pick up their phone orders or club shipments. When you invite customers to the winery, they bring their friends and any family visiting from out of town. If they bring two friends, offer 2 for 1 tastings. The more people they bring, the more they save and the more wine you sell. Increase traffic into the winery and sell more wine DTC.

Keep your database up to date with billing and shipping info

This may not help you sell wine today, but you need to think expansively. Making sure that the customer info is up to date is critical when the holiday season comes. Give them a call and if they are not able to come to the winery, it is still a great opportunity to confirm billing and shipping information. Correcting bad “ship to” addresses and old credit card info will make your wine club run smoother and eliminates unneeded customer service issues. Also, people may say they don’t want wine now but do want a call back this holiday season. Calling now is an opportunity to schedule that call.

It’s Great Customer Service; show them you care. Oh yeah! and you will sell more wine too.