That was fast! Year-end is almost here and you are swamped with harvest, club shipments and holiday sales. Your customers are stocking up and the big question is, “will it be your wine they buy?” There is still time to call the top customers, show them some love, tell them a story and get their order in (as they are busy too). Here is what you need to do:

Call your top 10% or 100 customers.
This is a perfect size calling campaign for one staff member. If they make 10 calls a day they can be done in two weeks. If they talk to 50 customers and 10 buy at an average order of $400 that’s $4000 in sales. By the way, these numbers are VERY conservative.

Who will do the calling?
Of your staff, find out who is interested in doing the calling and can they do it. If you don’t have the staff there is still time to run an ad on Craigslist to find part time help. You are looking for people that have calling experience and are passionate about your product.

What should you say?
Scripting the call is key. It gives structure to the call so your rep knows what to say and sounds confident. Once again, keep it simple. There are 4 components:

Intro – Hi, this is _________ with XYZ Winery. Is Mr. or Mrs. Customer there?
Purpose of the Call – The reason for my call is…(there can be many reasons for the call that can be based on news about the winery, wineclub or current shipments)
Offer – Flat rate shipping is a great tool and the customer still pays for some of the shipping costs. Customers like a simple, understandable rate such as $20 or $10.
  What I have done for many customers is build them a mixed case for the holidays. Gives you a nice selection for the different people you may be visiting or different meals you will be having. Can I go ahead and put a mixed case together for you?

Don’t forget….

Be a good listener.
Make the call conversational by telling customers stories about the winery and what’s happening
Call customers between 10 am and 7 pm. Calling them at dinner is good because they are probably drinking your wine.
It’s a soft sell—there is no need to be too aggressive. It’s all about great customer experience and database preservation. Being too aggressive will turn customers off.

Good luck!