It’s September already, 2020 is flying by, and some of us can’t wait to get to 2021.  Every year the holidays seem to start earlier and this year is no different (from that perspective).  With more wineries turning to telesales, DTC has become more competitive than ever; and there is a  good possibility your customers are being called by other wineries. But the best news of all is that they are buying! There’s tons of potential for wineries that are set up to take advantage of it. But consumers only have so much room to store the wine and a limited budget, so you don’t want to wait too long to call them. The market has become more aggressive with great shipping specials and packaged deals.  The question is, do you have a campaign in place and ready to launch?  Here are three things you need to consider when kicking off your holiday campaign:

1. The sooner you call the better.  It allows you to clean up your customer list with up to date info and plan for a second call later in the holidays for customer that request it.

2. Contrary to popular belief not all customers are interested in a Zoom tasting. So if you’re not calling, there are likely to be a significant number of customers you haven’t touched over the last 6 months.  A customer call can be friendly, informative and timely, as well as long or short. The important thing is to have a plan in place and start picking up the phone.

3. Finally, because some people are still housebound, they’ll really enjoy a call from the winery.  Its a reminder of a great experience they had and an opportunity to pick up some of their favorite wines they cannot normally get elsewhere.