Influence the Real Wine Influencers

In my opinion, even in a world of consolidation and distribution challenges, the fastest and easiest way to gain influence in the world of wine is through thoughtful engagement with your distributors.   Focus on creating friendships and ambassadors who believe in you, love your wines, and want to share your stories. 

And remember…distributor reps talk to each other and so do their buyers.  If they feel like they are respected and supported, your positive messaging can spread like wildfire.  Passionate people (who love food, wine, and eccentric personalities) are drawn to the wine business.  Believe it or not, distributors want to sell your wine, but if you aren’t aware of who they are and what they do, it’s difficult to reach them.  There are other suppliers who “get it”.  After hearing your spiel at a team meeting, there are 3-5 suppliers who preceded or will follow you.  Where is your focus?  When it is on them, and how to set them up for success with relevant tools and unique selling points (vineyard and vintage information, interesting winemaker tidbits, what you’ve blind tasted against your wines, etc.)—NOW you have their attention.

Each distributor has plenty of wine to sell, and unless you are a top volume, priority supplier, you aren’t keeping their doors open, and frankly, they don’t need you.  And… when the reps feel disrespected or they are written off as “order takers,” they will be less enthusiastic about selling your wines and so will their coworkers.  They are usually unified behind who they collectively identify as “helpful, collaborative, and fun suppliers” as well as the those who aren’t.

Tips for Successful Distributor Engagement

1. Treat distributor reps like customers.  In fact, they should be treated like super customers!  If all goes well, they will become your ambassadors and biggest supporters.  For example, I still remember my first supplier “work with” decades ago with Empson USA.  Niall McCallum was a great supplier (knowledgeable, passionate, realistic, and fun), and as a result, I will love and support the Empson portfolio for life!
2. Be humble - don’t wear your tasting room goggles.  Wineries often have a difficult time understanding the wine world when they leave the confines of their tasting room.  Customers who make their way to your winery are coming specifically to see you.  Distributor reps/management might like and respect your wines, but they have hundreds of other wineries in their portfolio.  These other wineries all have attributes that make them desirable as well.  It doesn’t mean that you can’t “toot your winery’s horn,” but do so in an inclusive and respectful manner.  Avoid complaining about performance – focus on moving forward together.  As our favorite fictional “football” coach (and Walt Whitman) would say, “Be curious, not judgmental.” Find out what you are missing and what you can do to help them sell more of your wine.

3.      Give your distributors the tools that they need to be successful. 

• Have an exceptional story that resonates and then tell it concisely with a powerful brand presentation and relevant sell sheets. Roll out new parts of your story and interesting tidbits throughout the year. Figure out how to stay on the radar.

• Create an informative and easy to find trade page with updated materials including bottle shots, tech sheets, press, videos, and brand presentations.   If reps try to find what they need and they can’t, they don’t have time to track it down, and they will likely move on to another winery to fulfill their needs.

• Price your wines strategically and sell what sells. Do not try to force too many wines through the system – FOCUS.

• Acknowledge distributor successes both large and small and do it publicly if possible.  If you haven’t heard, it’s really tough out there lately!  It’s remarkable how far a pat on the back can go to restore enthusiasm.  

• If anyone from a distributor reaches out, get back to them immediately.  As I mentioned, they have a lot of suppliers, and they will prioritize working with suppliers who are responsive and helpful.

Engage, engage, engage – discuss what’s working, and what’s not working. Say “YES” more than “NO.”  Be fun, be relevant, be unique, be you.   Follow these pointers and you will collaboratively build brands and positively influence the most powerful influencers in the world of wine.