If you think your job is to sell wine, you’ve got a thing or two to learn about marketing. [level-members]
I recently read an interview with an author who happened to have been raised in a bookstore. (It wasn’t Francine Prose, but that would have made the story even better …) Her mother owned the shop and the author said that while being in the bookshop all the time didn’t necessarily lead her to be a writer, watching her mother sell the love of books was a major influence.
There’s an interesting parallel between bookshops and wine stores in that both tend to be labors of love for their owners – larger chains not withstanding – and both tend to attract clientele who share a passion for the product that goes beyond the product itself.
There’s something old fashioned about that, in a good way, and something worth considering as you make your marketing plans. If you think your job is to sell wine, you’re probably holding yourself back. You should be selling the love of wine, the passion for wine, and wine as part of a bigger lifestyle. (Doubt it? Think of how many financial planning commercials you’ve seen with happy retirees walking on the beach – presumably of their vacation house. There’s a lot more of that than there are charts and graphs and dry statistics.)
Nowhere is this more important than on social media, where the emotional connection you make is what opens the opportunity to create a more meaningful and lasting relationship that culminates in friends and followers becoming customers.
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