Lou runs a successful wine shop in LA. You can probably be more like him – without trying to be him. [level-members]
The key is to be more like you – the you that is passionate about certain wines, certain styles of wine, certain ways of thinking about wine. The Bon Appetit article is worth the read to see just how passionate Lou is about the product he sells.
If you’re not that passionate, that’s OK. You don’t have to be super animated. (I’m a pretty low-key person, quite honestly.) But if you’re just going through the motions, you need to change things up.
Because your customers feed off your enthusiasm. If you’re faking it, they know. And they may not care if they’re shopping on convenience or price, but those aren’t really the customers you want. You want the customers who get excited enough to talk wine with you – or just hear your recommendations – that they’ll drive out of their way or pay a little more or deal with difficult parking.
Those are the customers around whom you can build a sustainable business. [/level-members]