In Vino Veritas: Wine and the Customer Experience

As translated, the Latin saying goes: in wine there is truth. Wine also serves as the inspiration for today’s blogs, looking at how important it is to provide potential customers with a unique experience built around exceptional service. 

These blogs will focus on both positive and negative customer experiences. In one instance, an employee’s quick thinking led to a salvaged relationship and a nice boost in a company's bottom line. The other, unfortunately, will cost a company more money than it gained.

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You hear in business school about the importance of reacting quickly to remedy customer concerns; how word of a bad experience travels faster than a positive one. While that adage usually rings true, I have also seen instances where an exceptional experience has delivered substantial benefits to an attentive and proactive business owner. 

This morning, I’ll start with the positive experience. A few months ago, my significant other and I were ambling around the Yadkin Valley, stopping at wineries trying to find a new red wine. Nearing the end of the day we saw a sign for Sanders Ridge Vineyard and Winery and, on impulse, decided to drive a bit out of our way to check it out. We pulled into the drive, walked by some friendly folks in front of the cabin and went to the bar to request a tasting.

Entrance to Sanders Ridge

Just as someone was getting ready to pour, a manager told us that the winery was hosting a wedding. There were no more tastings. There were no signs and no warnings to alert us beforehand, leaving us to walk back through the phalanx of smiling “greeters,” get in our car and drive home disappointed.

Unfortunate, eh? Not so fast. This is where the winery turned a negative experience into a positive one. I emailed them the next day to express my frustration. Within a half hour, I had a response, apologizing for the confusion and offering me a gift card for two free tastings if we gave Sanders Ridge a second try.

Jennifer thanked me for alerting her to the issue – the winery had not placed a private party sign at the entrance – and she directed me to the Sanders Ridge website to look at their upcoming events and restaurant menu. We accepted her offer and returned a few weeks later.

This allowed the winery to fully win us over. During our second trip, the owner was there, telling us stories about building the cabin, wine making, and more. He was unaware of our first experience – it wasn't something we wanted to advertise – validating the sincerity of his conversational state.

We also discovered that Sanders Ridge offers bird watching (a favorite hobby for my significant other), zip lines, and a nice restaurant. They are working quite hard to offer customers a wide range of memorable experiences, and we wouldn’t have known about any of them if my email went ignored. My significant other turned to me as we left last weekend and said, “I think I’ve found my new favorite winery!”

Empowering employees to make those types of customer service decisions can be critical to maximizing revenue and income. We found a new favorite wine – Sweet Kate – and we have since bought several bottles, exposed our friends to their wines and made a return trip. And it was all because of the responsiveness of one employee.

I feel so good telling this story, which makes it difficult to discuss the negative customer experience. Let’s take some time to absorb the positive vibes; I will return to the blog later today to assess the suboptimal experience. And yes, it also involves wine!