Wine Clubs have become exceeding popular with many consumers. I’ve heard reports of folks belonging to as many as 4-5 different clubs. It’s easy to join and drop clubs, so we all need to be on our toes. After all, members are our best customers (almost like our business family), aren’t they?
There are many reasons our customers RETRACT their membership including lack of winery contact, not being acknowledged and treated special, dumping of wines and inflexibility of choice. Be proactive during the winter months (after holiday bills arrive and with shorter tasting room hours), recognize the challenges around jobs and the economy, and keep a watchful eye on anniversary dates as the average life span of club membership is between 1 to 1.5 years.
So how do we RETAIN members? Give your members what they want! Remind them of their benefits and do something special during slow winter months. Try to take members aside in a separate area of your tasting room when they arrive during regular hours. Non-members will take notice of course. Use Customer Management Systems to track your members preferences, purchasing patterns, anniversary dates and tailor communications and promotions specifically to them. When is the last time you sent a poll to find out how they liked their last wine shipment?
When someone cancels, what do we do to RECOVER? Give them options of course! First of all sincerely find out the reasons. If within your control, make adjustments to accommodate retaining the member. If not, offer to skip a shipment or suspend for a period of time. If these don’t succeed, move them to the general email list to keep in touch with the winery. I manage a few wine clubs and know this is difficult and time consuming, but certainly worth the effort. Remember these former members have brand loyalty and are highly qualified, so be creative, prepared and have a plan to follow-up with them in the future.