You have the Facebook page, the Twitter account and the blog. You send out newsletters and special reminders to your opt-in list. With all of that content being pushed at your audiences, how many feedback loops are you actively monitoring to truly understand what your customers want and why?

As to the strategies employed by the restaurants and wineries to gain customers from this event, many of them failed utterly to even engage in anything other than describing the product on their table. The primary reason for this failure is the lack of personnel behind the tables. The secondary reason is the absolute lack of any materials or offers to entice a consumer to give up their email address or heaven forbid, sign up for a wine club. I don't get it. And I am speaking directly to the small wineries here: Why do you attend the show? What is the objective of spending all that time, money and wine if not to gain names for your marketing efforts?

“We support women and families because these are the heart of a community and are responsible for its growth and transformation.” Dawn continued, “Micro lending in 3^rd world countries is a perfect example of where women are empowered to transform an entire community.” Not to deny the business benefits of charitable giving, both readily agree that charity auctions and events are excellent networking opportunities. Dawn concluded, “It is about striking a balance between donating to a valuable cause and creating value for our business.”

Dollars are tight and the first quarter of 2009 is proving that, at least here, people are still buying wine but they are buying it at lower price points.  What this means to the small, premium winery is that you need to get creative and vocal in order to keep moving those bottles at $30 and higher.  Your first order of business is segment your lists and start communicating today.