I visited a new wine store this weekend helping a friend grab a few bottles for her Valentine’s party. The store was not new in the area, but rather new to me, but I had heard a lot of about it recently and wanted to check it out. The store had a pretty decent and broad selection, but much like many stores in this economy, there were many empty bins and slots throughout as well. But, this story is about our sales guy. Yeah, sounds funny. We weren’t at an auto dealership, but, again just a wine store, so why must there be a salesman?
No, it wasn’t just someone working there offering to help us as many other stores do. This guy was a salesman because when we were ready to check out he asked that we tell the cashier that he had helped us. We said to ourselves, obviously he wants to get the “credit” for working with us. Then I wondered, why is this necessary for such a shop? And then I wondered again, had his commissioned job status impact how he “helped” with our wine purchases? Did he really listen to what we were telling him about what we were looking for and did he guide us to the best option to match our desires or match his desired payout?
Don’t get me wrong, this guy was pretty nice and he and I chatted about a few wine-related topics along the way that I believe showed him that I knew a thing or two about wine, but I still had that though in the back of my head the rest of the way. I understand the incentive-based approach to certain jobs and I don’t think all sales people are the stereotypical pushy and untrustworthy type, but it just seemed a little out of place here and with all the talk and concerns about scores, ratings, and critics not representing the wine-loving population as a whole, if we can’t even trust the guy at the wine store, who can we trust?
Share your pros/cons of commissioned wine sales folks?
I constantly struggle with finding wine shops where I feel the staff are knowledgeable and actually willing to help me find a bottle of wine I want rather than one they want to sell. The fact that the staff might work on commission is frightening to me. I generally dislike commission-based sales because I know too much about how these practices almost always go bad, but this is definitely not an area where we need/want it.
Diva (love the name!): thanks for commenting and I agree with you. It just adds more pressure to the already intimidating process of buying wine for some folks, no doubt.
I don’t know if any of the shops around here use a commission system–generally there’s only the manager or owner plus one or two other people working at any given time. Usually I like just wandering around minding my own business–if someone is bugging me I’m happy to just start babbling loudly in German or Italian as a way to defuse the situation. “WO IST DIE BLÄUFRANKISCH, MEIN HERR?”
Regardless of the commission structure, there’s no reason to be rude or pushy when it comes to wine. My favorite places are the ones that give as much attention to the confused newbie spending $10 as the wealthy collector spending $500. And the gold standard: any salesperson that directs me away from a bad wine towards a better selection at a similar price. I’ve even played stupid and tested shops like that in the past.
I work in a wine retail store that also has a full-service cafe. Because we are a small operation, and because the owners, who know tons about wine, are pretty much always on hand, there’s always someone there to be of service to both the educated wine buyer and the absolute beginner alike. Although my job does not directly entail working with wine customers/shoppers, I can and do help them when wine salespeople are not around, and enjoy this part of the job very much. And I go out of my way to point people toward what I believe to be great wine, even if it isn’t the top-dollar stuff. I would hate to think that a commissioned salesperson wouldn’t do the same.
I think it’s a little off the mark to assume that just b/c one is working on commission, one is always trying to “upsell,” though I’ll grant that that’s probably very often the case. Where I work, no one is on commission, so it’s not an issue.
But, those of us who work on the floor serving the cafe customers ARE in a position to upsell when suggesting a wine match for dinner, which would increase our check average and therefore increase our tips, and here I still point out the $14 Argentinian Pinot Noir that I happen to love, over the $35 Cali Pinot with the great rep, b/c I find the Argentinian wine waaaayy nicer and more interesting.
(I know my boss doesn’t love this, she’d rather I “upsell” in this case, but when someone asks me which wine I prefer, and I happen to prefer the “value wine,” I am gonna fess up to it!)
Benito: I am going to use the BLÄUFRANKISCH method next time… that sounds like it works.
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Kimberly: thanks for chiming in from an on-the-floor perspective. I know not everyone behaves the same way and the guy I worked with wasn’t over the top, but the incentive-based structure is there for a reason. Of course, I know a business needs to make money. I am glad to hear you point out what you really like regardless of price point and its that trustworthiness that will bring future sales to your business. Cheers to you!
Benito above hits the nail on the head,”My favorite places are the ones that give as much attention to the confused newbie spending $10 as the wealthy collector spending $500. And the gold standard: any salesperson that directs me away from a bad wine towards a better selection at a similar price.” … I always like to give options and provide information and let the person I’m assisting decide what they take home instead of telling them what to buy. Unless there is an obvious choice for me … Get the Hand Made Chocolate candy, not the mass produced artificial product for example.
As Ed and Tower (I wonder who the wizard is behind the curtain) both know, I am a distributor. I make my living off of selling wine and thus drawing commission (I’m not a bad person, I swear). For most people in the industry this is both a passion and a business. With all the romance involved in wine, the business aspect can take a backseat in a lot of people’s mind, but I have a simple, yet loaded question for everyone: what is the price of information?
Hey Theo, I didn’t realize I neglected to respond to your comment and question here and I apologize. I am not saying that salespeople making commissions are bad people and I certainly know you and respect your work and generosity.
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I understand the value of information and that value will differ for each person. The value may be higher for someone who knows less about wine than me possibly when shopping at a wine retailer. I think it’s more a question of trust when I thought about writing this post. How do I know I am getting the “best” information from the person trying to sell me this wine? Can I get better or more trustful information from someone else who’s not thinking about the sale in the back of his/her mind?
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Sales is a part of business, no doubt, and incentives have to be in place, so I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m trying to bash the job or the role. It’s more about feeling I got the best information possible. It’s not an easy question or answer.