Leeann Froese
We are on the cusp now of the 2019 hospitality season in BC.
Wineries are in the hospitality business, and the words “hospitality”, “welcome” and “services” are sometimes used synonymously. The definition of hospitality in the Oxford Dictionary is: "The friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers." Which can be translated as "The warm and generous welcome and entertainment of customers, visitors, or strangers". Therefore, hospitality can be defined as the relationship between hosts and guests.
I was talking about guest experiences to someone in the hotel world recently and one thing that stuck out was when he mentioned the guest’s “welcome experience”: referring to how a guest is received when they arrive.
Give some thought to a store, restaurant, or hotel that you have visited recently and how you were welcomed into that establishment. Were you seen or recognized, or not; and how did that make you feel? At the heart of it all we all want to be seen and feel like we and our patronage are valued and important.
Therefore, a welcoming experience for any business is super important; it sets the tone and mindset for the experience. A winery must understand their visitors’ expectations in order to set up the standards to meet these expectations, train staff to follow them and then guide the guests’ experiences, because looking after expectations will ensure memorable visitor experiences.
Impressing our customers is important – without visitors and customers we have no business. We need to remember who we are in business for – unless we are going to buy all our own merchandise, we need to make sure we have a loyal and growing customer base.
Let’s go through some of the scenarios and what expectations could be for the welcome experience.
- The welcome starts well before the visitor ever enters your property. On your website, ensure that there are clear directions to your winery (including hours of operation and parking options).
- When they pull into your driveway is it easy to figure out where they need to go? Is the parking situation apparent and is the directional signage in place that gets them to your door?
- Is your big, slobbery, smelly, barky, furry dog (for those who are afraid of dogs – this is how they appear) away from the door? I am a dog lover, but I’ve heard stories where farm dogs who are given free rein on winery properties have chased after visitors... the exact opposite of being welcomed!
- Have clear signage in place for your tasting room and a visible entrance/reception area, so that people know exactly where to go when they arrive.
- Note that the layout/design of the entrance sets the tone, and hopefully this tone is in alignment of your brand for what your brand values are: hip, conservative, fun, cheerful, etc.
Once the visitor walks in the door, for you to smile, say hello and invite them to come inside is great, but how much further can you go? Instead of sitting behind the counter and waiting for someone to come to you, it’s a good idea to extend yourself and walk out to greet somebody and make them feel welcome. Can you step out from behind the counter and walk over and shake their hand? Welcome them to your business, tell them your name and ask them theirs.
Then ask them where they’re from and what they are interested in getting out of their visit. If you turn the table and make the visit about them and not about your scripted visitor schtick, their entire experience is going to be so much more warmly embraced. They’re going to feel truly brought into what you do. From there you can take them through the aspects of the visit that they’ve identified and they will feel listened to, and their tour and tasting customized.
At the end of the visit ask the customer if they’d like to stay in touch with you. This is how you can start the ongoing relationship management, and add them onto your email list, get them signed up for your wine club, and turned into a valued ambassador that will return your cheery welcome and hospitality with a positive review and word-of-mouth referrals.
In the book The Art of Welcome: what are the innovative practices that would enhance the guests’ experience in Luxury Hotels? Carine Mouradian writes “Mastering the art of welcome will bring real value to the guests and enhance the quality of all the services colouring each stay with a personal, authentic and emotional contact. This is what remains as a memorable experience creating satisfaction and loyalty to the brand.”
Makes sense to me: welcome and wow your guests, and they will be back.
Leeann Froese owns Vancouver-based Town Hall Brands – a full service marketing agency that specializes in wine, food, and hospitality. See Leeann’s work at townhallbrands.com or follow online at @townhallbrands