Why call before the shipment
Most club problems show up on run day: expired cards, old addresses, members who forgot what they signed up for and members who quietly decided to leave. A call in the week before the run lets you deal with those problems while the member is still listening.
Who to call first
- Members whose cards expire before the run date.
- New members receiving their first or second shipment.
- Members who skipped or held their last shipment.
- Members who recently contacted you with a complaint.
- Your highest-tier members, who deserve a personal preview.
What to say
Keep it short and useful. Thank them for being a member, tell them which wines are coming and why you're excited about them, and confirm their card and shipping address. Then ask a simple question: is there anything you'd like changed in this shipment?
A member who hears about the wines from a person is far less likely to see the charge as a surprise.
When a member wants to skip or cancel
A pre-shipment call is often when a member first says they want out. Ask why before anything else, because many reasons can be solved with a change to this shipment. If they still want to leave, make it easy. Read: How to handle a cancellation request
After the run
Even with pre-shipment calls, some cards will decline on run day, around 10% each club run in our experience. Recovering those quickly is the second half of protecting your club, and it's handled best as its own short outbound campaign. Read: Declined-card recovery playbook