Why plan the whole year now
For many wineries, January is one of the calmer months in the tasting room, which makes it a good time to plan. When campaigns are on the calendar early, you can line up inventory, write offers ahead of time, warm customers up with email and book the people who'll make the calls.
A calendar also protects your customers. When you can see every campaign in one place, it's easy to spot when the same club member would get three offers in a month, and to space them out.
Start with the dates you already know
- Club shipment dates, and the declined-card recovery that follows each one.
- New releases and library or allocation offers.
- Winery events, open houses and release parties.
- Holiday buying season and your carriers' shipping cutoffs.
- Any weeks when your own team is busiest, such as harvest.
A sample year
Here's how a year can come together. Each step has its own guide if you want the detail.
- January–February: win back lapsed customers and clean your customer data. Read: Win back lapsed customers · Customer data checklist
- March–April: sell your spring release, then call club members ahead of the spring shipment. Read: Selling a spring release · The pre-shipment call
- May–June: follow up with new tasting room visitors and invite good buyers to join the club. Read: Tasting room follow-up · Growing club sign-ups
- July–August: run an email and phone campaign to qualified non-club buyers, and line up member support before harvest. Read: Sequencing email and phone · Harvest-season service
- September–October: recover declined cards after the fall club run and plan the holidays. Read: Declined-card recovery
- November–December: run your holiday campaign before the shipping cutoffs. Read: Holiday campaign plan
Each campaign should have a clear reason to call. A new release, a shipment or a gift deadline gives the customer a reason to listen.
Size each campaign realistically
For each campaign, write down the segment, the size of the list, the offer and a revenue goal. Then check it against the people and weeks you actually have. A list that's too big for your team gets called halfway, and the customers at the bottom never hear from you. If the numbers don't fit, shrink the list to your best segments or bring in help.
Review after every campaign
After each campaign, note what sold, which segments responded and what customers said. Adjust the next campaign on the calendar before it starts. By the end of the year, your calendar becomes a record of what works for your winery. Read: Which campaign numbers to track