
“Command, then Control” — The Power of the Educated Beverage Sales Professional
“Command and control”. It’s how the elite beverage sales professional succeeds again and again. She commands a breadth and depth of knowledge about her business, about her products, and about her competition. She controls the conversation, always steering the customer in the direction she always knew she would.
But the secret that her managers can’t figure out, the reason that they are so frustrated with the other powerful sales personalities on their team, who impose their will on the customer and have them eating out of their hand, but can’t seem to grow the business save by brute strength, is that “command and control” is actually “command, then control.” Without command of that wellspring of knowledge, there is no control. It’s a mirage, an illusion of fast-talking and unearned confidence. As sales managers, we are so impressed with the ability to control that we are drawn to it like moths to flame. Prospective beverage managers or sales professionals come in to interview and we are blown away by how quickly they have rapport, how sure of themselves they seem, and how easily they conjure within you the belief that, if set loose on your customers, they will win them over just as readily — along with their business. Don’t know much about wine? No problem — you can always learn. Besides, we’re selling boxes here. There’s lots of “geeks” out there, not many “closers”. Just read the sell sheet and work your magic, right?
But it doesn’t work that way, and the best sales managers in the business know the secret. Real “control”, real sales excellence, flows from the command of product and category knowledge that allows the elite beverage sales professional to quickly analyze the situation, learn the customer’s needs, match those needs with the features and benefits of the products in her portfolio, and close the sale. Without it, armed with only swagger and charm, how can a salesperson divine the customer’s true needs? Because it is in there, the understanding and acknowledgement of their needs, where true confidence is grown. How frustrating is it when you call an IT department or customer service hotline, and they can’t even understand what your issue is? Forget about the real desired result, fixing the problem — now on top of being inconvenienced by your IT difficulty, you are raging out over the inability of a supposed “professional” to even understand what it is you are asking them.
Now think of the best IT professional in your company. The best customer service representative. How many of you hang up when you call IT and don’t get your person? Or have their personal cell so that you can get to them directly and circumvent the system altogether? Now that you know what I’m talking about, tell me, how much value would there be for you in sales if you commanded knowledge to such a high degree that your customers came to you directly, refusing to work with anyone else, because they knew that you would understand their needs?
“Command, then control.” This is the reason to invest in professional education in beer, wine, and spirits, and it is critical for both retailers and restaurateurs, as well as for suppliers and distributors. It doesn’t matter what your portfolio consists of. Don’t fall into that trap of thinking that a “sales personality” alone can get the job done. Maybe your portfolio is weak in French wines. You might be tempted to think that a professional certification course such as WSET, which has a high emphasis on French wines, will not have an impact on your bottom line. Okay, off the top of your head, just start rattling off some important California varietals. Cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, pinot noir, sauvignon blanc, syrah, merlot…
Every varietal you’ve just named is a French wine varietal. French wine is the lingua franca of the world of wine. How can you hope to know intuitively and completely your customer’s needs without knowledge of these varietals, where they originate, why they taste the way they do, how they taste different in climates other than in their places of origin? How well do you think a salesman with no contextual knowledge of French wine would do in a sales situation where a customer wants to feature a wine “like Sancerre, but less green”?
Yet so many managers keep committing the same mistake over and over of believing that an elite salesman can sell on price or charm alone, reading from a sell sheet, if they just have that sweet sales magic on their lips. This is not the case. For managers, investing in your team’s education is not a luxury. It is imperative to your success. Without the command, there is no real control, and there is failure.
The person you interviewed who was a little quieter, a bit more introverted, who didn’t quite “fill the room”, but had the really impressive knowledge… this is the person to put into some simulated sales exercises in your hiring processes. Give them a chance to wow the top wine experts you can throw at them, when they respond instantly and intuitively as they state their needs. See how quickly they reach into the deepest parts of their portfolio to SELL the customer, time and time again. Their command of knowledge gives them the opportunity to control, and close the sale.
I’m proud to work for a wholesaler who understands the value of sending out a Sales Force with command of a broad range of knowledge-areas. We’ve brought WSET under our roof as an Approved Program Provider, and over the past year I have been proud to certify over half our Force so far at Level 2 in both Wine and Spirits and the Spirits-specific program. As managers we are enjoying the newfound control our sales force has in the trade — and they are enjoying the increased commission dollars as well!
