Wine Sales Job

[Thomas]

NorCal...

A lot depends on the winery's commitment to a good sales effort. For instance, I once was approached by a small winery that heard I could sell wine. I was asked to take on the winery (part time) on a commission basis--I stopped working on straight commission years ago, for various reasons, but the main reason resides in the following conversation I had with that winery owner.

Me: "So, what will you pay?"

Him: "$8 a case."

Me: "Not great money, but not so bad if I am not relying on it for all my income. Is there a placement bonus?"

Him: "Yes. In fact, we want to do something different. We will offer a bonus for the second and third placements."

Me: "That's interesting, and appealing too. What will you be doing to back me up?"

Him: "What do you mean--back you up?"

Me: "Well, I make the first placement with the retailer, but consumers know little or nothing about your wine. If you do not have a promotion or marketing plan, how will anyone learn about your wine, and how will I get the next two placements if the first one doesn't move. Remember, you want me to sell to the retailer, not to the consumer. How does the wine get sold to the consumer?"

Him: "I hadn't thought about it that way."

He should have, and so should you before taking a commission-only job. And also, remember that small wineries often haven't much promotion money, so you likely will have to spend lots of time "selling" also to the consumer: doing wine tastings at the store and elsewhere, for which you will not be paid.

Again, it depends on the winery, but selling wine at distribution level is not a piece of cake.