Getting Specialty Wine Stores To Market My Custom Wine Cellars?

Mike Finley

I am getting ready to do a custom wine cellar for someone's home, hopefully the real deal, temperature & humidity controlled, custom built racks, cabinets, boxed wood ceiling ect, depends on his budget, but I may reduce my price to whatever it takes to get this one done just for his reference, referrals and to get it into my portfolio.

I have been wondering how to get other clients who would be interested in something like this. It came to me that people who have expensive wine and want to properly store it probably frequent the higher end specialty wine shops. So I'm wondering how I can get my services in front of these people through the wine shops. I don't really believe that just introducing myself to the owner and showing him what I can do and promising him a referral fee is really going to do too much for me. Over time he will just forget about me or lose my contact info.

Anybody have any ideas or has had successes with something similar?

Glasshousebltr

See if he will let you distribute flyers at the register.

I'd use a really nice flyer for those higher end folks like "wineothians".

Get the manager or owner to agree to throw one in the bag when they see someone buying somthing other than Richards Grape or Colt 45.

Bob

Grumpy

First make brochures. Next meet with the managers of the stores and request to put the brochures in their stores. Offer a referral fee for each person who contacts you. Tell them their business card can be stamped or stickered to the back of your brochure. Definetly a proessionally designed brochure professionally printed.

Maybe offer to build them one for really cheap if you can put your name all over it.

Mike Finley

Along the lines you guys are suggesting, I was considering paying for counter space and offering a referral. Do up a kick ass brochure, get some of those little brochure stands and offer the owner maybe an initial $50-$150 to put it on his counter for 3 months or as long as I can get out of him, along with that offer some kind of monetary referal fee, I would figure if the owner gets his first referal fee he would be more than happy to keep it on his counter after that. If I don't at least get some calls or something in the first 3 months at a store, that would either qualify that the store is not a good source of the customers I want, or the entire idea is just goofy to begin with.

Grumpy

Another thing is don't pick low end stores that don't even sell good wines. Only pick stores that have high end wines, or a very large wine variety.