Sunday, July 20 2008

LD Carlson Retailer Conference--Cleveland Rocks!

The roar of the crowd!

I'm blogging this from the Carnegie room at the fabulous Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Cleveland, where I'm speaking at the LD Carlson annual retailer conference. Carlson is our US distributor, and has been since the 1980's. Over the years I've worked with a lot of other companies and distributors, and the folks at LD are a dream. They give their dealers excellent service, deliver on time every time, and really 'get' the home winemaking business. They really are the key to the success of Winexpert's products in the USA, and the growth of the whole industry.

David from LD, handing down wisdom

In the morning I spoke about Limited Edition tasting events, and using them to improve your customer service and value-added marketing. It went pretty well, although I started off a little weak. I don't understand why: I was up very late last night practising tasting, over and over again at Bar Cento, down the street from out hotel. You'd think staying up till 2 am like that would have left me better prepared!

After lunch I'm did a Q&A session on kit technology and troubleshooting, which was excellent: lots of fantastic questions, all relevant and timely. I've been doing Q&A sessions for my American retailers for years, and they've progressively gotten more insightful and thoughtful every single year. It makes me feel so validated!

In a few minutes I'm doing another lecture on kit positioning and marketing. It sounds a little dry on paper, but I'm hopeful that it will help folks find the right wine kits for the right customer. After that, I collapse in a heap, I think, and then it's a mingler over at Progressive Field across the street. Oh, the exotic romance and excitement!

Later on I think we'll run out for beverages and chit-chat at the local watering holes–Cleveland rocks!

Posted by Tim AT 8:13PM

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