027 – An American Under the Tuscan Sun with Jayne Wagner of Hickory Creek Winery
Jayne’s background includes over 25 years in advertising media. She began working for advertising agencies, then moved into print and digital advertising sales for national magazines including Reader’s Digest, Good Housekeeping, Harper’s Bazaar and Bon Appetit.
The work life was intense and called for frequent travel. After having been in NYC on 9/11 and then facing cancer 3 years later (fortunately diagnosed early), her desire to find a better life balance became a priority.
Jayne and her husband, Eric bought a weekend farm and vineyard retreat in SW Michigan 11 years ago, and became interested in making wine. They purchased Hickory Creek Winery 4 years ago and have since tripled sales in the tasting room.
Eric handles the winemaking and vineyard work. Jayne does all the marketing, sales, events, and managing of the tasting room.
Jayne take, “It’s truly been a labor of love…with lots of blood, sweat and tears … but it is so rewarding to actually create and sell a beautiful product we crafted ourselves!”
Motivational Quote
Business Inspiration
The journey to buying a winery [6:08]
Renovation of the property to become a working business [8:30]
A Candle Flickering Moment
Overcoming being vulnerable to an uncontrolable element [10:12]
What moves the sales needle?
A big suggestion on how to hire [13:42]
The impact of a member only area [17:55]
Business Building Insight
What to do about your weaknesses [23:08]
The Zingerman 10 Second Rule [27:29]
Success Trait
Authentically curious and empathetic [22:02]
Productivity/Lifestyle Tool
Google Drive – A file storage and synchronization service that allows users to store files in the cloud, share files, and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations with collaborators.
Google Calendar – A time-management web application and mobile app.
Valuable Book
Zingerman’s Guide to Giving Great Service by Ari Weinzweig
Contact Links
If you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe and leave a review in Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. That helps us spread the word to more makers just like you. Thanks! Sue
Transcript
Gift biz unwrapped episode 27.
Speaker:It's brought in a huge stream of revenue for us that
Speaker:was so easily implemented.
Speaker:Hi, This is John Lee,
Speaker:Dumas of entrepreneur on fire,
Speaker:and you're listening to gift to biz unwrapped,
Speaker:and now it's time to light it.
Speaker:Welcome to gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped your source for industry specific insights and advice to develop
Speaker:and grow your business.
Speaker:And now here's your host,
Speaker:Sue Monheit hi there and welcome to unwrapped podcast.
Speaker:Whether you own a brick and mortar store sell online Or
Speaker:are just getting started,
Speaker:you'll discover new insight to gain traction and to grow your
Speaker:business. And today I'm joined by Jane Wagner.
Speaker:Jane's background includes over 25 years in advertising media.
Speaker:She began working for advertising agencies and then moved into the
Speaker:print and digital advertising sales position for national magazines,
Speaker:including reader's digest.
Speaker:Good housekeeping,
Speaker:Harper's bizarre and bone Appetit.
Speaker:The work-life was intense and called for frequent travel.
Speaker:How many of us can relate to that?
Speaker:After having been in New York city on nine 11 and
Speaker:then facing cancer three years later,
Speaker:fortunately diagnosed early her desire to find a better life balance
Speaker:became a priority.
Speaker:Jane and her husband,
Speaker:Eric bought a weekend farm and vineyard retreat in Southwest Michigan
Speaker:about 11 years ago and became interested in making wine.
Speaker:They purchased Hickory Creek winery four years ago and have since
Speaker:tripled sales in the tasting room,
Speaker:Eric handles the wine making and vineyard work.
Speaker:And Jane does all the marketing sales events and managing of
Speaker:the tasting room.
Speaker:Jane's take on the business.
Speaker:It's truly been a labor of love,
Speaker:lots of blood,
Speaker:sweat, and tears,
Speaker:but it is certainly so rewarding to actually create and sell
Speaker:a beautiful product that we crafted ourselves.
Speaker:Welcome to the show,
Speaker:Jane. Thanks.
Speaker:I'm excited.
Speaker:Sue, is There anything you'd like to add to your intro
Speaker:before we get started?
Speaker:I think You've covered it very well.
Speaker:The only thing I neglected to tell you is that we
Speaker:also, as part of the winery property,
Speaker:we rent out a guest house and instead of calling it
Speaker:bed and breakfast,
Speaker:we call it bed and wine.
Speaker:So it's BMW.
Speaker:Oh, I love that.
Speaker:As our listeners know,
Speaker:we like to align the conversation around the life of a
Speaker:motivational candle.
Speaker:The light shines on you while you share your stories and
Speaker:experiences. So Jane,
Speaker:shall we,
Speaker:I'm not even going to say light it up.
Speaker:Shall we drink and light the candle at the same time?
Speaker:Yes. Sounds wonderful.
Speaker:So let's pretend I'm walking into your tasting room.
Speaker:I'm going to envision a beautiful Woodline room and you've got
Speaker:some wine lined up for us to taste.
Speaker:And you've also got a beautiful candle sitting on the tasting
Speaker:table. What color is that candle?
Speaker:Well, It would be my favorite color,
Speaker:which is turquoise.
Speaker:What about turquoise?
Speaker:Do you love?
Speaker:I've always loved family of blue colors and for some reason
Speaker:it's always attracted me.
Speaker:And it's interesting because I'm born in December and I guess
Speaker:that's the gym for that month.
Speaker:So I don't know.
Speaker:Maybe there's some truth in that and assigning a gym.
Speaker:It, Yeah,
Speaker:we got the same birthday month I might add.
Speaker:Oh, great.
Speaker:Well, mine's new year's Eve.
Speaker:So I'm a little earlier.
Speaker:You can,
Speaker:you get to have a big party every year.
Speaker:And what is the motivational quote that would be on that
Speaker:candle? It'd be one from Gandhi.
Speaker:And I truly believe this that a man is,
Speaker:but a product of his thoughts and what he thinks he
Speaker:becomes. And I can say that's been the case since I
Speaker:was a child and not even really conscious of that,
Speaker:but it just is,
Speaker:things have turned out that way.
Speaker:It's crazy.
Speaker:It's that law of attraction type thing.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:Well, I talked a lot in your intro about the advancement
Speaker:of your career from being in advertising sales and then happening
Speaker:upon this whole new venture that you have.
Speaker:But let's talk about a little bit.
Speaker:Can you give us some more details,
Speaker:start from when you thought,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I'm going to change this up.
Speaker:I don't want to travel anymore.
Speaker:Advertising sales now is something that I want to move out
Speaker:of and into something else.
Speaker:How did you get into this whole app?
Speaker:Is the idea of a vineyard?
Speaker:Well, yeah,
Speaker:it just fell into place,
Speaker:basically, because as you mentioned after the events of being in
Speaker:New York on nine 11 and being with a group of
Speaker:people who actually lost loved ones at the time and all
Speaker:that emotion surrounding that I've found after that trauma,
Speaker:actually, I wasn't able to travel very well without having panic
Speaker:attacks and anxiety.
Speaker:And I started thinking about the career that I was in.
Speaker:I loved it,
Speaker:but it was highly stressful and I just really wasn't enjoying
Speaker:it as much.
Speaker:When I started in advertising sales,
Speaker:it really was a business of relationships,
Speaker:which I loved.
Speaker:And as things have transpired,
Speaker:it's really become more about numbers and really not even face-to-face
Speaker:contact anymore and expense cows cut back.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:you really couldn't do the fun stuff and fostering that.
Speaker:That's one of the things I love.
Speaker:I love people.
Speaker:I have an intense curiosity about people and what they do.
Speaker:So it really wasn't as fulfilling anymore.
Speaker:I actually was able to fortunately cut back and do sort
Speaker:of part-time gigs where I would fill in for people in
Speaker:ad sales that were on maternity leave or taking some kind
Speaker:of medical family leave that sort of thing.
Speaker:So I would do three month stints at different magazines and
Speaker:only fund,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:do that and do it short term.
Speaker:And you could always walk away at the end and it
Speaker:was a well-paid.
Speaker:And I did that for a few years.
Speaker:And then eventually my husband,
Speaker:who is also a veterinarian needed a new practice manager vet
Speaker:clinic. And so I decided to take that leap and go
Speaker:in there and help him with that.
Speaker:At the same time,
Speaker:we were looking to really find a place,
Speaker:sort of a retreat we could go to over the weekend.
Speaker:And we found a farm in Michigan and ended up just
Speaker:loving going there.
Speaker:We would travel every weekend.
Speaker:We started up a vineyard,
Speaker:we started doing some beekeeping.
Speaker:We just were really enjoying the rural life.
Speaker:Okay, wait So back up a minute.
Speaker:So you want to find a retreat really just to go,
Speaker:to, to be able to get away on the weekends.
Speaker:Right. Right.
Speaker:And so at what point did it turn into this is
Speaker:going to be a business that we're going to develop.
Speaker:How did that all happen?
Speaker:You didn't just wake up one morning and all of a
Speaker:sudden you have the business.
Speaker:Right? Right.
Speaker:So we were getting into growing grapes.
Speaker:We planted a vineyard.
Speaker:Actually my husband did all the work.
Speaker:We bought a 40 acre farm.
Speaker:And part of that,
Speaker:we had vines on there.
Speaker:We planted some mines and then we became a Lot just
Speaker:as a hobby.
Speaker:Yeah. And then we got,
Speaker:we got more interested in wine making my husband has always
Speaker:been into that and making,
Speaker:crafting beer wine,
Speaker:you name it,
Speaker:his undergraduates microbiology.
Speaker:So you love making things.
Speaker:So I would help him out.
Speaker:And we loved,
Speaker:there was a wine trail in the area near our farm,
Speaker:and we would visit the different wineries and they all grow
Speaker:fruit locally and were able to craft wines that were as
Speaker:good as what you would get in Europe because it's similar
Speaker:climate characteristics.
Speaker:We heard about a winery that was for sale.
Speaker:And we ended up taking the leap.
Speaker:We thought,
Speaker:oh, this would be sort of a fun,
Speaker:what we thought kind of semi-retirement hobby thing to do.
Speaker:And while still keeping our life in the Chicago area,
Speaker:we'd go back and forth every week.
Speaker:And so we took on the winery,
Speaker:it was a big project.
Speaker:It was kind of run down.
Speaker:It had been neglected for a few years and it's been
Speaker:about four years now and it's just been nose to the
Speaker:grindstone, keeping it going.
Speaker:And now it's really taken off.
Speaker:So what were the differences initially,
Speaker:if it was a hobby and that's where you and Eric
Speaker:could kind of get your fingers wet,
Speaker:if you will,
Speaker:and all the grapes,
Speaker:you're doing it for fun,
Speaker:but what changes or what realizations did you have making a
Speaker:switch from being a hobby to being a business?
Speaker:I guess One of the biggest things was seeing immediate results
Speaker:from the improvements that we were making.
Speaker:We jumped in the deep end.
Speaker:They're not really realizing how much work is truly involved because
Speaker:with a winery and vineyard,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you actually grow the product,
Speaker:you make the product and you sell the product.
Speaker:There are so many aspects to that.
Speaker:So you Had to purchase equipment.
Speaker:Then if you were going to really turn it into a
Speaker:business, Yes,
Speaker:we had to purchase some equipment.
Speaker:Now there was some there,
Speaker:but we had to purchase additional equipment.
Speaker:We had to expand the space,
Speaker:the production area wasn't large enough.
Speaker:And it wasn't really to code.
Speaker:We had to cover their production area and close that.
Speaker:And then we had to rip out five acres of mines.
Speaker:We are slowly replanting.
Speaker:Those, those had been neglected and covered in poison Ivy.
Speaker:So that,
Speaker:and then we also had to tend to the actual revenue
Speaker:producing area,
Speaker:which is in our tasting room and kind of spiff that
Speaker:up. I had to hire new staff,
Speaker:expand staff,
Speaker:train them,
Speaker:and then also reach out to restaurants and get our product
Speaker:out to stores and restaurants primarily in the Chicago area.
Speaker:So that involved also my calling on restaurants,
Speaker:going door to door and selling to some of your sales.
Speaker:Exactly. Which I love,
Speaker:which you said you loved.
Speaker:Yeah. Yes,
Speaker:yes, exactly.
Speaker:So face to face in the tasting room and then also
Speaker:outside in the,
Speaker:the restaurant.
Speaker:And like I said,
Speaker:store market,
Speaker:But it sounds like a lot of work,
Speaker:but terribly exciting.
Speaker:It was so exciting.
Speaker:The first summer there,
Speaker:we had a huge heat wave,
Speaker:the grapes,
Speaker:like the heat and the sunshine.
Speaker:So we had a tremendous harvest.
Speaker:So the first year was just a whirlwind of activity,
Speaker:excitement, the big harvest.
Speaker:And my husband loved that,
Speaker:crafting all the different wines.
Speaker:And then in subsequent years,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:we've had challenges because of this polar vortex that came down
Speaker:over the great lakes that we've lost a lot of vines
Speaker:and it's very heartbreaking and we've been exposed to what it's
Speaker:really like to be a farmer and not being in control.
Speaker:So what Did you do about that?
Speaker:That leads perfectly into my next question,
Speaker:in that when you start a business,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you think you can lay everything out and it's going to
Speaker:be absolutely perfect.
Speaker:And everything's going to run according to plan and all that.
Speaker:And as we certainly know about farming,
Speaker:which is what wine making of course is,
Speaker:is you're alluding to,
Speaker:there are those struggles,
Speaker:whether that you can not control.
Speaker:So what did you do about that?
Speaker:Well, You just have to be incredibly adaptable.
Speaker:You figure out ways around it.
Speaker:Now we were fortunate.
Speaker:We took a gamble on our first two harvest.
Speaker:We harvest as much as we could.
Speaker:We do source grapes from local vineyards.
Speaker:So we'll get,
Speaker:say a Pinot noir,
Speaker:grape from a vineyard.
Speaker:We know that has great.
Speaker:Puno, Nawara,
Speaker:we'll get a recycling from another vineyard all within like a
Speaker:10 mile radius of the winery.
Speaker:And we contracted and we spent a lot of money,
Speaker:made a huge investment,
Speaker:but we thought let's just go,
Speaker:why the going's good?
Speaker:And let's bring in all these grapes,
Speaker:which was great because then the last two years,
Speaker:last year,
Speaker:there was no harvest.
Speaker:It was so sad.
Speaker:And this year we're going to have a small,
Speaker:like a modest harvest.
Speaker:And a lot of the other wineries in the area are
Speaker:having to actually bring in juice from the west coast,
Speaker:California, Oregon,
Speaker:Washington. They literally take semis and pack them with wine juice,
Speaker:and then ship them over here.
Speaker:And that's what we just have to do.
Speaker:If you want to have products,
Speaker:Then it still goes through your process in terms of the
Speaker:wine creation.
Speaker:Correct. So then you,
Speaker:can, you still put the label on as it's yours,
Speaker:right. And then do you have to make any mention of
Speaker:where the grapes Come from?
Speaker:Yeah. That's another really complicated part about being in any kind
Speaker:of liquor industry is a government regulations that bureaucracy involved with
Speaker:that. But it's good though,
Speaker:because you do have to list it as American.
Speaker:So you don't source your local.
Speaker:What's called American viticulture area,
Speaker:which is our lake,
Speaker:Michigan shore and Michigan.
Speaker:Normally we put that on the bottle,
Speaker:but because let's say the grapes don't come at the tos,
Speaker:doesn't come from our area.
Speaker:Then we can just say American table wine or whatever.
Speaker:So I see.
Speaker:Okay. Yeah.
Speaker:That makes sense.
Speaker:Is there any other challenges that you've had as you've been
Speaker:building the business that you think you have some advice or
Speaker:some guidance for our listeners who are just starting off in
Speaker:business, Really all about service,
Speaker:particularly in the wine industry.
Speaker:What we've learned is that it's about the experience.
Speaker:It's not necessarily serving up the best wine or intimidating people
Speaker:say when they come in,
Speaker:like, oh,
Speaker:we got the finest wine.
Speaker:It's more about making it a real destination experience.
Speaker:If people find it romantic,
Speaker:they find it really interesting.
Speaker:Of course,
Speaker:everyone loves to drink wine or most people do anyway and
Speaker:it's educational.
Speaker:But we also are finding that it's becoming more of a
Speaker:destination for root parties,
Speaker:like bachelorette parties,
Speaker:wedding parties,
Speaker:that sort of thing I learned early on.
Speaker:It was all about hiring staff for their personality.
Speaker:Not necessarily for their knowledge because you can train people,
Speaker:but you can't train personality.
Speaker:Oh, that's a really good point.
Speaker:And so what are you looking at as you go through
Speaker:the interview process?
Speaker:What are your signals that this is a go or a
Speaker:no-go a lot Of it is that people that seek us
Speaker:out the best hires that I've had,
Speaker:or people that have come to me and said,
Speaker:well, I want to work here.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I love mine.
Speaker:This is what I want to do.
Speaker:And I make sure,
Speaker:okay, you know,
Speaker:you love wine,
Speaker:but have you worked in a service or hospitality industry,
Speaker:that sort of thing.
Speaker:It's a very demanding job.
Speaker:You have to be up for six hours and sometimes it
Speaker:can be difficult.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:people sometimes are a little overserved.
Speaker:You're legally bound to make sure you don't serve that person
Speaker:anymore wine.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:sometimes it's tough.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I've never been a bartender,
Speaker:but you really,
Speaker:you have to be on and keeping them happy,
Speaker:but also towing the line that they don't get overserved and
Speaker:that sort of thing.
Speaker:So it's someone that's going to be very energetic and also
Speaker:very positive and definitely love people.
Speaker:When we first purchased the winery,
Speaker:there were a couple of staff,
Speaker:people that were there from the old regime that we kept
Speaker:on and one of the salespeople was a little bit,
Speaker:I'd have to say she was burnt out.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:she was moody and she gets,
Speaker:she was sort of impatient and tolerant.
Speaker:And I read all of our reviews.
Speaker:I think that's a very important to go to Yelp and
Speaker:TripAdvisor and read,
Speaker:get the feedback as much feedback as you.
Speaker:And a couple of times people were mentioning that.
Speaker:So we talked to this employee and she decided that,
Speaker:yes, maybe it wasn't the best thing for her.
Speaker:She ended up leaving.
Speaker:And actually it was a much better situation now,
Speaker:but it is a job that requires a distinct personality type.
Speaker:And it's definitely gonna have to be someone that's passionate about
Speaker:getting to know people and having fun.
Speaker:And at the same time,
Speaker:not have too much fun.
Speaker:You're responsible to Right.
Speaker:And give biz listeners.
Speaker:I want to point out what Jane's talking about here.
Speaker:A couple of really interesting things to keep in mind when
Speaker:you're interviewing people.
Speaker:When you get to the point where you're hiring on,
Speaker:or you've taken on a staff that was there before,
Speaker:as Jane had,
Speaker:you need to talk to everybody and make sure personality versus
Speaker:experience. That's an interesting perspective.
Speaker:And I think all of us for each of our individual
Speaker:businesses needs to weight that,
Speaker:but a very interesting perspective in terms of personality,
Speaker:especially if you're working one-on-one with customers.
Speaker:Secondly, your other point was making sure you're reading what customers
Speaker:are saying.
Speaker:You've got to tap into whether it's Yelp or Facebook or
Speaker:TripAdvisor, wherever it is,
Speaker:and make sure you're on top of what the reputation is.
Speaker:That's building for you online.
Speaker:And finally,
Speaker:I think,
Speaker:and I will pat you on the back Jane,
Speaker:because a lot of people struggle if they find an employee
Speaker:that she probably loved her job in the beginning,
Speaker:but it just,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you start to burn out for one reason or another,
Speaker:but you know,
Speaker:taking care of those situations sooner versus later,
Speaker:and you were saying too,
Speaker:that she also needed to move on and she's in a
Speaker:happier place and your much better off as well.
Speaker:So taking action quickly,
Speaker:if you're finding that you have an employee that maybe has
Speaker:just run his or her time with the business.
Speaker:Yeah. It's true.
Speaker:And actually my husband he's really good at handling that cause
Speaker:I do not like conflict.
Speaker:I'm a salesperson at heart.
Speaker:So did you push it off on him?
Speaker:He got,
Speaker:he got to have the conversation probably Kiko.
Speaker:Yeah, he did.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I followed up,
Speaker:but he is so skilled at that.
Speaker:And I guess having been a veterinarian and having to tell
Speaker:people bad news a lot,
Speaker:but then I kind of follow up with her and we
Speaker:did it provide that compassion.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:she was a dedicated employee.
Speaker:I offered her other opportunities within the winery that she'd be
Speaker:good at,
Speaker:but she just decided that she needed to move on and
Speaker:do something.
Speaker:She's actually one of our best customers.
Speaker:Now she comes once a year and buys a couple of
Speaker:thousand dollars worth of wine.
Speaker:She loves the wine.
Speaker:And so it's kind of funny how it all worked Out.
Speaker:You clearly handled the situation properly.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:just because someone is no longer going to work with you
Speaker:anymore doesn't mean that it has to be cutting the ties
Speaker:and a bad scene at all.
Speaker:Exactly. Yeah.
Speaker:Is there a promotion or an event that you could share
Speaker:with our listeners of something that you might have done that
Speaker:helped move the needle in terms of sales?
Speaker:Yeah. And this isn't anything brand new,
Speaker:but it somewhat is new to the area where our winery's
Speaker:located and that is we established a wine club and what
Speaker:we find is people really want to feel a sense of
Speaker:community. We would just leave out a book for people to
Speaker:sign up,
Speaker:just to get on our email list.
Speaker:And almost everyone that visited the winery wanted to be on
Speaker:our email list just to get information.
Speaker:And the thing about wine clubs is it's basically helps sustain
Speaker:you through the months when you're not as busy.
Speaker:And that's going to be November through April.
Speaker:We don't have as many customers coming in.
Speaker:It's definitely a downtime.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:what do we do to keep our,
Speaker:our staff busy?
Speaker:What can we do to keep the revenue flowing?
Speaker:And the wine club has been tremendous.
Speaker:We do a mailing just twice a year and people can
Speaker:either have the mine shipped to their home or we'll have
Speaker:pickup parties.
Speaker:We call them at the winery where they can come and
Speaker:pick up their wine club shipment.
Speaker:And then I have some snacks out there,
Speaker:maybe some music,
Speaker:that sort of thing.
Speaker:It's brought in a huge stream of revenue for us that
Speaker:was so easily implemented.
Speaker:Well, you're talking to people who already love your product.
Speaker:They do,
Speaker:But a lot of times too,
Speaker:it's they just want to be part of the winery.
Speaker:They want to come by our staff.
Speaker:They remember faces,
Speaker:they'll greet them.
Speaker:They'll come have a glass of wine on a Sunday afternoon,
Speaker:sit outside,
Speaker:hang out.
Speaker:And that's what we're looking for.
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:And that's what sets us apart,
Speaker:maybe from some of the other wineries,
Speaker:because we are smaller.
Speaker:We're just,
Speaker:we're much more connected to these customers.
Speaker:So that's been a terrific thing.
Speaker:And I think people are really seeking that nowadays.
Speaker:They want to find a community somehow.
Speaker:And if you can provide that in some way to your
Speaker:customers, I think you'll get an edge over some of the
Speaker:other stores.
Speaker:And it's so easy nowadays with database and social media and
Speaker:all of that too.
Speaker:So no excuse not to.
Speaker:Sure. And it also makes your customers feel special.
Speaker:They get to be included in this group.
Speaker:And then do you offer them any product discounts?
Speaker:Yes. Oh yeah,
Speaker:we definitely do.
Speaker:There's the incentives,
Speaker:we offer discounts depending on how many bottles of wine goes
Speaker:with their shipment,
Speaker:we call it or pickup.
Speaker:And then also we built a private members' lounge.
Speaker:We renovated an area upstairs,
Speaker:so people can go and hang out.
Speaker:We've got leather couches there and sort of a rustic farmhouse
Speaker:look. And so when it gets really busy in the tasting
Speaker:room, the members can go to a separate area and have
Speaker:a quiet glass of wine or chat with some of the
Speaker:staff, that sort of thing.
Speaker:Wow. That's really special.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:it makes people want to be loyal to you and again,
Speaker:makes them feel so good that they're being identified as kind
Speaker:of a priority because they have supported you.
Speaker:Yes, exactly.
Speaker:Yeah. And then they bring their friends.
Speaker:We also offer free tastings depending on the membership level we'll
Speaker:offer, you know,
Speaker:you can bring two of friends along for free or for,
Speaker:for tastes and that sort of thing.
Speaker:So it introduces new people too.
Speaker:Yeah. It introduces new people and it creates loyalty.
Speaker:People are going to stick with you,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:it all goes back to what you were talking about before
Speaker:the relationships.
Speaker:Right. Right.
Speaker:So think about that gift biz listeners.
Speaker:What are you doing for your business?
Speaker:Do you have a special community that you've created that helps
Speaker:people be loyal to your business and things that you're giving
Speaker:something special back to them in return?
Speaker:So what Jane has made and I just wanted like get
Speaker:in my car and drive out there right now.
Speaker:It's beautiful right now with the leaves Changing and all,
Speaker:as we're doing this interview,
Speaker:everybody, it's just the beginning of October and you were saying
Speaker:it's harvest season.
Speaker:So I think after you jump off this call,
Speaker:you said,
Speaker:you're going to be driving out there right now.
Speaker:So lots going on a lot of activity there right now.
Speaker:Yeah. And it's beautiful with the leaves changing and you can
Speaker:smell the grapes because there are a lot of Concord grapes
Speaker:in the area too.
Speaker:It smells like Welch's spectate,
Speaker:jelly everywhere.
Speaker:So Jane,
Speaker:we're going to move into the reflection section.
Speaker:Now this is a look at you and what's helped you
Speaker:with your success all along the way with your career.
Speaker:What's one natural trait that you have that you think has
Speaker:helped you to succeed.
Speaker:Well, I have an intense curiosity about people and maybe even
Speaker:their businesses.
Speaker:That's something that's always driven me.
Speaker:So I really am very interested.
Speaker:I think it's authentically interested in getting to know people.
Speaker:I inherited those traits from my dad.
Speaker:He was a salesman too.
Speaker:And I think that comes across and I'm also very empathetic.
Speaker:I'm able to put myself in those people's shoes and try
Speaker:to find a solution to whatever they may need.
Speaker:Now that work more obviously in the corporate world.
Speaker:But even to some extent in the winery and the tasting
Speaker:room, we get a lot of people that are never really
Speaker:had any wine before.
Speaker:They're sweet wine drinkers.
Speaker:And I want to introduce them to dry wine,
Speaker:to finer wines,
Speaker:but you don't want to intimidate them or insult them in
Speaker:any way.
Speaker:So you just kind of,
Speaker:you have to kind of feel them out and get them
Speaker:to try some different things.
Speaker:And they remember you for that.
Speaker:So Sure.
Speaker:Cause you're really changing the tasting experience based on who they
Speaker:are and what they've created.
Speaker:Right, exactly.
Speaker:So that,
Speaker:I think that's,
Speaker:what's really been my thing.
Speaker:And also I was able to identify pretty early on in
Speaker:my career.
Speaker:That management is not my thing.
Speaker:I like being a sales person.
Speaker:I like going out on my own.
Speaker:I like having control of the situation.
Speaker:I realized that.
Speaker:And so I've always found people to compliment that.
Speaker:Like I was saying with my husband,
Speaker:he's a great manager.
Speaker:So, you know,
Speaker:he handles certain things better than I do.
Speaker:And so I think it's able being able to identify your
Speaker:strengths to,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:recognizing them.
Speaker:And so I've been able to do that well,
Speaker:And that's a good point to play to your strengths.
Speaker:So many people,
Speaker:if they know,
Speaker:let's say in your example,
Speaker:that you don't really feel like you either have the manager
Speaker:skills or even want to gravitate to that.
Speaker:So many people then will take classes to perfect themselves in
Speaker:a skill that they're lacking versus going with the natural flow
Speaker:of who you are as a person and just sticking with
Speaker:what naturally comes to you and you can advance so much
Speaker:faster. And this is something that I've learned along the way,
Speaker:too. You advance so much faster.
Speaker:If you just take advantage of your natural traits versus your
Speaker:own natural traits versus trying to build up what are less
Speaker:than natural for you because not everyone can Excel in everything.
Speaker:Of course That is so true because everyone feels like I've
Speaker:got to learn how to be a better manager.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:I struggled with that for years.
Speaker:It just wasn't in my makeup.
Speaker:I try to lead by showing I try to set a
Speaker:good example and that's the way I manage things.
Speaker:Really great point.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:And so Jane,
Speaker:what tool do you use regularly to help you keep productive
Speaker:or else help you keep your balance,
Speaker:your life balance?
Speaker:Technically Speaking,
Speaker:I love Google calendar and I love the Google drive because
Speaker:I'm in different places all the time.
Speaker:I'm in Chicago,
Speaker:I'm in Michigan,
Speaker:I'm traveling,
Speaker:whatever. And I like being able to access all that information
Speaker:and share calendars,
Speaker:setting up group appointments at the winery,
Speaker:that sort of stuff with our staff.
Speaker:So we're all on the same page.
Speaker:And How long have you been using that platform?
Speaker:Probably Like three years now.
Speaker:When we first started,
Speaker:we like can written in a notebook and then I'd have
Speaker:to call my tasting room managers.
Speaker:Like what's on the books for this.
Speaker:And I'm like,
Speaker:this is ridiculous to me.
Speaker:So yeah,
Speaker:we got into that.
Speaker:And then my college degree was actually in art graphic design
Speaker:and painting.
Speaker:And for 25 years I did nothing or almost 30 years,
Speaker:nothing with it.
Speaker:And now I'm finding that it's really important that I get
Speaker:back to that.
Speaker:So I'm enjoying painting again.
Speaker:I've done yoga for 30 years.
Speaker:I just feel like in order to have that freedom and
Speaker:creativity in your life to just to get a better perspective,
Speaker:Steve jobs always talked about how we do walking meditation.
Speaker:And I never really realized it until I read his book,
Speaker:but that's kind of what I do too.
Speaker:I'll go on long walks and just reflect on things and
Speaker:I'll go through stuff in my head and it's just sort
Speaker:of a good way to sort things out.
Speaker:I find.
Speaker:So Again is,
Speaker:it's not all about the wine.
Speaker:That'd be about some other things as well.
Speaker:I drink too much wine.
Speaker:Yeah. Wine everywhere I go.
Speaker:I have to have one.
Speaker:I have to try it.
Speaker:That's great too.
Speaker:But yeah,
Speaker:you got to definitely keep tabs on that.
Speaker:Yeah. What book have you read lately that you think our
Speaker:listeners would find value in A lot of the Malcolm Gladwell
Speaker:books? His latest outliers is interesting.
Speaker:And I know that you've talked about that on other podcasts.
Speaker:Back when I worked in advertising sales,
Speaker:a lot of times we would read those books to help
Speaker:educate ourselves.
Speaker:But one book that I find is really,
Speaker:it's very practical and it's fantastic for service is Zingerman's guide
Speaker:to giving great service.
Speaker:And Zingerman's is a deli in Ann Arbor,
Speaker:Michigan. And it hasn't been known for years for its incredible
Speaker:service. And they've been very successful in branched out to catalog
Speaker:work. They sell stuff nationally.
Speaker:Now internationally,
Speaker:even through their catalogs,
Speaker:the fellow that started is actually sort of a motivational speaker
Speaker:or a speaker that goes around and helps train people on
Speaker:giving great service.
Speaker:Someone suggested this book to me when I first bought the
Speaker:winery because I was kind of struggling with like,
Speaker:I knew what to do cause intrinsically I know how to
Speaker:provide great service,
Speaker:but how do I train others?
Speaker:Like practically,
Speaker:what do I do?
Speaker:And this book offers step-by-step advice on how to train your
Speaker:staff. And in retail situations like ours,
Speaker:it's so critical.
Speaker:One thing he talks about is the ten second rule.
Speaker:And this is so true when someone walks in the door,
Speaker:no matter how busy you are,
Speaker:whatever you look up and you establish eye contact with them,
Speaker:you nod your head.
Speaker:You grieve,
Speaker:you say just a second,
Speaker:whatever, but you don't let anyone walk in and not provide
Speaker:that greeting within 10 seconds.
Speaker:It's critical that you let people know that they're welcome when
Speaker:they come in the door.
Speaker:And I especially find that in the winery,
Speaker:it's true because people sometimes are intimidated.
Speaker:They don't know what it's all about.
Speaker:Right? Cause that way you can at least make them feel
Speaker:a little bit included.
Speaker:Even if you're in the middle of something,
Speaker:you've acknowledged their presence.
Speaker:Exactly. Man.
Speaker:How many times have you gone in a store and maybe
Speaker:someone's not looking at you,
Speaker:they're on their cell phone or texting.
Speaker:It's a horrible feeling when that happens,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:and all I can think is boy,
Speaker:I wish I could talk to their manager or the owner.
Speaker:They would die if they knew what was going on right
Speaker:now. Yeah.
Speaker:Or, you know,
Speaker:Someone then feels inferior because if you're paying attention only to
Speaker:the people that you let's say,
Speaker:you're serving wine too.
Speaker:And don't even acknowledge them.
Speaker:It's like,
Speaker:well, what am I,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I've walked in here too.
Speaker:Things like that.
Speaker:And also about how to hire good people.
Speaker:Yeah. Sounds like a great book.
Speaker:Oh, sorry.
Speaker:It's so good.
Speaker:It really is.
Speaker:And it's a great deli too.
Speaker:If you ever get over to Ann Arbor,
Speaker:Michigan, Well,
Speaker:there you go.
Speaker:A little plug for them,
Speaker:right? Yeah.
Speaker:Well, I happened to be there.
Speaker:We over in Niagara falls and we drove back through Detroit
Speaker:area and I said,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:I'm going to stop in Ann Arbor and go to singer
Speaker:mins and test and see how their services lately and sure
Speaker:enough, they were fantastic.
Speaker:So. Well,
Speaker:Good to hear that they're following their own advice then.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:Well gift biz listeners,
Speaker:just as you're listening to the podcast today,
Speaker:you can also listen to audio books with ease.
Speaker:I've teamed up with audible for you to get an audio
Speaker:book. Just like the one Jane is recommending for free.
Speaker:All you need to do is go to gift biz,
Speaker:book.com and make a selection.
Speaker:That's gift biz,
Speaker:book.com. All right,
Speaker:Jane, I'm sad to say that our time is beginning to
Speaker:wind down.
Speaker:We've arrived at the dare to dream question.
Speaker:I'd like to present you with a virtual gift.
Speaker:It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.
Speaker:This is your dream or your goal of almost unreachable Heights
Speaker:that you would wish to obtain.
Speaker:Please accept this gift and open it in our presence.
Speaker:What is inside?
Speaker:Well, I have to say more time.
Speaker:It's not the most original thing,
Speaker:but there's so many things I still want to do.
Speaker:And I really want to travel the world.
Speaker:I want to explore,
Speaker:I really want to do something to improve the world.
Speaker:Somehow. I know making wine and selling it something that's good,
Speaker:but I've always volunteered.
Speaker:And somehow in my next iteration,
Speaker:I really want to do something to provide or service to
Speaker:people or animals in need.
Speaker:So my husband and I talk about that this a little
Speaker:bit further down the road,
Speaker:obviously. Well,
Speaker:it sounds like you've targeted into a category.
Speaker:Yeah, Yeah,
Speaker:yeah, yeah,
Speaker:exactly. Yeah.
Speaker:So you just keep your mind open and,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:see what presents itself as you move on,
Speaker:who knew that you were going to have a winery 20
Speaker:years ago.
Speaker:Exactly. Yeah.
Speaker:I kind of roll with it and see what happens.
Speaker:But I feel like if you follow your passions,
Speaker:it's gonna to,
Speaker:you really love what you're doing.
Speaker:It's going to be a success,
Speaker:but there's also that part you feel like you really need
Speaker:to give back.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:it's really important somehow.
Speaker:I want to work towards that in a way too.
Speaker:Yes, I agree.
Speaker:So how can our listeners get in touch with you at
Speaker:the winery or also at the home that you rent out?
Speaker:I have a website which is Hickory Creek winery.com.
Speaker:And you can get all kinds of information on the website
Speaker:as well as link to our VRB.
Speaker:Oh, it's HomeAway VRVO I don't know if everyone is familiar
Speaker:with that,
Speaker:but that's a vacation rental by owner.
Speaker:If they call it home rental site and get even more
Speaker:details there.
Speaker:And the winery is in Southwest Michigan.
Speaker:We're about an hour and a half from Chicago,
Speaker:so right around the lake.
Speaker:And we also are on Facebook and we're on Twitter.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:we're open daily right now in the winter time though,
Speaker:we do cut back our hours just because a lot of
Speaker:people don't want to travel and all that snow.
Speaker:So Well,
Speaker:it's a beautiful time to visit with the leaves changing colors.
Speaker:It's a nice drive.
Speaker:If any of you are located in the Midwest and want
Speaker:to get out and do something a little bit different.
Speaker:And if you didn't catch all of the contact information,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you can jump over to Jane's show notes,
Speaker:page on a gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com. There we'll have some of the detail of the conversation
Speaker:we've had as well as all the detail of how you
Speaker:can contact her.
Speaker:Thank you so much,
Speaker:Jane, for the valuable gift of sharing your journey.
Speaker:It's such an exciting moment that you're in because your winery
Speaker:is still so new and developing.
Speaker:May your candle always burn bright?
Speaker:Oh, well thank you very much.
Speaker:Yeah, I really appreciate it.
Speaker:Learn how to work smarter while developing and growing your business.
Speaker:Download our guide called 25 tools to enhance your business and
Speaker:life. It's our gift to you and available at gift biz,
Speaker:unwrap.com/tools. Thanks for listening and be sure to join us for
Speaker:the next episode.
Speaker:Would you like to be on the show or do you
Speaker:know someone who can provide valuable insight from their experiences?
Speaker:If so,
Speaker:we'd love to hear from you.
Speaker:All you need to do is submit a form for consideration.
Speaker:You can access the form@giftbizonramped.com
Speaker:forward slash yes.
Speaker:That's gift biz on wrap.com
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