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News from the Ontario Vines
Fred Couch
Do Ontario Wineries Need “Secret Shoppers”?
With over 175 wineries in Ontario, what sets one winery apart from another when you are planning a visit to a wine region? Of course, everyone has a different reason for going to a winery. It may be just to purchase a bottle of wine and the experience isn't important. It may be that you are visiting a winery for the first time as part of a wine country tour. What will make you return to this winery? The wines may be great but if you didn't enjoy the experience, would you go back? By way of a long introduction, I think it comes down to customer service.
Living in the heart of Niagara's wine country, my wife and I have occasion to visit wineries quite often. It could be that we are entertaining people from out of town who have never visited a local winery. Where do we take them? It's usually to wineries where we've had a pleasant experience and this is usually as a result of how the staff interacts with the customer. Now, I'm not suggesting that we should expect personal service each time we visit because we realize that a number of larger wineries will get thousands of customers over a weekend. How do these wineries deal with these numbers and still provide a pleasant experience? Wineries such as Inniskillin, Jackson Triggs, Peller Estates, Hillebrand, Chateau des Charmes and others will have a greeter at the door or entrance way. This person welcomes you to the winery and lets you know about tours, tastings or special events. However, the smaller wineries do not usually have the staff to have a full time greeter. In these cases, it's important for the staff to, at least, acknowledge that a customer has come into the building. This could be a nod, a wave or eye contact. The worst thing is to be completely ignored and this has happened to us on many occasions and we just don't go back to these wineries or recommend them to visitors.
How do winery owners and managers know if their staff is providing good customer service without being there all the time? Well, the Wine Council of Ontario started a “secret shoppers” program a number of years ago. These shoppers will judge the winery staff on customer service and the overall winery experience. The employees are told how they did and knowing that they may be reviewed from time to time is a good way of reminding the staff of this important part of their job. Unfortunately, not all wineries belong to the Wine Council. For these wineries, it might be a good idea to have some unknown person visit the winery and report back to the owner if customer service is not up to par. I've reported bad instances to winery owners or managers and found they really appreciated the feedback.
What are some of the wineries that provide a great winery experience? Besides the larger wineries that I've previously mentioned, I would recommend Fielding Estate Winery, Vineland Estates Winery (this year's Ontario Wine Society – Niagara Chapter's hospitality award recipient), Karlo Estates in Prince Edward County, Malivoire Wine, Thirty Bench Winemakers, Cattail Creek Estate Winery, Tawse Winery and Calamus Estate Winery. Of course, this isn't a complete list but a good introduction to some of the Ontario wineries that go out of their way to make the customer feel welcome.
In conclusion, do Ontario Wineries really need “secret shoppers”? In an ideal world, probably not, since we should expect a pleasant experience each time. The reality is that not all employees see customer service as a priority and they're there just to collect a pay cheque. The secret shoppers program is one way to help improve the situation and provide feedback to the owners and managers.
Retyrn To Fred's Current Report
- photos by Fred Couch additional photos
- Please see Bob's View Hospitality
Previous Articles by F.G. Couch
~ Wine and Chocolate
~ Prince Edward County~ Summer 2010
~ May 2010
~ April 2010~ March 2010
~ Feb 2010
~ Jan 2010~ Dec 2009
~ Aug 1 2009
~ Sept 2009
~ Calamus Estate Winery
~ Oct 09 Grape King
~ Nov 09
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