Any business trying to grow and increase their client base needs a customer relationship management (CRM) software program. It’s just a simple fact that even the smallest businesses can’t avoid for very long before keeping track of clients starts to consume the entire day. Wineries are no exception.

The wine industry has a tendency to be reactive with its wine sales after they build a client relationship. The wine industry needs to have a CRM that empowers wineries to take action proactively in their marketing efforts. Salesforce has this ability through the use of marketing automation, data analytics, and AI. Salesforce can use your winery’s historical data of purchases made by clients to predict what products that clients may be interested in. This allows wineries to target specific customers with specific content.

We hear a lot that wineries prefer to use a CRM or a software product that is specific to wineries. That’s a great option if you are just starting out, but you are missing out on a lot of value. It’s no secret that Salesforce’s success comes largely from its ability to be customized to each company’s specific requirements.

To put it plainly, Salesforce can be made into a customized winery CRM. The advantage that Salesforce brings to wineries is the support received from the business and marketing analytics. So, a winery will have the ability to do what we have come to expect from a CRM plus provide these strong tools that are designed to drive more sales through smarter marketing campaigns. Salesforce will feel like your winery CRM, not just a generic winery CRM. There are even winery specific apps available as add-ons to Salesforce. For example, GreatVines is a winery and beverage distributor sales app that helps sales teams manage client data in a more customized way to the beverage industry.

The Salesforce community talks a lot about the idea of having a 360º view of the customer, and the same thinking applies to wine and spirits businesses. The ability to manage all the contact points of a client from one place is essential in a customer’s marketing journey. All points of contact include an online form or response from the winery website, orders, club membership, order history, credit card information, and point-of-sale details from the tasting room. Prospect engagement with marketing content is also essential in understanding the full view of a customer. How many times they open an email, how often they visit certain pages on your website, what information they appear interested in based on website visits and clicked links in marketing emails. These are all things that marketing automation tools offered inside Salesforce can provide to winery marketing managers.

Salesforce offers further customization with access to the AppExchange and multiple additional product integrations. Mirketa offers several apps on the AppExchange that provide solutions for sales cycle analytics (Delphi), sales lead distribution (Round Robin Distributor, RRD), duplicate customer records management (DSM), and obtaining reports from Salesforce for non-Salesforce users (eCourier). There are also many products available directly from Salesforce. Pardot, for example, is an extremely powerful email marketing product that allows marketing teams to create campaigns customized down to the individual prospect. Einstein Analytics is also available as Salesforce’s AI solution to aid sales teams in targeting prospects with greater precision. Salesforce even integrates with CellarPass, one of the most used guest management tools for delivering a great brand experience to club members and VIP guests for the wine and spirits industry.

Still not sure if Salesforce is right for your business? Confused about how to ensure you choose the right tools within Salesforce to have it work as you want?

Talking to someone in the Salesforce community for guidance is the best thing to do if you are curious about Salesforce and what it can do for your business. Salesforce partner companies like Mirketa exist solely to help companies navigate the larger Salesforce organization. Salesforce can be customized to be the best CRM for wineries, breweries, and spirits businesses. However, without a helping hand to guide you it can start to feel like trying to boil the ocean. Mirketa offers free consultations for anyone wanting more information about how we can get Salesforce working for you.