The Strategic Shift From Product-Focused to Guest-Centered Wine Tastings | 4

Isabelle Lesschaeve Author

Discover how a consumer-centric approach to wine experiences enhances hospitality, customer satisfaction, ultimately transforming your business.

The Strategic Shift From Product-Focused to Guest-Centered Wine Tastings | 4

Back to the Episode list

Are you ready to rethink your tasting room experiences? 

In this episode, Dr. Isabelle Lesschaeve shares why putting guests—not just your wine—at the heart of the experience can reignite your ability to build long-lasting relationships with these customers and energize your business. 

Discover actionable ways to create memorable wine encounters, collect valuable consumer insights, and boost loyalty.

In today’s episode, I'm talking about:

• Why today's consumers seek more than expert talk—they want to feel welcome, understood, and valued
• My sensory approach to wine encouraging everyone to share unique impressions without judgment
• Strategies to turn every tasting into a learning and data-collection opportunity
• How you can immediately apply these techniques to create a thriving, customer-obsessed business

Links from today’s episode:

• Transform your wine tasting experiences into a customer conversion engine. Be one of the first to be invited to become a Founding Member of this new program.
  Join the Priority List Now.
  

Connect with me, Isabelle:

• Learn more about working with me on my website

• Connect with me on LinkedIn

• Connect with me on Instagram

• Subscribe to my YouTube channel

• Leave Isabelle a message

About the host:

Dr. Isabelle Lesschaeve is a sensory and consumer scientist with 30+ years in academia and the wine industry. 

She helps wineries design sensory-focused experiences that increase engagement, loyalty, and sales, all while putting guests first.

Enjoyed the Episode?

Subscribe to *We Taste Wine Differently*, where you can find your podcasts. 

Leave a review, and follow Isabelle on LinkedIn or Instagram for more expert tips and resources! Your feedback helps us craft even more valuable episodes for wine lovers professionals like you.

Transcript:

Isabelle Lesschaeve: [00:00:00] Do you remember having been in your guest shoes? You know the time when you were somewhat new to wine, you walked into a wine tasting room? Perhaps at a charming boutique winery and felt a slight knot in your stomach, wondering if you are going to say the right thing, taste the right way, taste the right way, or fear you will say the wrong thing.

Well, many of us have been introduced to wine tasting as an activity steeped in strict rules, codes, and rituals. They often left us feeling intimidated and insecure rather than empower to enjoy the [00:01:00] experience. This feeling is a unique to guests. It can apply to your new recruits, and in fact reflects a broader challenge with within the wine industry itself.

Particularly for small and medium-sized producers. You are so passionate about your products and the hard work that goes into making. These products unique that you sometimes forget why your guest visit because you assume they come for your wines, and yes they do, but not only and likely not the way you think about wine.

So today I want to challenge your product focused approach to hosting guests and help [00:02:00] you transition to designing consumer centric wine experience.

Welcome to today's episode of We Taste Wine Differently. I'm your host, Isabel Le Sha Lesschaeve, wine sensory scientist educator and tasting. We will explore today. Why moving from a product-focused mindset to being truly consumer centric is essential for small wineries, especially when you retail directly to consumers.

These are the topics I will cover with you. First of all, why shifting from being product-centric to consumer-centric is a strategic imperative for your business. Why you want to redefine the tasting scripts and make the guest the heroes, not your wines. Stay with me. Don't leave there yet. The goal is still to sell wines, but with a different approach.[00:03:00]

Why? Another topic is why offering comparative wine tastings helps build rapport with your guest and learn from them to inform your strategy. And of course, I will give you a few tips on how to do that along the way. By the end, you will have a clear understanding on of how to empower your guest and build a thriving customer-obsessed business.

So let's dive in. What does being consumer-centric mean in the context of hosting wine experiences in your tasting room or at events? Well, the wine industry has historically focused its marketing on its products, the grapes, the vintage, the wine style, the wine making techniques, or the critics accolades that may I add, you know, the wine makers.

While it makes the delight of wine experts and aficionados, this product's first mentality doesn't really appeal to today's [00:04:00] consumers. Transforming from a product focus to a consumer-centric approach is the most significant strategic shift wineries can undertake to thrive in a competitive market. But first, let's understand what it means to run a product-centric business.

It is about prioritizing the development and features of the wines themself of all above all else. Think about it. How many times in your testing room do you download the full identity card for each wine before even your guest has a chance to experience it? Well, you're not alone. That's what happens in most traditional wine regions.

So let's contrast the characteristic of a product-focused organization with those of a consumer-centric wine. [00:05:00] When adopted, the product-centric approach offers often sees.

When adopted, the product-centric approach often sees organizations looking inward at their internal capabilities. For example, their vignettes, unique terroir, or their low-gravity wine.

For example, their unique terroir or their low gravity wine making, rather than truly understanding what their customers need or desire, it's a build it and they will come [00:06:00] mentality because you want to make the best quality product possible, but it means you are assuming that a superior product. A great product will naturally create its own market demand, but the market is saturated and hyper-fragmented, so it's difficult for small, medium-sized wineries to be visible in this busy ocean of wine brands.

And in the product-focused organization, success is often measured purely by sales, profit margin, and market share, overlooking the crucial element of customer satisfaction. Because you know, if they buy must be happy, right?

But in fact, this can lead to marketing myopia where businesses become so fixated on their [00:07:00] products that they lose sight of evolving consumer preferences and market dynamics. You only realize there is a problem when sales decline and wine club turnover is high, isn't it? What's happening for so many businesses right now?

But at this point, it's harder to turn the ship. This product expert mindset is also prevalent in traditional wine education. Hospitality professionals are trained on viticulture wine making and the different producing regions, which while essential for the trade, doesn't necessarily equip them to teach consumers how to simply appreciate wine.

On the contrary, as I explained in episode one of this show, this training led to creating. It's this false belief that consumers need to become wine experts to know how to appreciate your wine.

But here's the good news and where the shift truly begins, [00:08:00] there is a different, more rewarding way to run your business. By becoming consumer-centric, and it doesn't mean letting consumers dictate the style of wines they want you to make. So stay with me.

A consumer-centric approach fundamentally places the customer at the heart of every business decision. It means that every strategy, process, and choice is evaluated based on its impact on the customer's experience and value. Okay. Instead of just focusing on product features, the goal shifts to solving customer problems and achieving meaningful outcomes for them.

So what are the wine consumers problem nowadays? Well, alcohol, wine with high alcohol content. You may not agree with the concept of low and low and no alcohol wines, but this product solve a problem. Too much alcohol. [00:09:00] The seven 750 mil wine bottle is too big. They want smaller volumes because they consume less wines and they don't want to have the wine spoils, and it's, you know, it starts from a goodwill.

So that's a problem that needs to be addressed. However, not all consumers experience these problems. So the first step is to understand your consumer base and identify their specific issues. That's why being consumer-centric requires fostering continuous engagement with your customers regularly interacting to deeply understand their needs, motivations, and behaviors.

It's about pulling insights from your customers to drive your strategy rather than pushing your products to market. The ultimate goal is to create seamless, valuable customer experiences that ultimately build customer loyalty and advocacy. And you know what? The only place you can control their [00:10:00] experiences is when they visit your winery or when you travel to meet them and host events in their regions.

It's also happening when you host virtual testing with your wine club. And these are the places you can collect data and learn more about your consumer base by shifting your focus to them rather than pushing all the conversations about your wines. You know the saying, people won't remember what you said, but they will remember how you made them feel.

And this is exactly what a sensory-focused testing experience enables you to do. Allowing you to collect consumer insights that inform your business strategy.

But here's the uncomfortable truth in the tasting room, your wine is no longer the hero, but your guest is. We must design the testing experience from the visitor [00:11:00] standpoint, which is the first step towards true consumer.

We must design the testing experience from the visitor standpoint, which is the first step towards true consumer centricity. As mentioned earlier, many of us and certainly many of your guests have been introduced to wine tasting as an activity reserved for experts with strict rules and codes, often leaving them feeling intimidated and insecure rather than empowered.

This emphasis on technical expertise often means that testing room staff will deliver a standardized script focused on what makes each wine a great product. The growing conditions, the harvest condition, the full wine making process, sometimes before guests have even had the chance to truly experience the wine.

Basically missing the crucial moment [00:12:00] of customer satisfaction and building a rapport. Rapport. So we need a different approach, a sensory approach to get closer to your consumers. And the core of this approach is to infuse your script and your behaviors with this golden rule. What your guest perceives is valid, and there are no right or wrong answers in what they smell and taste in the wines and in your what.

It's okay if they don't enjoy the wine because it's a data point that you collect. So your role is now to guide people through their sensory discovery. Everyone perceive wine differently because we all come from unique cultural backgrounds.[00:13:00]

So your role is now to guide, people through their sensory discovery. You know, everyone perceive wine differently because we all come from unique cultural backgrounds and possess distinct sensory sensibilities. By acknowledging this, you empower your guests to trust their own perceptions and feel confident in their journey of wine appreciation.

So instead of focusing on technical details and telling them what they should sense, the shift is to encourage guests to articulate their personal impressions of the wine. Start by asking open-ended questions such as, how does this wine make you feel, or what does it evoke for you? Yeah. For example, when I describe wine, I often associate wine perceptions with colors, which, you know, I've shared this, you [00:14:00] know, my method, um, with my clients and trainees, it's not a particular method, it's how I experience wine.

The colors come first, then the vision of the products that have a similar scent. And then, you know, I get a name to describe what I smell or taste in the wine. So there are different ways to experience wine, and that's essential to, to share this truth with your guest.

So there are different ways to experience wine, and that's essential to share this truth with your guests so they feel at ease during the tasting. This invites them to think about memories or occasions where they might in. Might enjoy the wine making the experience relatable and personal rather than, again, intimidating.

Even if they don't like a particular [00:15:00] wine, that's okay because all feedback, because all feedback is a gift. This approach fosters a safe place where guests are encouraged to share their authentic experiences without pressure to conform to expert descriptions. It's really about building authentic, transparent relationships through mutual respect and openness.

In tasting, we want people to feel secure, enjoy themself, knowing that their opinions matter and that they are respected at values regardless of their initial wine knowledge. So by truly engaging with your guest in this manner, you transform the tasting room into a valuable space for learning directly from your customers while they learn about your wines.

Through these sensory experiences.

So how can you make tasting more consumer-centric? Before we go there, I want to make a short announcement [00:16:00] at the time of this recording. I'm testing interest for a new online program to help you wine. You're owners and tasting room managers, design more effective people-first tasting experiences. It's called Wine Tasting Reimagined.

Delivering sensory-focused wine experiences that convert guests into loyal fans. If this topic resonates with you, be among the first to be notified of this new program by joining the priority list. You will find the link in the show notes, but the link is link.innovinum.com/priority list. Thank you. So how can you make your wine experiences more consumer-centric?

I love running a good comparative wine tasting. The task is playful and educational, and participant often discover testing skills they didn't know they had. That's a confidence boost right there. In a sense, a comparative tasting [00:17:00] invites participants to taste two wines at a time side by side. Allowing them to compare them and contrast them.

This is really less intimidating than tasting a wine in isolation. And it's easier for anybody to identify what they like or not like in each wine by comparing them and contrasting them. So the key is to change how you design the tasting experience. And of course, to, you know, to select a theme, uh, for this experience because there is little benefit in comparing a white wine and a red wine.

Is it? For beginners, for example, you could help them discover two whites or two reds from your portfolio highlighting the different flavor profiles or suggesting pairings, you know, through really a discovery of your wine philosophy. And these comparisons will help participants give their opinions, reflect on their own food pairing options or what each one, each wine.[00:18:00]

This comparisons will help participant give their opinions, reflect on their food pairing options, or what each wine reminds them of, or at which occasion they envision themself drink, drinking one wine versus the other. And it's easier to describe one flavors by comparing than by trying in absolute terms for all.

For more advanced tasters, you may want to highlight different terroirs growing the same grape variety vide. Similarly, I had a great experience recently where, um, the host brought two, Shira made the same year, but grown on different swords, and the differences in flavors was striking. So it's. Quite interesting for more knowledgeable wine drinkers to have these opportunities, these unique opportunities to taste wines side by side, reflecting those differences.[00:19:00]

Another example could be to taste the same varietal wine, the same.

Another example can be to taste the same varietal wine made with two different wine making techniques, you know, with oak without oak or concrete tanks versus stainless steel tank, if there are any differences.

Comparing wine in pair will allow these knowledgeable consumers to further deepen their understanding of the grape variety, the wine making technique, or your particular vineyards. Knowledgeable wine drinkers will love such experiences, and you can be as creative as you want because you will deliver a memorable experience to your guest.

So very nice, Isabelle, you might say, but how [00:20:00] does it help me sell wines? Well, it will help you in the short and long terms because when you design a consumer-centric testing experience, when you guide your guests more than you direct them, when you listen more than you talk, you create great conditions to start becoming a researcher.

You just have created opportunities to collect consumer data. What do I mean? You can record their words, how they express their feelings and how they associate your wines with life events or consumption context. You collect this data without judgment, but as a scientist from this data, you can derive invaluable insights.

How to collect data? You know, it's rushing all the time and you know, you don't have a lot of time to, to do that. Well, it's about getting organized, isn't it? At the winery, you can collect data by creating simple tasting sheets that ask guests to take a few notes on each wine, but not to write your typical [00:21:00] wine tasting notes.

On the contrary, encourage them to describe what the wine evokes, how it makes them feel, and what memories it brings back. You know, it's for them. The simple fact of writing and reflecting on each wine while tasting, it helps build long-term memories of the experience. It's actually how I train my clients to develop their pilots using this sensory framework During a wine event, in person or online, you can do the same and also have an assistant that take notes during the conversations to capture also the group dynamics.

Do you have an, do you have an onboarding process for your new club members? Offering a 15-minute call to guide them in their first order will give you more insight into who they are and their intent behind the wine purchase. More insight that you could guess from their zip codes or their gender.[00:22:00]

Capturing the consumer language and the way they speak about your wine is a great source to improve your messaging so that people know you're speaking their language.

In those situations I just described, it's also important to capture the nonverbal communication of your guest. Research has shown that past concept is a good predictor of future consumption, so one tip is to check which one glasses get emptied the most or the fastest. This behavior often means that people particularly appreciate those wines, and that's your signal to start yourself speech.

If reporting this data into a spreadsheet and looking at it makes you dizzy. That's why you can call your, that's why you can call upon your favorite generative AI tool to help you summarize the language, data, and extract themes to help you analyze the learning. You might find that some consumers [00:23:00] enjoy your wine, but the lab, the bottle label communicates a different story, a different experience, so they both clash.

That's a great insight to revisit your label, or they may suggest drinking occasion that you never envisioned before. That's a great opportunity to communicate about this new occasion. This consumer-centric approach is about solving customer problems and achieving meaningful outcomes for them. What give you, giving you a competitive edge?

Becoming consumer-centric is your opportunity to learn from your consumers, gather data, inform your marketing and communication. Ultimately building stronger brands and differentiation.

Becoming consumer centric is your opportunity to learn from your consumers, gather data, and inform your marketing and [00:24:00] communication. Ultimately building stronger brand loyalty and differentiation. 

If consumers feel heard and appreciated, they will remember your brand. Even if they don't buy from you immediately, they will likely give you their email addresses, you know, with a big smile. But as a business, it's essential to measure success for this new approach. [00:25:00]

While anecdotal evidence and brand recognition are valuable, you need hot data to assess your error. Your ROI you need hot data to assess your ROI.

It can start by a simple exit survey to ask visitors if they would recommend that same testing experience to others.

This one measure also called net promoter score is a good indicator of where you stand. Asking just one question ensures the majority of visitors will respond. It's a low effort on their part. Again, be creative. Ask them again, be creative. Ask them [00:26:00] to scan a QR code to access an anonymous one question survey.

Or if you have collected their email addresses, send them a note a few days after their visit to ask for their feedback and remind them of the great experience they had at your winery. This feedback data will help you refine your wine experiences, remaining agile and responsive to evolving customer's expectations.

So it's time to conclude. Hopefully I've given you enough arguments so that if you haven't done so already, now is a good time to shift from being product focused to consumer centric in your testing events and beyond.

Here's a recap of the first step I suggest you to take. First, make your guest the hero of the tasting experience, not your wine. Experiment with comparative wine tasting to build rapport and uncover preferences. Turn your testing room into a research [00:27:00] opportunity to collect invaluable consumer data and measure your success by focusing on customer satisfaction and loyalty.

And that's it for today's episode of We Taste Wine Differently. If you enjoyed it, please subscribe or follow the show wherever you listen to podcast.

If you want to learn more about how I can help you and your team implement a sun taste,

if you want to learn more about.

If you want to learn more about how I can help you and your team implement a sensory-driven tasting experience, consider joining the priority list for my new program. Wine Tasting Reimagined, delivering sensory-focused wine experiences that convert guests into loyal fans. The link is [00:28:00] link.innovinum.com/prioritylist

You will also find the direct link to join in the show notes. A bientot.

Categories: : Podcast