As soon as you realize that your existing sales channels cannot purchase your wine on your release schedule, you should move to liquidate that particular SKU, vintage, or product line. Of course, you should work with your current distributors to thoughtfully craft promotions and incentives to increase your sales velocity.
Don’t distract your sales team with inventory liquidation; they need to focus on building your brand. Every minute spent on something else is a wasted opportunity to move your business forward. Your team is likely specialized in the sorts of sales – on-premise, chain retail, etc. – that drive your business forward on a daily basis.
What we've seen is a more predatory style of wine broker that sees the sales opportunity and doesn't consider the long term pricing impact on the winery. It's a commission grab and less a strategic deployment of product that benefits the immediate needs of the winery while thinking about the long term ramifications on price point.The winery’s objectives must drive a brokerage strategy. Before we at Third Leaf Trading ever start sketching out a brokerage strategy, we must first understand:
Wine broker is an age old profession that provides a much needed solution for wineries in the form of sales. In an instance where you find yourself with excess inventory that you'd like to convert back into cash, we've experienced a more predatory type of broker. The one that is most interested in their commission and less about your brand equity.
