A Tale of Two Wineries - A Lesson in Customer Engagement
Issue #49 - January 20th, 2025
Last week we were back in Texas for a few days combining some family time with business meetings and a little exploring. As it turned out we had one day clear without anything scheduled so headed out to the Texas wine region in the Hill Country outside Austin.
Our first stop was the Foyt Winery and Museum. I’m a big motor sports geek so this relatively new winery owned by the legendary four-times Indy 500 winner A.J. Foyt was a must see for me. Especially as it also has a small museum with some of his race-cars attached.
The winery was quiet when we arrived just after lunch, and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. The hostess was very welcoming and we settled in to work our way through their “Fast 6” flight of taster wines. We also got a personal tour of the museum from the winery’s managing partner who was around. The fact that they have an actual IndyCar in the tasting room was a bonus - especially when I found out you were allowed to climb in. It was a bit of a squeeze as those cockpits aren’t designed for someone over 6 feet tall and weighing around 200 pounds - but I made it.
Each of the Foyt wines has a distinctive label, with a unique picture or design. And I was impressed that as we moved down the tasting list the server told us the story behind each one. Some were related to specific racing events, like Foyt’s 1969 victory at the Le Mans 24 Hour Race. Others were based on family photos, such as the wine named after his wife, or from other significant events in his life.
As we’d turned off the main road to enter the Foyt Winery we’d spotted a sign for the Becker Winery and Vineyards just over a mile away. Becker’s Tempranillo happens to be one of my favorite wines, so we had to go there too.
In contrast to the modern Foyt facility, this was what you would expect from a well established Texas vineyard. A grand building or stone and wood, with panelled rooms, a log fire. It looked like something out of a movie. While I settled for a glass of my favorite wine, my wife decided to try their tasting flight.
And while she reported that the wines were good, the experience wasn’t. It’s not that the staff were rude. They were in fact very polite and efficient. But there was no engagement. There was no continuity as she had different servers at different points during her tastings. And all they did was pour out the drink. No stories here. No engagement. No feeling like you were particularly welcome.
The Becker winery was pretty busy, it’s going to be a draw as it’s a well established brand with a reputation for good wines. But we were just another pair of faces in a long line of faces.
If on a future visit we find ourselves in the same part or the Hill Country, which winery do you think we will make a return visit to? Perhaps the one we have been telling our friends about - the one where they shared their stories and made the time we spent there feel special.
Customer experience is about more than just your product, even if you have a strong brand name, it’s about making the customer feel engaged with your stories. So tell them in a way that makes the customer feel part of your journey too.
Alan
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Talking About Storytelling
Recent Events
Just a reminder you can find my recent conversation with Larry Swanson on the Content Strategy Insights podcast about the power of storytelling at https://ellessmedia.com/csi/alan-porter/
Or you can catch the video version below.
If you missed it you can still access my webinar on Customer Focused Storytelling that was hosted by The Content Wrangler
Upcoming Events
On March 15th I’m scheduled to speak at the Boston DITA User Group meeting on How to Talk To Your Executives About Tech Comms.
I’m looking forward to presenting Is DITA Just a Story at the ConVex conference in San Jose in April, 2025.
And in June I’ll be making a return to the CX Behind The Scenes podcast to discuss the AI Hype Cycle.
Customer Focused Storytelling Workshops
Our final March dates are now sold out.
SO WE ARE NOW TAKING BOOKINGS FOR APRIL & MAY.
Just email us at ajp@4jsgroup.com to reserve your date.
“Weaving storytelling into the mix makes the content more compelling, accessible, and effective!”
Learn how to deliver content-driven experiences that your customers relate to on our two-day Customer Outcome Focused Storytelling workshop.
In this workshop, we will:
Examine content from the customer’s perspective.
Plan how to adapt content delivery to meet the needs of a rapidly changing marketplace
Examine why every business transaction is a story
Outline the 10 Rules of Storytelling as applied to Customer Experience
Apply proven storytelling techniques to your content.
Identify potential opportunities for incorporating storytelling techniques
into the production of your customer-facing content assets.Facilitate an interactive feedback session on your existing customer-facing content.
In The Bookstore
If you enjoy the contents of this newsletter and would like more, we have three books always available from XML Press.
You can also check out The Content Pool website or follow us on FaceBook you can also find Alan on most of the social media platforms @alanjporter.
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Till next time - have fun paddling in The Content Pool.
Alan J. Porter
The Content Pool™ is a division of the 4Js Group LLC