Jeff’s Corner 10-19-17

Hey, Hey, Hey!

One of the many things I love about working in the tasting room at GCV is the fact that change is constant.  Status quo is pretty much a four letter word.

For the last year or so we have made major changes in how we do things on Saturday, all designed to create a better experience for our Wine Club members and mature adults looking for a “wine experience” and not a “party experience”.

A few weeks ago we made a radical change in the Saturday traffic flow in our tasting rooms.  I’m going to make a restaurant analogy in order to explain the significance of what we have done.

Imagine going to a very busy restaurant where all the tables are full and guests continue to pour in the front door.  Rather than take names and start a wait list, the maitre’d directs everyone into the dining room and tells them to wait until a table gets up to leave and then grab a seat.

Before long, chaos ensues.  The seated guests feel rushed and uncomfortable, the server feels rushed and can’t sell desserts, and the guests waiting for tables are jockeying for position with one another.

Well, this is kind of how it has been in our tasting room when super busy for many years.  Now, we have a “maitre’d” system where guests are escorted to their spot at the bar only when there is room for them.

When the bars are full, guests wait (outside of the tasting room) for bar space and are texted when we have a place for them.  Each bar has a fixed number of spaces, so there is never overcrowding.  Wine Club members, as always, have immediate access as soon as they check in.

I work at a short bar by myself every Saturday, and to me this is win/win and win/win.  Guests don’t feel rushed, servers don’t feel rushed, and guests waiting for a spot at the bar receive the attention they deserve once they are “seated”.  This has also created a much more harmonious relationship amongst the staff regarding an equal distribution of guests at the bars.

So, back to the beginning.  This is one more step (a big one) in how Grape Creek is always at the cutting edge in finding new ways to improve customer service.  Come check us out…