Since 2010, Farm Collective has grown to include multiple vineyards and multiple unique wineries in the Napa Valley region. T-Vine Winery boasts heritage and soul, preserving the centuries-old tradition of immaculate wine and even better stories. Tank Garage Winery pushes the boundaries of what is possible, serving up bold, creative ideas and all-around good vibes.
Hosting socially distant events and small groups can help wineries create unforgettable customer experiences and boost sales. But even prior to Covid-19 limitations for wineries, seamless reservation management was a challenge. Now, with most visits requiring a reservation, it's even more important to find a system that provides a superior experience for both wineries and customers.
After Farm Collective discovered that more than half of their wine club members joined because of their exclusive winery events and access to private areas, they knew they needed to find a way to take advantage of these valuable customer experiences. But their past solutions left a lot to be desired.
Ed Feuchuk, VP of Marketing for Farm Collective, had tried numerous reservation systems — including industry-specific and mass market solutions — but couldn't find a platform that met all of the winery's needs. With so much value at stake, they needed a platform that would meet two top priorities: 1. seamless integration with WineDirect and 2. an elegant, personalized experience for customers.
Tock is a reservation management system for wineries that fully integrates with WineDirect. This comprehensive platform supports:
In addition to adding events and bookings to Tock in minutes, wineries can create segmented guest lists from within WineDirect and use existing customer data to personalize invitations and outreach. Once communications are sent, Tock automates follow-ups like confirmations and reminders, saving wineries valuable time.
When an event reaches capacity, Tock also has a waitlist function to ensure attendance is optimized. For example, if a registered guest realizes they can no longer attend and cancels their reservation, Tock automatically reaches out to the next guest on the waitlist. This not only saves guests from unnecessary confusion and long check-in lines, but also helps wineries get an accurate headcount for their events and appointments so they can plan how much food and wine to have ready.
Finally, Tock amplifies discoverability by populating events and offerings on the Tock website and app, and by providing reservation integrations on wineries' Facebook and Instagram pages. Meeting your customers where they are is important, and Tock enables wineries to maximize critical online touchpoints.
Using Tock's automated communication, Farm Collective saves on average 30 hours a week that would be spent manually reaching out to attendees to confirm appointments and remind guests about upcoming bookings and events.
Farm Collective also uses automated emails to send out pre- and post-visit questionnaires. They can ask guests how much they know about wine and what their preferences are before they arrive, allowing Farm Collective to provide tailored experiences for each guest.
During the event registration process, Farm Collective also gives guests the option to customize their experience with add-on purchases like cheese boards, private tours and merchandise. This pays off big time, as guests are 80% more likely to purchase a ticket if the experience is personalized.
Using the waitlist function, Farm Collective is able to manage event guest lists and more accurately plan event resources like food, staffing and entertainment.
Finally, Farm Collective is able to couple feedback from their guests with data from WineDirect to create experiences and events that are more engaging, exciting and memorable for guests. In the long-term, this empowers them to attract and retain new customers and build loyal, long-term members.
Learn how leveraging Tock + WineDirect can set your winery up for seamless reservations management.
