So, to make a long story short, we were fortunate to find new wholesale partners in a couple of states. One in particular was where this “funny” story originated.

We left our wholesaler in Any State, USA the last day of November. We started with our new wholesaler the first day of December. Inventory was in place and ready to go with New Wholesaler. However, it was December. Anyone who works on the supplier side or the distributor side of the wholesale industry is very cognizant of the acronym that is OND (October-November-December). In the last quarter of the year, wholesalers buckle down and just sell. They don’t present new products (for the most part), they don’t do supplier ride-withs, and they very, very rarely launch new brands. So when we started in December, we knew that a kick off would be several months later. They were just taking orders if existing accounts needed wine.

One of the reasons that we informed our wholesaler that we were leaving only the day before we started with a new distributor is that we wanted to have a chance to protect our placements. When a winery leaves a distributor, it is pretty common practice for the reps at said wholesaler to go and replace all your shelf and list placements as soon as possible. It makes sense—the wholesaler wants to keep their share of the business at accounts. If a move to a new wholesaler is planned, it must be done with precision. Timing is everything—otherwise all your placements can vanish overnight and the new wholesaler is starting off at square 1.

However, if said account wants to continue carrying the brand—some distributors have been known to not provide the account with any information about the new distributor that is carrying the wine going forward. And this is where our story gets interesting.

So, one of Clos LaChance’s regional mangers went into a small, local chain restaurant in Any State, USA  (we will call it Jo’s Grill). Jo’s Grill had been a great customer of ours for a couple of years—having one of our wines on the regional corporate list. When we switched distributors, the wine buyer at Jo’s Grill asked our former distributor where he could buy the wine. It was on his list, his menus etc. To change the wine would be an expense to the restaurant. The distributor rep told the Jo’s grill buyer, his customer, that Clos LaChance had gone bankrupt and was no longer selling wine in Any State, USA .

Something I learned in my Public Relations career—always help a journalist out when they ask you a question—even if they are working on a story that is not about any of my clients. If you can point people in the right direction, it builds trust and a stronger long-term relationship.

I know sales can be a little more cut-throat then PR because there are commissions and actual dollars involved (i.e. I have to feed my kids now, vs. build this relationship and feed them later). But in my humble opinion, downright lying to a customer is not smart.

Well, karma is a bitch. Because I heard that the wine buyer at Jo’s Grill called our former distributor and tore them a new one when he found out they had lied. And, in that same phone call, the buyer returned a bunch of wine.  And bought a bunch of our wine. And put us back on the list. And the trust he has with his sales rep from our former distributor (and really the company as a whole) is   G-O-N-E. Is it really worth the small amount of dollars received by replacing our wine? Potentially losing all your business in an account if dishonesty is discovered? And it is pretty easy for someone to figure out if a winery has truly gone out of business or is no longer selling in a particular market. The Internet has provided everyone with information at their fingertips. In addition, most local ABC’s have online lists of brands and what wholesalers represent them.

I have only worked on the supplier side in this business, so I do not know the pressures of working in a distributor. I see it in the faces of the salespeople I know—it’s a tough job. But I believe honesty and a code of ethics are important in any business relationship.

Don’t think that I am bashing on distributors here—because we need them. They work hard and they are able to do things that we can’t.  And I find that most distributors are honest. I just thought this was an interesting story—and a lesson to accounts…especially if they have a good relationship with a particular winery. If, all of a sudden, the wine you love is not available, or the winery is not longer selling in your market….double check. Give the winery a call or drop an email (I would say that most wineries these days have a web site with contact info).