Advertising and Marketing | The Barefoot Spirit

Happy Birthday Barefoot!

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 21:06:29 +0000

Twenty-seven years ago, Barefoot Wines were bottled for the first time. But how the wine found its way to the bottling line was a fluke in itself. A farmer wasn’t getting paid for several years for his grapes and his friends went to bat for him to see how much they could collect. It wasn’t easy. The winery owing for the grapes had no money and was in bankruptcy. It was controlled by the secured creditors (other farmers who hadn’t been paid by the winery). They wanted to get paid too. It didn’t look good.

The farmer’s friends managed to cut a deal with the winery to trade for bulk wine and bottling services. It wasn’t going to pay the farmer’s bills, but it was better than what the other creditors got – three and a half cents on the dollar, four years later, with the attorneys taking most of it. The trade was the best option they had.

Next, they had to bottle the bulk wine and sell it. Of course, that meant coming up with a label, a marketing program, a distribution plan, a budget, buyers, and, oh yes, money. They had none of that. In fact, all they had was the wine and the bottling services. So they went to work, hopeful and naive with the wide-eyed youthful excitement of those who have no idea what lay ahead. If they had, they may not have even begun.

Not knowing any better, they set about this daunting task guided by what seemed logical and obvious to them, not realizing as wine industry outsiders they were breaking the rules and writing new ones. So instead of designing a label and trying to sell it to the buyers, they went to the buyers and asked them what they wanted. One buyer said, “Gee, no one has ever asked me that before! But as long as you asked, here’s what I need.” He explained that the label was going on a curved surface under fluorescent lighting making the label difficult to read. He said supermarket shoppers were mostly female who were pushing shopping carts at least four feet away from the shelves in a wine section that had hundreds of labels and looked like a pizza. He said the new label should be readable and stand out in all this.

Another buyer said the name should be the same as the logo, it should be in plain English (there were lots of snobby French style labels at the time), it should be easily recognizable and memorable, and – get this! – friendly! Imagine that!

What a wealth of knowledge! What if they hadn’t asked?

The farmer’s friends remembered a generic-looking novelty label that had been around for only a few years and sold a limited number of cases. But the elements of that old label just might satisfy the buyers’ suggestions.

So, they bought the rights to the defunct Barefoot label, completely redesigned it, and put it on the shelf. The logo was the same as the name, in English, and easily recognizable. The brand took years to get off the ground, but in time, it became popular, and the farmer was paid back 100 cents on the dollar.

Barefoot wine was born during Easter week in 1986 and we were, and still are, the friends of the farmer. Happy Birthday Barefoot! As they say, “You’ve come a long way, Baby!”

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Cause Marketing or Worthy Cause Marketing?

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 02:30:29 +0000

The nation’s #1 wine brand was built without relying on commercial advertising. Instead, while building the Barefoot Wine brand, we used what we termed, “Worthy Cause Marketing.”

Every business faces the same problems. How do you get the word out about your product or services? How do you do this in an efficient, targeted manner? How do you gain a loyal following? Customer acquisition and retention can cost millions, with advertising generally the most costly. Many smaller businesses and start-ups, like us, simply don’t have a big advertising budget.

We discovered an alternative to conventional advertising that was, for us, more effective than conventional advertising.

Getting to know our customers was key to keeping our products relevant and providing excellent customer service. An examination of your customer’s needs beyond their need for your products or services can provide essential clues about what is important to them. Each of your customers has a cause that they hold dear, and many are members of non-profit organizations.

By supporting those non-profits, a company aligns itself and its products with that cause. But that’s where the similarity between Cause Marketing and Worthy Cause Marketing ends.

National non-profits have discovered the value of their logos to corporate sponsors. With their huge membership and social appeal, these non-profits know that the big boys will pay to identify with them, and today, many national non-profit organizations raise substantial funds by selling their sponsorships.

Large companies can show their customers that they care by providing those sponsorships. However, simply “buying” a sponsorship is out of reach for most start-ups. And, sponsorships are generally sold on an annual basis, so one company can be the sponsor this year and another the next, sometimes discouraging loyalty.

We discovered, however, that we could offer support beyond funding to causes that were worthy of our time and energy. These were causes that our company, our product, or we ourselves naturally resonated with. We made up for our lack of funds with passionate support in other areas that were just as, if not ultimately more, valuable to the non-profit.

We gave them our products, services, and labor. We used our access to the market to help them get their word out, and yes, even helped them raise funds. Instead of buying a sponsorship, which we couldn’t afford anyway, we set out to become active members, promoters, and participants in their cause. This approach also helped build positive company culture because our people knew they were making a difference when they helped at fundraisers.

We focused on small rather than large, local rather than national, and at the time, relatively unknown rather than well-known non-profits. We focused on marginalized groups that supported equal rights or conservation that were not yet mainstream and were considered radical. They were particularly grateful for our getting the word out about their cause to our market audience. As they grew, we grew, and became part of their community. By helping them when they most needed it and making a lasting commitment, we established enduring trust as true partners. Of course, it was risky at times, but the payoff was being on the right side of history when their causes became mainstream.

The return on involvement with Worthy Cause Marketing was slow but steady, and over time, it built a loyal customer base that had a social reason to buy our product. The difference is making a difference by supporting worthy causes that are important to you and your customers.

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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The Joy of Giving

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 23:43:35 +0000

As we scurry around to complete our holiday gift lists, let’s take some time to think about gifts in general and what they mean to us. A gift is more than its material value. Sometimes the least expensive gift has the most value to us because of who it came from and their good intentions. It’s a symbolic gesture that says, “You are important to me, and I care about you.” This makes the recipient of your gift feel good, and makes you feel good as well.

People ask us why we spent so much time and energy supporting worthy causes when we were growing the Barefoot Wine brand. When we began, we had no funds for marketing, so we gave to non-profits and community fundraisers that we believed in to get the word out about our product. As our brand grew, we expanded into new territories, and used our market presence to promote their causes. Eventually as we became more profitable and could even afford paid advertising, we chose not to and instead continued our support of worthy causes because it made us and our staff feel good.

There really is a “Joy of Giving.” This holiday season, why not give a gift to your favorite worthy cause? Your gift of funds or volunteerism make you feel like you’re making the world a better place. And you are. We found it satisfying and empowering that we could make a difference, and you will too.

The common denominator for most celebrations this time of year is Humanitarianism – the concept that we are all connected on this planet and that we all have an interest in the same goals that support our existence, better our lives, and address our challenges.

These causes run the gamut from health to education, from next generation to senior care, from conservation to preservation of wildlife. Within each cause are many non-profit organizations to choose from in your neighborhood and around the world. Here are just a few examples of our favorite conservation causes.

1. Clean Beaches (and Oceans). The Surfrider Foundation has been the true guardians of our coasts for decades. They have tirelessly waged a campaign to make beaches and oceans safe for you and your children. Volunteers are doing the work, and they need our support.

2. Water Conservation. The Mono Lake Committee was effective in getting the huge Los Angeles metropolitan area to go from seven gallon per flush toilets to one gallon per flush toilets. What a water savings! Their battle to save one of the two oldest salt water lakes in North America from disappearing has had positive effects on the bird migration flyway as well as the humans who use the water.

3. Preservation. “Keep Tahoe Blue” is the slogan for the League to Save Lake Tahoe. They have been around since the 1930’s with the mission to save one of the most pristine lakes in the country. They have been challenged yet successful in sustaining the clarity of the lake over the years, but every time there is a recession, there is more pressure to develop the basin. Their educational campaign to preserve this national gem deserves our support.

What worthy causes are important to you? What non-profits within those causes would you feel good about donating time or money to this holiday season? Even a token amount will give you surprising satisfaction.

By making a commitment to improving the lives of other people and our environment, you say, “What you are doing is important to me.” Take pleasure in The Joy of the Holidays with the Joy of Giving!

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Tailor Your Message to What Your Audience Wants to Hear

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 17:11:17 +0000

If you want to make a statement, tell them what you want to say. If you want to make a deposit, tell them what they want to hear. Sounds simple enough, but what do they want to hear and who are they anyway?

Every successful business learns eventually that there are a whole lot of folks between them and their end-user. Each one wants to hear a different message for a different reason. Sometimes we get so excited about our new idea and how well it will go over with the general public that we forget how essential it is to get it to them. Focusing on the benefits to your end-user is fundamental, but don’t forget all the other folks in between and what each of them wants to hear.

“What’s in it for me?” is the question they all want you to address. It may surprise you that it has little to do with those end-user benefits you are so excited about. Research, experience, questioning and listening can tell you what they want to hear.

Your own staff may want to hear how they will share in your success. They may want to hear about the incentive programs, benefits, working conditions, days off, and advancement opportunities. They may also want to hear how your idea will make the world a better place. They want to hear about your previous successes and your ability to weather a storm.

All your middle men want know how your product improves their strategic position versus their competition, how you are going to help them sell it, how they can get it for less, and how much you have budgeted for marketing. They want to know who will buy it and why.

If you depend on retailers, they will want to hear how your product fits into their existing categories, what kind of point-of-sale promotional materials you have, and what kind of a warranty you provide. They want to know that you have a representative in their area. They also want to hear how you will send customers to them to buy your product.

Your idea may be a game changer, but are they ready to play a new game? Sometimes pioneering a new concept can take years to catch on. Your initial buyers may buy for reasons you never dreamed of. If you are changing the world, get ready for some missionary work and some unlikely initial customers. Be ready to change your message to stay relevant with the market as it is now and as it changes.

Does your product weigh a lot or is it inexpensive? That’s all the more reason to be ready with multiple messages. Internet product sales, with the exception of downloads, require shipping whether or not it’s included in the price. Somebody pays for it. Most heavy or inexpensive items can’t compete with conventional brick and mortar store pricing because of shipping costs. If that sounds like your product, you likely will want to go through the general retail market. Identify what each person between you and your end-user wants to hear, and give them what they want.

Don’t just make a statement, make a deposit!

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Outword Magazine Interview

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 17:09:10 +0000

Barefoot Wine’s Founders Do Well By Doing Good

The story of how Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey in 1986 launched a scrappy new brand that would transform the US wine industry is one of accidental opportunity and the vision and courage to seize it. “We fell into business backwards,” Harvey says today.

And seize it they did. Houlihan, a wine industry business management consultant, and Harvey, an office manager, got their accidental opportunity when one of Harvey’s clients, a grape grower, was left on the hook for three years’ worth of grape crop by a winery that turned out to be in the roes of bankruptcy.

In the course of negotiating payment for his grower client, Houlihan persuaded the winery to bottle up and repay the grower in Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc bulk wine – wine made from the very Alexander Valley grapes, it turned out, that had come from Harvey’s grower client to begin with.

That was a start, but once they had the bottled wine, they still needed a label, licenses, a distribution system and marketing, Houlihan says. “We didn’t know what we were doing. That started a period of research.”

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey toasting to your good health with one of their favorite Barefoot Wines.

They began to research the wine business, talking to government officials, suppliers and retail stores. One of the first companies they approached about carrying their as yet unbranded wine was Northern California-based Lucky Stores. A Lucky executive advised them on what type of wine would sell. The ideal label, he told them, should be visible from a 4-foot distance, should stand out from other labels, be an easily pronounceable name, and the label image should match the name.

The plan hit another snag, though, when Harvey’s grower client decided he did not want to be in the business of
marketing and distribution. The solution: Harvey and Houlihan hired him to be their winemaker.

Now that they knew a little more about what they were doing, it was time to create their label. The label image – a bare foot – came to Harvey in a vision. They sent the concept to an artist for development, but the perfect shape and angle of the foot eluded her. The perfect foot, it turns out, was at the end of Harvey’s leg. Using the biggest inkpad they could find, Harvey stamped her foot on a piece of artists’ paper, and the famous Barefoot label was born.

Meanwhile, they converted the laundry room of the Sonoma County farmhouse they rented into their winery HQ, removing the door and placing it across two sawhorses for a desk.

Now that they had their bottled wine, their licenses and their label, they went back to their Lucky Stores contact – only to come up against yet another roadblock. They Lucky exec said he couldn’t buy their unknown brand of wine until the two had spent a couple million dollars in TV advertising. Without $2 million to spend on branding, he said, “You can go out and sell to every little grocery store there is.”

So they did, starting in the Bay Area, then expanding to independent grocers in Santa Barbara, Mendocino, Lake Tahoe and Sacramento. In 1988, Lucky Stores become the first chain to carry the Barefoot brand.

Harvey and Houlihan hired Randy Arnold as Barefoot’s National Sale Manager after noticing Arnold was outselling other distributors. Shortly after joining the company, Arnold decided to come out publicly as a gay man. It was 1990, a time when AIDS was devastating the gay community, and ignorance and fear of contagion were widespread. Arnold was concerned the resulting prejudice, particularly in the conservative wine industry, might damage the Barefoot brand. “For us to hire a gay national sales manager for a food product was very gutsy at the time,” Harvey recalls.

With no marketing budget, but with a large stock of wine, Arnold expanded Barefoot’s “worthy cause marketing” plan by donating Barefoot to LGBT organizations and causes. Other staff members questioned the strategy. “Aren’t you worried that your wine will be known as the ‘gay wine?’” they asked. “We said, we’re worried that it won’t be, we are putting so much energy into that community,” Houlihan recalls.

Barefoot has also donated wine and sponsored fundraisers for environmental organizations such as the Surfrider Foundation. The strategy has paid off. Before long, the Barefoot brand was a top seller in LGBT communities and in beach communities.

Their marketing success, and the causes they support, Harvey believes, are connected to that vision she had of the Barefoot label. “When you see a bare footprint in the sand, you don’t know if it’s gay or straight, black or white, or what religion the person is,” she says. “That’s the print humans make on the earth when they put their foot down. The footprint is symbolic. We are all out here on the same beach together.”

By the time Harvey and Houlihan sold Barefoot Cellars to E&J Gallo in 2005, its sales had reached almost 600,000 cases annually in North America, Asia, and Europe. The two served as consultants to E&J Gallo for the next year, and Gallo has continued Barefoot’s tradition of worthy cause marketing as its primary means of advertising.

Today, Houlihan and Harvey are putting their branding and marketing expertise to use as consultants to start-ups and entrepreneurs and are volunteering their services to non-profit groups seeking to keep California parks open in the face of budget cuts. In their spare time, they’ve written a book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle and Heart Built A Best-Seller, which is due out later this year. Visit BarefootWineFounders.com to pre-order.

Outword Magazine May 24, 2012 Volume 25 Issue 10 No. 457
Words by Bonnie Osborn

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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5 Ways to Increase Your Service Business

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 22:01:04 +0000

In this two part series we are addressing service businesses. Last time we identified a way of classifying your clients and customers. This time we will offer some ways to increase your business.

Your goal is to get more referrals. These are new customers who were sent to you by your existing customers. They will only do that for you if their first experience was beyond their expectations.

How then can you ensure that their first experience is a good one and establish a great reputation right from the start?

1. Stop before you start. They say that 5 minutes of excellence is proceeded by an hour of preparation. Don’t open your doors until all your people know how to make eye contact, provide personalized attention, and address folks by their name. Remember your clients buy you and your people as much as the services you provide. Reinforce your staff’s positive behavior with compensation that is based on return business.

2. Be “hustlative.” They say you can tell a lot about a person just by the way they move. Are your people moving with confidence, and a lively spring in their step? Or are they sluggish? Consider how they move before you hire them. Your clients’ and customers’ first impression is made long before your people even say hello. Opinions formed at the beginning tend to be reinforced by all ensuing events. So why not start off on the “good” foot with “hustlative” body language?

3. Develop a relationship. Your customer and clients need to feel important. More than the perfunctory, “How are you today,” they want to be personally acknowledged. Remember their names and something they told you last time (even if you have to write it down). Take an interest. Let them speak about themselves. If you are interested, they will be, and this will help build the relationship.

4. Don’t just give them their money back. When folks are unhappy with your service, show them you can still make them happy. Consider giving your complaining clients free services. If you just give them their money back, they will spend it elsewhere and not recommend your business. However, if you give them free services, you can make it right, and satisfy them. They will sing your praises to their friends, family, and associates.

5. Give them a Gift Certificate they can’t use. Only their friend, family or associate can use it. People love to give things away, especially when they don’t have to pay for them. This will not only bring in more business, but it requires your client or customer to recommend your business. This builds credibility in the mind of the new referred customer, and cements the relationship with your current customer. Free services can be less expensive than advertising and are much easier to track. .

So think about first impressions. All your new first time clients are shopping. That’s how they found you. Will they stay? That’s really up to you. The way you and your people treat them will form their first and strongest impressions. You can’t unring the bell. So make its first sound music to their ears.

There’s much more to be said about service business and we will address this important part of our economy again. We hope these simple and basic steps help you get more return customers.

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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How to Improve your Service Business

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 16:59:09 +0000

Over half of all businesses are service businesses. These industries include many professions from legal and engineering to hair cutting and plumbing. All these services require excellent management, positive company culture, and most important, return clients.

Brian Tracy says, “If you want to be successful, ask yourself this question: How can I increase my service to my customer today?”

More than any other type of business, service businesses are reputation driven. After just two years, most service businesses are fully reliant on 80% return business. Are your clients sending in more clients?

Here are four ways to classify your clients and customers to help answer that critical question and provide some insight about your ability to satisfy them:

1. New: These folks are new to your business. They walk in the door, either because of your advertising or because of the general reputation of your business. In the early days of your business, they represent the majority of your clients. It is critical that each one of these new clients, “trying out” your business for the first time, leaves with glowing reviews to pass on to their friends and associates. But new, first time clients, can’t go on forever. Sooner or later you will go through all the new clients in your area. If you are in business for even 6 months and you still have 75% new clients, you are in trouble!

2. New Requests : These are New Clients who are requesting a specific person on your staff. This benefits the overall reputation of your business, and ultimately, its very security. The requested party needs to be rewarded for this personal reputation. Conversely, your associates who never get requested by new clients may be going through the “new” clients without them ever recommending your business or coming back to your establishment. Time to review their tenure.

3. Returns: (not necessarily requesting anyone in particular): These clients are good news – bad news. The good news is that they trust your business as a whole, without loyalty to any one particular associate. They are touting the merits of your business in general. The bad news is, if they have a bad experience, they are liable to say that the whole business is going down hill and hurt your reputation. Aside from a “New” client who is dissatisfied, that you never hear from again, “Returns” are the next most likely type to disappear. Try to find someone with whom they will be happy with as soon as possible.

4. Return Requests: These clients are returning to your business, requesting a specific person. They are loyal to the person who provided dependable and added-value service in the past. If that person leaves your business, those clients will follow him. Associates who have a large percentage of “Return Requests” should enjoy higher compensation and ultimately some equity in your company to reduce turnover. Your compensation plan should encourage this type of service professional. That plan will attract and keep the type of performers you need to grow your business. It is critical that you know early and often who they are.

The best time to find out what type of clients your service business is attracting is when they make an appointment or reservation. A few short questions at that point will quickly tell you into which category they fall. Constant vigilance and analysis of these four simple client types will give you the insight you need to craft compensation plans that get and keep return clients and customers.

Today there is much talk about Customer Relations Management, but it’s critical to step back and look at the big picture with these four general categories in mind, especially when you are in a service business.

Next time we will discuss some tips to attract new business, keep your performers, and increase your service to your customers.

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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A Solid Business Foundation is Necessary for Success

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 02:41:14 +0000

When you build a house, the foundation must be laid strong and straight. If it’s not, the framers try to make up for it. When they can’t, the drywall guys try to make up for it. When they can’t, the painters try to make up for it. When they can’t, you’re going to have to live with it. So rather than cause problems all the way up your structure, lay your foundations straight and true.

It’s been said that it’s not the journey of 1000 leagues that wears down the mighty soldier, but the tiny pebble in his shoe. Here are some philosophical considerations that can help lay the foundations for your business and make the journey less wearing:

1. Have you put yourself in your customer’s shoes? Does your product add value to your customer’s life? Is it dependably available? Are you willing to do what is necessary to provide exceptional customer service? How will you gain feedback and keep your product relevant?

2. Have you put yourself in your distributor’s shoes? Do you know why he would carry your product? Are you willing to help him sell it? Do you understand the processes involved? Do you know why his retail customers buy your product? It might not be for the reasons you think.

3. Have you put yourself in your own people’s shoes? What are their goals, expectations, and aspirations? What kind of training and direction do they need? Are you willing to write down policies and procedures? What kind of culture will you provide? Will they be compensated to perform?

4. Have you put yourself in your creditors’ shoes? Are you willing to provide honest communication even when you can’t perform? Are you concerned about their payables? Will your integrity give them a reason to increase your credit and terms? Would you lend money to yourself?

5. Are you willing to take a smaller slice of a larger pie? Are you willing to share in the increased profits with those who make it possible? Are you going to reduce the cost of turnover by providing financial opportunities to stay with your company?

6. Do you know how to make mistakes right? Will people be fired because they made a mistake? Will your staff hide mistakes as a result? Or will you reward those that solve potentially reoccurring mistakes by identifying how they were made and suggesting new documentation?

7. Do you understand that sales provide all the income for your business and pay all your salaries? Will you organize you company, pay structure, and culture accordingly? Will the customer be on top, then the sales and customer service people, then everyone else?

The answers to these questions will determine the philosophical foundation of your business. Everything else that follows is influenced and shaped by those answers. Make sure you have answered them honestly before you begin to structure your business. The journey is hard and long enough without a pebble in your shoe.

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Positive Company Culture is critical to Growth and Survival – Part 3

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 21:05:55 +0000

This is the third part in the series about the original Barefoot culture. Culture really sets the tone, boundaries, and expectations the team has toward your company, your mission and your product.

We’ve saved the best for last because having a common cause and a common challenge forges, more than any other single factor, positive company culture.

When you are growing especially a new a brand, something out of the box that has never been done before, you are going to face stiff resistance from the distribution channels and the retail establishment. You can’t blame them because what you are attempting to do is new and unproven. We jujitsued that resistance into the glue that held our team together and gave it a common cause.

The Culture of Common Causes

When Barefoot was trying to get traction in the marketplace, it was an uphill battle. Just to keep the bottles on the shelves was a daily struggle. The Barefooters ( Sales Reps) spent much of their time just replacing vacancies and point of sale materials that had been removed by competitors. Being a small company, Barefoot did not yet have the respect of the distributors or the retailers, and, therefore, did not warrant the attention required to keep the product in stock. Every Barefooter faced the same challenge all over the country.

“How could you put a foot on a wine label?” is what the wine snob detractors were demanding at the time. They thought it was just a passing fad, and a wine not to be taken seriously. The Barefooters were out to show them differently, and they did! Thanks to a great winemaker, Barefoot wines kept winning more medals than any others in the same price category. There’s nothing like team victory to bind the team together!

All the sales staff knew that Barefoot was indeed destined to become big, very big, so they worked together, shared war stories and kept each other energized. They felt like Davids, up against the Goliaths of the wine industry.

They also knew that their fellow Barefooters were actively engaging the ultimate market, the general public. They knew that Barefoot had a “secret weapon”: worthy cause marketing. They were making the world a better place through wine, and they were proud of it.

These forces forged a real team spirit and life-long friendships between the Barefooters. They all knew that it takes a certain type of person to be a Barefooter. They were happy to be one of the team, and they sincerely enjoyed each other’s company and support.

The original Barefoot culture was based on the human desire to have a positive effect on the industry, the community, and the environment, and to be recognized and appreciated for it. It was a philosophy of win-win-win.

Although the example of the original Barefoot culture was that of a consumer product delivered through conventional distribiutions channels, we hope that the lessons we learned will be helpful to you and your business no matter what it is. Good luck and good selling with a positive company culture!

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Positive Company Culture is critical to Growth and Survival – Part 2

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:19:28 +0000

A company survives and grows due to sales and the loyalty of customers and staff. Sales are based on price, value, dependability, integrity, availability and perception. The basis of perception is image, networking, and more recently, the transparency of the producer.

Transparency is what the brand stands for, its authenticity, its identification with higher values, and the actions it takes to demonstrate those values.

When companies subscribe to a higher order of value, beyond the products they sell, they have an advantage in today’s marketplace. Employees excel, and tend to stay with these companies, providing long-term relationships with retail buyers, customers and complementary organizations.

The Culture of Customer Service

At the time Barefoot Wine was founded, the business model was considered radical. The founders viewed it as more of a “service” rather than merely a product. At Barefoot’s price point, which we termed the “velocity price point”, it was clear that it could not survive without becoming “America’s Personal House Wine”. From the beginning, it was understood that it had to sell massive quantities to stay in business.

“Personal House Wine” was defined as the wine one serves in one’s own house as a staple: “Tuesday night wine, picnic wine, beach wine”. It was the wine to always keep on hand. It was the brand you discovered that consistently delivered the quality and value you had come to expect from your own “personal house wine”.

The company knew that customers (“foot fans”) would be loyal to the brand as long as the price remained stable (at the velocity price point), the taste profile was consistent (delicious), and it was available and easy to buy (in stock).

The original Barefoot culture wa based on the most comprehensive definition of customer service. Imagine a company that, through worthy cause promotions, encouraged customers to go into specific retail establishments to buy their brand. Imagine a company that viewed its displays as retail entertainment, adding color, fun, and theme sets for the enjoyment of its customers! This is the ultimate in customer service to your retailer, your end-user, and to your community.

The Culture of Acknowledgement

People are motivated by goal achievement, but also by public recognition. It not only validates their creativity, but it send a message to the rest of the troops that this type of behavior is not only appreciated, but also identified and exemplified.

Appreciation goes a long way toward building team spirit and encouraging everyone on the team to be creative in a productive and fun way. They know that top management and their teammates will recognize their achievement and are not afraid to speak up about it. They are encouraged to create imaginative promotions and fun events.

Public acknowledgement, especially in written form, circulated to all staff, is validation. Employees want to know that they are contributing, and that their efforts are being appreciated. Third party validation from managers, peers, customers, associates and non-profits builds confidence to go out and do more of the same, or better! It also give your people an appreciation of what their team mates are doing to improve everybody’s circumstances.

Positive company culture is the foundation of company success. It reduces turnover, improves morale, cooperation and overall team spirit, all of which result in increased imagination and productivity. Next time we will examine the culture of Common Causes.

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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