Comments on: Soos Creek and Quilceda Creek: A Contrast in Customer Service http://winepeeps.com/2009/11/25/soos-creek-and-quilceda-creek-a-contrast-in-customer-service/ Helping you get the most bang for your buck in wine Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:17:48 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=7598 hourly 1 By: John http://winepeeps.com/2009/11/25/soos-creek-and-quilceda-creek-a-contrast-in-customer-service/comment-page-1/#comment-4223 John Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:03:20 +0000 http://winepeeps.com/?p=2925#comment-4223 That would be a good idea. Thanks for your comment. That would be a good idea. Thanks for your comment.

]]> By: R J BODAH http://winepeeps.com/2009/11/25/soos-creek-and-quilceda-creek-a-contrast-in-customer-service/comment-page-1/#comment-4218 R J BODAH Wed, 06 Jan 2010 04:57:13 +0000 http://winepeeps.com/?p=2925#comment-4218 Drinking the 2005 Artist Series 9 now. I'd have to say a day light open house next year would be nice, with a big white tent if need be. Drinking the 2005 Artist Series 9 now. I’d have to say a day light open house next year would be nice, with a big white tent if need be.

]]> By: John http://winepeeps.com/2009/11/25/soos-creek-and-quilceda-creek-a-contrast-in-customer-service/comment-page-1/#comment-4214 John Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:08:00 +0000 http://winepeeps.com/?p=2925#comment-4214 Don, Thanks for your insightful comment. I know you speak from a wealth of experience. Happy New Year! Don,
Thanks for your insightful comment. I know you speak from a wealth of experience. Happy New Year!

]]> By: Don Wood http://winepeeps.com/2009/11/25/soos-creek-and-quilceda-creek-a-contrast-in-customer-service/comment-page-1/#comment-4213 Don Wood Tue, 05 Jan 2010 19:58:21 +0000 http://winepeeps.com/?p=2925#comment-4213 What an excellent discussion. I can first say that I know firsthand what a difficult thing it is to handle an event when you are a brand new start up venture and the event turns out to be very different from what you had planned. I can offer encouragement that very valuable lessons can be learned and used to make the future much better for the guests. It is so important as John mentioned that the business remember that the guest sacrificed great effort to attend and really deserves the highest level of preparation prior to the event. Way to go John and Bean! Best wishes Dave! Hope to meet you someday! What an excellent discussion. I can first say that I know firsthand what a difficult thing it is to handle an event when you are a brand new start up venture and the event turns out to be very different from what you had planned. I can offer encouragement that very valuable lessons can be learned and used to make the future much better for the guests. It is so important as John mentioned that the business remember that the guest sacrificed great effort to attend and really deserves the highest level of preparation prior to the event. Way to go John and Bean! Best wishes Dave! Hope to meet you someday!

]]> By: John http://winepeeps.com/2009/11/25/soos-creek-and-quilceda-creek-a-contrast-in-customer-service/comment-page-1/#comment-4038 John Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:20:37 +0000 http://winepeeps.com/?p=2925#comment-4038 Dave, Thanks for your comments and your commitment to make improvements for next year. I hope you took my post in the spirit it was intended; that is, to help you and other wineries understand what visitors expect in order to provide better customer service and thus sell more wine in a timely fashion. Bean, Thanks again for you excellent comments and insight. Dave,
Thanks for your comments and your commitment to make improvements for next year. I hope you took my post in the spirit it was intended; that is, to help you and other wineries understand what visitors expect in order to provide better customer service and thus sell more wine in a timely fashion.

Bean,
Thanks again for you excellent comments and insight.

]]> By: Bean http://winepeeps.com/2009/11/25/soos-creek-and-quilceda-creek-a-contrast-in-customer-service/comment-page-1/#comment-4026 Bean Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:50:33 +0000 http://winepeeps.com/?p=2925#comment-4026 Listening and responding to customer comments is a vital, but often neglected aspects of customer service. As a blogger myself, I am always pleased when a winery joins the conversation. As an ardent supporter of Washington wine, I am pleased to hear David that you had satisfactory sales and positive comments from other sources. But from my perspective, this isn't about every winery replicating Quilceda Creek. For me, it is about making the difficult choices involved around quality vs quantity of experience and delivering more than promised. It can be seductive and exciting to go big, but it can back fire. This customer service experience is not an isolated incident, and I hope that other wineries will join this conversation. Listening and responding to customer comments is a vital, but often neglected aspects of customer service. As a blogger myself, I am always pleased when a winery joins the conversation.

As an ardent supporter of Washington wine, I am pleased to hear David that you had satisfactory sales and positive comments from other sources. But from my perspective, this isn’t about every winery replicating Quilceda Creek. For me, it is about making the difficult choices involved around quality vs quantity of experience and delivering more than promised. It can be seductive and exciting to go big, but it can back fire. This customer service experience is not an isolated incident, and I hope that other wineries will join this conversation.

]]> By: David Larsen http://winepeeps.com/2009/11/25/soos-creek-and-quilceda-creek-a-contrast-in-customer-service/comment-page-1/#comment-4025 David Larsen Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:49:44 +0000 http://winepeeps.com/?p=2925#comment-4025 Dear Friends, All our customers are important to us and we welcome any new guests to attend our annual open house. So we were saddened to read that there were some who were unhappy with the crowded facility. As we mentioned in our newsletter, there were many challenges with the expense and construction of the wine building and we just started to use it in September even though it was not totally finished. With everything so new, there are bound to be mishaps and unfortunately for some, there were. We did consider waiting one more year before having our open house. But since we missed last year due to construction, we had many requests from customers to have it this year. I did attend the Quilceda Creek open house earlier this year and agree it was first class. However they had fewer people in attendance and were only pouring 2 wines; hence, their shorter lines. Yes, there is a gulf between us; including the price of our wines. And if you want fancy, you won’t find it at Soos Creek. Although we did fall short in some respects this year, I do give our 12 family members and friends an “A” for effort. And we do have plans for making improvements next year. Yes, we do charge $1 for the giant cookies but all the other food and wine samples are no charge. We did receive many positive comments and based on the over 1000 ounces of wine we poured and the number of cases sold, it appears most people did enjoy themselves. However, because of the inconvenience and to show our appreciation, we would like to extend the discount for one week and offer free shipping on up to one case of wine. An email will follow. Thank you! Dear Friends,

All our customers are important to us and we welcome any new guests to attend our annual open house. So we were saddened to read that there were some who were unhappy with the crowded facility. As we mentioned in our newsletter, there were many challenges with the expense and construction of the wine building and we just started to use it in September even though it was not totally finished. With everything so new, there are bound to be mishaps and unfortunately for some, there were. We did consider waiting one more year before having our open house. But since we missed last year due to construction, we had many requests from customers to have it this year. I did attend the Quilceda Creek open house earlier this year and agree it was first class. However they had fewer people in attendance and were only pouring 2 wines; hence, their shorter lines. Yes, there is a gulf between us; including the price of our wines. And if you want fancy, you won’t find it at Soos Creek. Although we did fall short in some respects this year, I do give our 12 family members and friends an “A” for effort. And we do have plans for making improvements next year. Yes, we do charge $1 for the giant cookies but all the other food and wine samples are no charge. We did receive many positive comments and based on the over 1000 ounces of wine we poured and the number of cases sold, it appears most people did enjoy themselves. However, because of the inconvenience and to show our appreciation, we would like to extend the discount for one week and offer free shipping on up to one case of wine. An email will follow. Thank you!

]]> By: John http://winepeeps.com/2009/11/25/soos-creek-and-quilceda-creek-a-contrast-in-customer-service/comment-page-1/#comment-4001 John Thu, 26 Nov 2009 05:11:22 +0000 http://winepeeps.com/?p=2925#comment-4001 Our experience was based on a 5:30 PM arrival time. We both agree that the cookies were good. Our experience was based on a 5:30 PM arrival time. We both agree that the cookies were good.

]]> By: R J BODAH http://winepeeps.com/2009/11/25/soos-creek-and-quilceda-creek-a-contrast-in-customer-service/comment-page-1/#comment-4000 R J BODAH Thu, 26 Nov 2009 03:40:38 +0000 http://winepeeps.com/?p=2925#comment-4000 I guess we lucked out! Got there about 7:30. No really lines and Dave poured most the wines himself. Left with a case of wine at about 8:30. Over all it was fun and the cookies for the road were great. I guess we lucked out! Got there about 7:30. No really lines and Dave poured most the wines himself. Left with a case of wine at about 8:30. Over all it was fun and the cookies for the road were great.

]]> By: John http://winepeeps.com/2009/11/25/soos-creek-and-quilceda-creek-a-contrast-in-customer-service/comment-page-1/#comment-3999 John Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:07:14 +0000 http://winepeeps.com/?p=2925#comment-3999 Bean, Thanks for saying it better than I did. We're both trying to help the wineries do better at customer service. Bean,
Thanks for saying it better than I did. We’re both trying to help the wineries do better at customer service.

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