WISE Academy
Capacity Building Services
WISE (Wine Industry Sales Education) Academy was co-founded by Lesley Berglund and Mack Schwing, two well-respected wine industry leaders in the areas of consumer direct and executive education. The company was created in 2008 to address a core challenge in the wine industry: an urgent need for well-educated, direct marketing staff, managers, and leaders in all aspects related to consumer direct sales programs (i.e., tasting room, customer service, events, wine club, online, etc.). “We founded this company to raise the bar, to raise industry standards in direct-to-consumer wine sales,” says Berglund. Learn more about the WISE Academy here.
UPCOMING WEBINARS:
Enhanced webinars are supported by NYWGF Sponsor, Farm Credit East
For generations, Farm Credit East has worked with thousands of agricultural business owners across the Northeast. Our goal is to provide you not only financing and working capital, but the professional services you will need to find and service your markets, manage your business and grow your profits. Unlike banks and accounting firms, Farm Credit East is devoted specifically to serving the agricultural industry within the Northeast.
Choose Your Own Class
For a limited time, current Tier 2 & 3 Winery and Grower Members can sign up for any WISE Academy course listed on their schedule. This new membership benefit will completely cover the cost of classes priced at $400 or less. If you choose a course that is more than $400, your company will be invoiced for the difference. One course per member will be provided.
Sample course topics include:
- Management Core Course
- Wine Club Management Certification
- Virtual Tasting Fundamentals
- Virtual Club Member Programming
- Virtual Sales Professional
- Building Awesome Teams
- And many more courses on everything from DTC Strategies to Budgeting
To take advantage of this offer, simply choose a course from the WISE Academy schedule and enter the offer code at checkout. (Check your email for the offer code in our membership newsletter on October 23, 2021, or email Jennifer Cooper for the code.)
Note: Class spaces are limited and available on a first come, first served basis.
Executive Coaching Services
An exclusive benefit for Tier 3 Winery Members only, custom 90-minute consulting sessions for leadership teams can be provided to you by the WISE Academy. Lesley Berglund, WISE Co-Founder and Chairman, and their team of experts are available for coaching and guidance on the following topics:
- Phone Sales Enhancement
- Brand Alignment Workshops
- Customer & Staff Surveys
- DTC Dashboard Development
- DTC Metrics & Benchmark Analysis
- Guest Experience Design
- Guest Journey Mapping
- Improved Customer Service
- Onboarding Programs
- Power of Language
- Raising the Hospitality Bar
- Organizational Development
- Incentive Compensation Programs
- Planning, Budgeting & Forecasting
- Management Change
Services are available to current Tier 3 Winery Members only. Please contact Jennifer Warrington to schedule your appointment.
Lesley Berglund, WISE Co-Founder & Chairman
Lesley is an accomplished wine industry entrepreneur and CEO with a focus on change management. As co-founder and former CEO of the Ambrosia Wine Catalogue/the Winetasting Network (which she sold in 2004) she has deep experience in consumer direct marketing of fine wines. Lesley has served on the board of eleven wine-related companies and trade associations. In 2008, she co-founded the WISE Academy, which provides education, training and certification for winery consumer direct professionals across wine regions throughout the United States and in New Zealand. In 2014 she co-founded SOLVE Services which provides financial analysis, planning and decision support services for wineries. Today she spends most of her time coaching winery leaders through growth related challenges and opportunities. Contact Lesley Email: [email protected]
Jennifer is an industry professional with 20 years of experience, including 11 years with WISE. Over the course of her career, she has developed expertise in project and account management, market research, copywriting, and editing. Today, in her role as The Glue, Jennifer: oversees WISE Operations which includes spearheading the WISE Mystery Shopping Program (now over 5,000 shops); overseeing content development; coaching; account management of WISE wineries; oversees marketing programs; moderates WISE Cabinets; coordinates, schedules, and communicates with coaches, attendees and winery partners for a robust class schedule of 20+ courses and onsite training programs throughout California, Oregon, Washington, New York and more. Contact Jennifer Cell: 707-704-6817 | Email: [email protected]