a wine marketer
6:00 – wake, super-healthy breakfast of oats and fruit (yes, just like a horse), read the newspaper online, check for reviews of our winemakers
7:00 – invoices, emails, social media updates
8:00 – hit the road for a morning of meetings and wine tastings
9:00 – first retailer, big burly man with a heart of gold sitting behind the counter, wants all five wines on show today, good start to the day
10:00 – second retailer, enormous store but recently a sister company of theirs became insolvent, so no chance of stock purchase, decide during conversation to change direction of meeting to accommodate networking and future collaborations, rather than trying for a hard sell – far more beneficial
11:00 – major client meeting, new marketing client wants us to handle their complete PR strategy development and execution until 2012, fantastic news is that their products are actually well made and work! A rare find in an industry that is overburdened by low quality, high volume production
12:00 – fast lunch and strong coffee to drown the morning’s meetings away
12:30 – strategic development meeting of our directors – exciting new developments in the southern states leaves opportunities for our firm to grow – big ‘to do’ list of research is noted and staff leaving in good spirit – could this mean the company grows interstate before 2011?
14:00 – wine tasting event at Mercure hotel, 150 guests, all professional women for a luncheon to support breast cancer. Showed 7 wines, a big stretch for a two-hour event complete with speeches. Left with 90 odd on a database sign-up form – perfect networking tool for later.
16:00 – restaurant visit, informal verbal questionnaire to determine whether our distribution service is up to scratch compared to the giants like Fosters. Turns out we’re far nicer and deliver more efficiently (time-wise). Nice one team!
17:00 – deliver a speech over dinner at the Institute of Management, fantastic group of accountants and lawyers, absolutely nothing in common with the wine industry barring a passion for money and policy – well.. at least that’s something!
20:00 – home office, tidying some filing, generate to do list for the next day considering there is only one meeting booked in. Sent out to do lists to on-road sales consultants with their organised meetings for the next week and a half.
23:00 – best part of the day. Glass of old tawny or perhaps a tokay from Rutherglen, followed by a hot shower and a long snooze.