By Mike Galvan

If you’re a sports fan, you’ve seen how planning and communication can really make a difference. Teams use a playbook to decide what to do, then communicate on the field or court to score. When all goes well, they make it look easy. If there is no plan, or if a player misses a signal, that’s when things start to fall apart.

Mike brings nearly a decade of wine industry experience to his role as Client Service Account Manager at Copper Peak. He’s a people person who loves meeting new clients and strengthening relationships through delivery of white glove service for our existing partnerships. At Copper Peak, we are part of your team. We can help you score happy customers—and make it look easy! But like any team, we value advanced planning and plenty of communication to make the magic happen.

There are a lot of things happening behind the scenes and on the sidelines when it comes to DTC and wine club order fulfillment. Getting everything out on time is key, and when our winery partners are dialed in to the process, there is a better chance for success.

Here are five things to keep in mind that will help us help you impress your customers:

#1 The clock is always ticking. Our cut-off dates are there to guide you and help you plan ahead so that we receive your inventory at the right time. For ordinary shipments, getting product one week prior to the ship date typically gives us plenty of time. Bigger than usual orders, or big clubs will take a little longer to process. We always try to anticipate those unavoidable delays (like a snowstorm or flooding) so we can do our best to get the job done.

#2 Remember the big picture. Delays or sudden changes have a domino effect, because customers get more than just your wine. Packaging material, special kitting, and inserts can all be part of the picture, too—not to mention the time and the people it takes to get your beverages out the door.

For example: If you have a bigger order than usual and we don’t have enough packaging on hand, we might have to place a rush order for more. And believe it or not, inserts are sometimes the biggest issue for our clients: If the printer doesn’t meet their due date, we have to wait to complete orders. Remembering what all is involved in fulfilling an order will help you build enough lead time into your processes.

#3 Give us a heads up. You will never bother us by over-communicating. We promise! Let us know by phone or email that a special insert is coming or that your wine shipment is running late. We would much rather have a projection—even if it is just an educated guess—so we can stock up on packaging and schedule workers.

We understand that you want to stay flexible, so you might not want to commit. But look at it this way: Some information is better than no information. When we have a chance to prepare, we’ll be ready for your product when it gets to us. The happy customer who gets their wine on time is the winner.

#4 Too much is almost always better than not enough. We find that most of our clients give us projections that are slightly more than what they end up shipping. That’s okay! We would rather have some product left over after fulfilling orders than running out and leaving some customers high and dry.

At the same time, sending a lot of extra inventory to get ahead of next month’s orders is not always the answer. Keep the lines of communication open, and together we can strategize what works best. A simple phone call will get us both on the same page so we can accommodate your needs.

#5 Don’t struggle on your own—we’re here to help! If you are new to working with Copper Peak, you might still be learning the CPL portal. We are happy to walk you through our processes any time. We even have an onboarding webinar and a CPL user guide to help.

At Copper Peak, our main goal is getting your products into your customers’ hands, and doing it on time. Plan ahead, keep in touch, and we’ll do the rest!

Fulfillment