Profit margins can be boosted drastically in your F&B department with the sale of wine, but only if your servers are confident with selling the wine you’re offering to your members and guests.  That being said, this episode of the GIG Podcast is all about getting your team members comfortable with doing just that. With profit margins low on meals, beverages from the bar are key to boosting those F&B profits at your club. The wine list can be intimidating for some servers, and without confidence in selling wine, that may lead to lower wine sales overall. This is why taking the time to teach your team members how to sell wine is crucial. On this episode of The GIG Podcast, we welcome Ashli Komaryk from Komaryk Communications and Beyond The Wine to talk about some of the details you might be missing at your club that are preventing you from fully leveraging all your sales and member engagement opportunities when it comes to wine.  The ideas and best practices discussed will allow you to do an assessment of your operation and then tune-up to ensure you’re firing on all cylinders and not leaving sales on the table. About Ashli Komaryk Ashli Komaryk, MBA is the founder of Komaryk Communications and Beyond the Wine. She offers a unique blend with her sommelier studies from Italy, her MBA studies from Canada and her international training and coaching business. Ashli Komaryk earned her Level II sommelier certification, both in Vancouver, (ISG) and in Parma, Italy (AIS), where she lived for 14 years. Ashli is definitely passionate about wine, but she may be even more passionate about developing the human connections that can be forged through breaking bread or raising a glass together. Ashli works with individuals and teams in wineries, clubs and other organizations, from front-line ambassadors to the executive leadership team (or board) to help build teams that are engaged, cohesive and driven! Her workshops, seminars and coaching programs provide tools and skills to build and lead high-performance teams. Ashli earned her Bachelor’s degree in art history from the University of Parma (taken entirely in Italian) and she also holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada with specialization in Communications and Public Relations Management. Highlights you won’t want to miss: 10:30 – If you feel like the wine program at your club is falling short, learn what the first steps to take are to immediately start improving the wine experience you’re offering.12:01 – Learn about what Ashli refers to as ‘Petulant Pairings’ which is an expression that came to mind when Ashli was thinking about unorthodox match-ups, pairings that may not be considered “proper pairings” to some because they don’t adhere to the traditional rules for pairing food with wine, or because they’re new.14:09 – Where to start with providing basic wine knowledge to your servers.18:20 – What tools a club should have, and what best practices they should follow when enhancing the wine experience at their club.24:02 – If wine isn’t a major focus at your club today, these are some of the things that members & guests might be looking for from your club when it comes to wine.25:59 – Here are some of the things that a club manager can do to help their team get engaged and be confident with wine. If you’d like to learn how to cultivate your team’s wine knowledge with the same care and attention that a winemaker uses to cultivate their vineyard, then you won’t want to miss this episode of The GIG Podcast.