Software for Growth

DiLuvio says he has tried to stick with software packages like Lotus Notes and Microsoft Great Plains that are scalable enough to allow the winery to grow—and even acquire other companies. The CEO of eSkye, Smoke Wallin, says J Vineyards pushed eSkye to move Campbell's Blend program from a Microsoft Access to an SQL Server back end a few months sooner than the vendor would have done otherwise. The move improved Blend's performance, DiLuvio explains, since the winery tracks so much data.

Watkins, meanwhile, wants to use Indianapolis, one of J Vineyards' most reliable markets, to figure out the return on his marketing dollars now that he knows the cost of sales. If he takes four sales reps and backs them up with four billboards, buy-by-the-glass promotions in restaurants, radio spots during the morning and afternoon commutes and a dinner, he figures he should be able to measure how many points he gains in distribution and whether sales go up in retail.

"[Business in] Indianapolis is slow and steady," he says. But a campaign developed in such a stable market could provide a good baseline for tackling mercurial and more expensive markets like Chicago, D.C. or New York.