How a young wine professional keeps technology from getting between her and her customers—and uses it behind the scenes to strengthen those relationships.
I’ve been talking with young professionals about how they use AI at work. I’m naturally curious, so sometimes a seemingly unrelated question tells me more than the question I intended to ask. Recently, I sat down with a young wine salesperson. She was casually taking notes on an iPad.
“Why are you using an iPad and not your laptop?” I asked.
She replied, “The laptop creates a wall between me and the person I’m talking to. The iPad eliminates that issue, but allows me to still keep notes.”
This was so intuitive and told me so much about how she chooses to work. She is using technology whenever it helps her, but not if it will block her interactions with people. Learning how she uses AI made me see how technology can create efficiencies, build a reservoir of knowledge and maximize real human interaction.
In wine sales, you make your money on finding the wines your customer wants, at the price they will pay, when they need them. For some customers that’s a six pack of luxury priced wines for a specific dinner in a week. For others it is helping them build their wine list with an eye on unique offerings at a competitive price. Knowing your customer, your product offerings and your pricing are key.
Working with the systems you have is how the job gets done. But using productivity tools to manage your workflow and maximize your effectiveness gives you more time to know your customer. This is the role that AI is playing in her life. She has assembled her own collection of AI tools to help her work, allowing her more time to engage with her customers.
How is she using AI? She is using AI to streamline repeatable work and make what she learns about her customers easier to capture, organize and use. After a tasting or a week of sales calls, she has information about the people she met, the wines being promoted, the prices and inventory. Instead of repeatedly finding that information and cutting and pasting it into individual emails, she uses AI to create templates that bring the pieces together. The result can be a simple customer email containing the wines, tasting notes, pricing, availability and other relevant information. Then she decides what happens next. Some customers need a personal note. Some need considerably more attention. Others simply want the information quickly. She uses AI to create the draft and decides where to add her personal touch.
The next way AI is lightening the load, and creating more opportunities for connection, is what happens after a meeting. As soon as the meeting is over, she can verbally capture her notes while everything is still fresh. She might note which wines could work for a buyer’s program, quantities they need, upcoming events, or something from the conversation she simply wants to remember.
AI gives her a way to preserve those observations and bring them back when they’re useful. Before the next meeting, she can quickly revisit what they discussed and pick up where they left off. A good salesperson has a conversation today and doesn’t want the relationship to reset to zero the next time they walk through the door. What did they need? What did I promise? What wine did we discuss? What’s happening in their business? Oh—and how’s the new dog? By capturing what she learns while it’s fresh, she doesn’t have to start over with each interaction. AI helps her carry information from one conversation into the next and build on it over time.
What did I learn from her? I was glad to observe that personal interaction still matters. Yes, AI can make information easier to capture, organize and retrieve. But information alone doesn’t build a relationship. We still need to listen, determine what matters, and act on it.
AI organizes the details. She acts on what matters.
Continue the AI Journey
Earlier in the series:
My Introduction to AI — Where this journey started, and how I began figuring out what AI could actually do for me.
AI Didn’t Get Emma the Job
How a Gen Z job seeker used AI to stay organized while relationships, persistence, and professionalism earned her two job offers.
AI Goes on the Road
What I learned when I took AI on the road and started using it as a practical travel companion.
