What do law and fine wine have in common?

Not much, you might be forgiven for thinking..

I took a trip to the Restaurant Congress today in London. Amazing to meet and listen to some young, dynamic speakers at the cutting edge of the hospitality world. 

One particular talk by Mark Andrew, co-founder of wine bar and restaurant Noble Rot was inspiring. Hearing how he applied some basic principles to his business, that of fine wines, got me thinking this ought to be Basic Training for lawyers, and pretty much any other business ! 

People don’t want to feel patronised or intimidated by a know-it-all sommelier. Neither do clients want to be bamboozled by latin and legal-jargon-spouting lawyers ! But there’s a deeper, more profound, lesson here. Its about the kind of service people are coming to expect, which applies to everything. Read on for some great tips Mark gives in this article in Big Hospitality. 

You've got to speak the customer's language. When it comes to wine especially, it’s easy for this whole set of pompous vocabulary and way of talking to come over people, and they become very serious.

'Some people don't want to deal with that on a night out, so it’s a turn off. Immediately you’ve lost them. We only want to have a conversation with the customer based on who they are, and how they want to receive that information.”