The Wine Glass Strategy: Mapping Deep Relationships in Strategic Accounts

In the Revenue Architecture operating system, the wine glass serves two critical purposes: it is a test of social trust and a metric for structural penetration.

1. The Social Test: The “Glass of Wine” Relationship

On your account org chart, we place a wine glass icon next to specific names. This is a visual indicator of deep, personal trust. A “Wine Glass” relationship means:

• The contact would genuinely join you for a dinner or a cocktail.
• There is a level of rapport that transcends a typical transactional vendor-client interaction.
• You have earned the right to have a “real” conversation about their business challenges.

If your org chart is full of names but empty of wine glasses, your revenue is at risk.

2. The Structural Test: The “Wine Glass Shape”

The second layer of the strategy is analyzing the shape of your penetration. Think of the profile of a wine glass:

• The Rim (Top): Do you have “High and Wide” coverage with senior executives and C-suite luminaries?
• The Bowl (Middle): Are you deeply embedded with the middle-management “doers” and influencers who drive projects forward?
• The Stem (Base): Is your relationship anchored in technical or procurement support that provides a stable foundation?

A healthy account plan ensures your coverage isn’t just focused on one area. If you only have a “Stem” relationship, you are easily replaced. If you only have a “Rim” relationship, you may lack the operational buy-in to execute.

The 3 Cs of Account Expansion

Once the “Wine Glass” status is mapped, we use the 3 Cs Analysis to identify whitespace for growth:

• Continuations: Strategies to extend and protect current recurring revenue.
• Crop Rotations: Opportunities to swap out competitive solutions or introduce the next generation of your own offerings.
• Colonizations: Leveraging a “Wine Glass” relationship in one division to earn an introduction into a new department or territory.

The Bottom Line: Strategy is the logic, but relationship is the lubricant. By mapping both the “shape” and the “social depth” of your accounts, you create an architecture that is resilient to churn and primed for expansion.