Frequently asked questions
Everything you’d ask on the call.
How HMBL Welcome fits your estate, what your guests see, and what it takes to get started. Still curious? We’re happy to walk you through it.
The basics
What is HMBL Welcome?
HMBL Welcome turns one reservation into the whole party. When someone books, they receive a private, branded itinerary for the visit, made for sharing with their group. Each guest gets their own welcome before they arrive, and those who choose to hear from you land in your email list.
Your reservation system captures the person who booked. HMBL Welcome helps you meet everyone they bring.
Do we have to change our reservation system?
No. Keep what you use today: Tock, Resy or your own booking forms. Guests book exactly as they do now, and your usual confirmation still goes out.
What does my team need to do?
Nothing day to day. There are no tablets at the tasting bar, no extra data entry and nothing new to learn. We set everything up with you during onboarding, you approve the itinerary once, and we monitor it every day.
Which email platforms do you work with?
Mailchimp and Klaviyo. New contacts go straight into your own account, tagged and ready to use, with no exports and no middlemen. If you use something else, ask us: we’ll tell you honestly whether it fits.
Will it look like our brand?
Yes. The itinerary carries your name, your colors and your content, and it’s sent from your own domain. You see and approve it before anything goes live, and you can update it any time.
Guests & privacy
What do guests receive?
A private itinerary for their visit, with everything they’d otherwise text the booker about:
- The experience, date and time
- Directions, parking and timing
- What to wear and what to expect
- The tasting flight, so they arrive excited
It’s a reason to say yes, not a form to fill out.
Do guests need an app or an account?
No. The booker shares the itinerary by text or email, and each guest opens it on whatever phone or computer they have. Nothing to download, no password.
How do guests opt in? Is it compliant?
Every guest chooses for themselves. The opt-in box is unchecked by default, and only guests who tick it are added to your list as marketing contacts.
- Guests who don’t opt in still get their itinerary, and are never added to your list.
- Unsubscribes in your email platform are always respected: we never re-add anyone who has left.
- We never change the marketing status of the person who booked.
Can we feature our own offers?
Yes, and it’s one of our favorite parts. Every guest welcome has an optional promo space you control: your newest release, a club invitation or an upcoming event, linked to your own online shop. Guests see it before they arrive, while they’re excited, and bottles reserved ahead can be waiting at check-in.
Guests who tap the offer are tagged, so you know exactly who to follow up with.
How will contacts be organized in our list?
Every new contact arrives tagged with what you need to follow up well: that they came through HMBL Welcome, whether they booked or were a guest, the experience and month of their visit, and whether they came with one of your club members. We set up ready-made segments with you during onboarding, so your first post-visit email is easy.
Setup & pricing
How much does it cost?
$249 a month per estate, with free onboarding. Month to month, no long contract. Pay annually and get two months free.
Founding estates pay $199 a month, locked for 12 months. There are five founding spots.
How long does it take to get started?
About a week. After a short onboarding call, we connect your booking and email platforms, build your branded itinerary, and you approve it. Then your bookers start welcoming their guests.
How will we know it’s working?
You’ll get a results report every month: net-new contacts, opt-in rate and what we’re tuning next. At 30 days we review the first results together.
Can you help us turn new contacts into club members?
Yes. Our senior team runs a 3-week conversion sprint, priced by project: club conversion offers and timing, welcome and post-visit email, and second-visit programs. It’s optional, and HMBL Welcome works on its own.
Results
Has this been tested with a real winery?
Yes. It has been live at a luxury California estate since March 2026. In seven months:
- 5,200+ net-new contacts the estate couldn’t reach before
- 184 of them now hold a wine club membership
- $32.9K in online revenue attributed to the itinerary email
- 85% of guest invites were opened, because they come from a friend
No ad spend and no added staff time. We don’t name the estate publicly, but we’re happy to talk through it on a call.
How does it compare with paid ads?
A paid social lead costs about $27 for the email of a stranger who has never visited. HMBL Welcome is a flat $249 a month, and its contacts are guests already coming to your estate. Ads cost more as you grow; HMBL Welcome grows with your reservations at the same price.
If a warm guest buys just one bottle to take home, at the $57 industry average, they’ve already covered two cold leads.
Who is behind HMBL Partners?
A small, senior team with 15 years in direct-to-consumer, digital and technology. We built this program inside a working tasting room, not a software lab, and you work directly with the people who design and run it, not an account manager.
Still have a question?
We’ll answer it, and show you a live itinerary, in 20 minutes.