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“We help our employees see the advantage of moving
customers up the rungs and keeping them. When some-
body comes in the store they’re introduced to everyone,
they get a full tour. Typically they’ll get something for
free. When they leave, they’re feeling like, ‘I’d like to
come back.’”
A diverse employee base helps create a welcoming en-
vironment, she adds. “We have some employees who are
elderly, we have women, we have young people. Typical-
ly they’ll have their own following. We had a Harley guy
work here and all his Harley friends came in. We have a
former law enforcement guy and he brings in the fire-
fighters, the cops, the FBI agents. It’s pretty amazing.”
ENGAGING CUSTOMERS
Forming a customer advisory board that meets four
times a year has helped the Kanes, who are both in their
60s, stay current with product trends among young adult
cigar smokers. “We put a lot of millennials on it,” ex-
plains Kane. “Of course we have others, too, but I like
to hear from them because they just blow it up in terms
of how to do things.”
Advisory board members fill out forms and are tasked
with making surprise store visits, and are rewarded with
perks. “People are dying to get on it because it’s fun, they
get to know the inside-out of the business, and we share
a lot of our strategies with them,” says Kane.
The multi-faceted marketing approach the Kanes
have implemented sets a high bar for any retail shop,
yet it’s their ability to stay focused on the reason they
initially got into the business that may ultimately be the
secret to their success. ‟In retail, today is the day, and the
time is now. The sale is made when the customer’s here.
So, we’re serious. But the ease and the lightness of the
store is because it isn’t all about sales. That’s the coolest
thing because I don’t think our customers feel that it is at
all. I think they feel that it’s all about having a good time,
and relating to each other, and enjoying it. Everything is
packaged in a way that makes it nice for the customer.
We just give them opportunities to buy.”
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FIVE THINGS YOU’RE PROBABLY NOT DOING
(BUT MAYBE YOU SHOULD)
The Lake Country Cigar shop has been a success since the
day it opened, but 19 years later it’s still a success because
of creative thinking and taking ideas beyond traditional
boundaries. Here are 5 areas where you might be able to
go “beyond” where you are today.
Real Marketing
There are no shortcuts in marketing. To get a strong turn-
out for a cigar event, you’ll need to market it aggressively,
ideally through multiple channels over time. “There’s a lot
of work that we do on the marketing side that I think a lot
of shops don’t do,” says Mary Lynn Kane. “And the reason
they don’t do it is they don’t have marketing people to do
it. If you have that, you can have a very successful busi-
ness. But I think people that don’t have that shoot from
the hip, and throw a sign up and say, ‘Let’s have an event.’
And only a few people know about it. I listed all the ways
we hit our customers, and they even get a text message
the day before to remind them. I mean, it’s a system. It
takes a total system.”
Have A Plan
It’s easy to get caught up in the daily challenges of running
a business, but real growth takes time—and a strategy to
reach your long-term goal. “Typically we have a five-year
plan, and then we have a yearly plan, and in our yearly plan
we look at it by quarter,” says Kane. “We see what we’ve
done every month and say, ‘How are we going to keep
these numbers?’ Because, at this point, after 19 years, it’s a
lot harder to grow as fast as we did in the past. So we don’t
rest on the day before, every day’s a new day.”
Sponsorship for Promotions
Partnering with cigar manufacturers and other businesses
helps minimize the expense of advertising. “We get spon-
sors for the things we do: signage, products, everything,”
says Kane.
Reach Out to Women
If your store isn’t inviting to women, you’re neglecting a
huge market, says Kane. “I think that if you have a woman
working at your store, that’s a really important thing be-
cause that does bring other women in,” says Kane. “We
have an atmosphere here that’s not a ‘good ole boys’ club.
Building a woman’s presence in your shop really depends
on your shop culture.”
Motivate Your Employees
“We have a number of incentive programs. We have a
profit-sharing program, as I think most of the major stores
do. That’s a very good thing, everybody wins. Depending
on their hours, they get a percentage of the store’s profits.
That can be an amazing extra. It makes them consider the
upsell, consider selling lockers, consider reminding peo-
ple of events. Employees who make money will help you
make money.”
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