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got to appeal to them,” he says. “Women
spend 90 percent of the discretionary
household income and we want it to
include cigars.”
Cultivate a network of websites
and social media.
“You need to have
an e-commerce site—period,” advises
Johnson. “It’s a long process, but worth
the investment.” Johnson actually keeps
a network of websites; he has three
currently tied in to his cigar business.
“If you have one website, it’s not good
enough. You have to please Google now,
because of searches.” Holysmokes.com
is the company’s informational website,
while NHcigars.com is its e-commerce
site. “We also have blogs out there—
mostly propaganda blogs. We’ll write
reviews about lines we want to push
and then we’ll have back links going to
our e-commerce site. In the premium
cigar world, if you don’t have a website
to sell online, you’ll eventually go out of
business. Vendors hate it, but we’re not in
business to please vendors.”In addition to
the blogs, Johnson makes sure YouTube
videos and social media outlets tied to the
business are updated regularly.
Seek extra vendor support.
Sure,
you have cigar vendors offering event
and merchandising support, but ask
them to go the extra mile, advises Randy
Silverman, president of Klafter’s,who was
a panelist on TPC’s trench marketing
panel in January. “We ask them to attend
our quarterly store managers’ meetings
so they can educate and inform our store
employees,” relays Silverman.
Regarding potential new products,
Silverman asks vendors the tough
questions, such as: what makes it more
appealing than existing products, and will
it be readily available?
Klafter’s also invites cigar vendors,
along with other vendors, to its company
trade show, which Silverman says is the
“best format for training managers and
assistant managers. Basically, vendors are
given a table to set up their products; a
small group of store managers visit[s]
each table for 15-20 minutes and then
rotate[s] like musical chairs,” according
to him. “How much support we get from
a vendor is an important factor as to
whether we will do business with them,”
Silverman says.
Bundle cigars and take a cut in
margins.
Like Johnson, Rich Castiano,
owner of multiple cigar bars in Florida,
believes in bundling cigars,but not just for
the benefit of trademarks. “We have great
relationships with cigar manufacturers
who will give us a great price on bundles,”
he says.“So instead of selling one cigar for
$7, we make it keystone and offer four for
$20. As long as it’s a good premium cigar,
we’re making money because they move.
We just did this and sold 20,000 sticks at
keystone.”
Use a quality air system.
“It’s all
about how much you reverse the air—the
air transfer system,”advises Castiano,who
also served on TPC’s trench marketing
panel. In his cigar lounges, he also uses
electronic air purifiers (“the best money
can buy”) and he has the filters cleaned
constantly. HVAC specialists and air-
Collett Enterprises’
Darren Collett
Klafter’s
Randy Silverman
World Famous Cigar Bar’s
Rich Castiano
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