Tobacco Business

[ 66 ] TOBACCO BUSINESS [ MARCH / APRIL | 21 ] Tobacconist University offers Cigar Sommelier Schools. What are these schools and how can tobacco retailers and businesses use them to their advantage? Businesses are already challenged by having to train their employees on their point-of-sale systems, cleaning, inventory management, maintenance and selling, among other things. Product knowledge and training take even more time and money to teach, so our CCST School takes that burden off of the business and empowers the employees. Having the ability to direct your employees to your CCST School takes a huge burden off of your hands and frees you up to do the things you need to do to make money and pay the bills. That’s why we say the CCST program pays for itself on day one and exponentially increases your revenue by creating trained professionals very inexpensively. How does the curriculum for the CCST programdiffer from the other certifications Tobacconist University has to offer? The structure and design of our CCST program is completely different from our other degrees. The CCST educational content is derived from our broad academic curriculum, but it is streamlined and distilled. It is also located behind a paywall, so the company who purchases the CCST School has a level of customization and branding tailoring the school to their employees. The CCST School is divided into the Retail School, Pairing School and Cigar Fundamentals. Our Cigar Fundamentals curriculum is more than two hours of video and narrated slideshow content, which makes studying easier for many. In terms of the school structure, once a company purchases their school, they can send their employees “inside,” where they sign up as apprentices. Once they become a CCST apprentice, they get their listing on our website—a proof of participation—and they can take the final exam when they are ready. There is no penalty for failing the exam, so they can take it again. Once the student passes, their listing gets updated and customized with their logo, and it rotates on our homepage along with our other professional tobacconists. As always, we want to promote substantive and credentialed professionals. What costs are associated with the CCST program? Our CCST School for three people is $500, and a school for one person is $250. On the upside, if a person leaves your company, you can use that slot to certify another person at no extra cost. Additionally, you can let as many people “inside” the school as you want, so the education is free once you purchase the school; only the certifications are limited. We also offer discounts for larger companies and multiple locations. I can say with confidence that our CCST program provides the greatest ROI of any program we offer. While a retail tobacconist already has experience and knowledge, the CCST student benefits the most from the education we give them. Just the confidence and fundamental knowledge a student gets is enough to exponentially grow their sales and improve their customers’ experience. What sort of things will those completing the Certified Cigar Sommelier Tobacconist program learn? Fundamentals! Fundamentals! Fundamentals! This is so important. Cigars are sanitary products with legal restrictions, so everyone must understand these fundamentals. We start the Retail School with, “You don’t have to like cigars to sell them—just respect your customers’ taste.” Then we have sections on legal compliance, temperature and humidity, CRT Certified Retail Tobacconist CCST Certified Cigar Sommelier Tobacconist CCT Certified Consumer Tobacconist CST Certified Salesforce Tobacconist CMT Certified Master Tobacconist Professional Degree Online Exam Academic Contribution Online Curriculum Open to Public Online Private School Field Work & Apprenticeship Promoted On TU Homepage When In Retail TU Website Listings Includes Free Certified Cigar Review(er) Access Certification Cost $250 or Free + $50 Final Exam 1 for $250 3 for $500 $150 $500 $500 A�� ac�ve an� �iste� Cer��e� To�acconists have free reviewer privi�e�es on the T� Cer��e� Ci�ar Review we�site p�a�or� CERTIFICATIONS COMPARISON Tobacconist University offers a variety of degrees and certifications based on different professional backgrounds and settings.