24 TOBACCO BUSINESS | MARCH / APRIL | 22 What does it take to be a great tobacconist? That’s a question that is often asked in each issue of Tobacco Business and one that was explored at great length in an hour-long virtual panel discussion held in January. As part of the TPE Ignite Online Educational Series, Tobacco Business assembled a panel of brickand-mortar tobacconists to tackle a number of topics of interest to tobacco retailers today, including employee retention, training, merchandising and the obstacles standing in the way of growth and opportunity. Panelists included Kathleen Kelly of Queensbury Cigar & Pipe (Queensbury, New York), Brandon Frakes of Industrial Cigar Company (Frisco, Texas), and Cory Talanca of Boss Cigars (Carrollton, Georgia). The Consumer Investment One of the fallouts from the COVID-19 pandemic for many retailers has been the ongoing labor shortage. Turn on the news today and you’ll be bombarded with stories of retailers struggling to find help or of what’s being called “the great resignation.” Workers are changing careers, looking for new opportunities and pursuing their own entrepreneurial dreams—and this is leaving tobacconists struggling to properly staff their stores. Each of the retailers on the panel mentioned that they had lost an employee over the past two years, but each offered a solution to this common problem: treat your employees right and they’ll stick with you for the long haul. Employees are part of a much larger picture in retail—they are the foundation of a store’s community. Successful retailers must create a sense of togetherness or a tribe within their store, one where employees understand the vision of the store’s owners and practice it when engaging with customers. “If you ask anyone in the team what our shared purpose is, it’s very simple: We create community by providing the finest cigar lounge experience to people of all levels. We do that through training,” says Frakes. “From a retention standpoint, we have to treat our employees like they are our customers. We want our customers to keep coming back and we want them to stay excited. Same thing with our employees.” Retailers can look at other businesses for inspiration when it comes to training. A trip to Disney and interaction with a park employee inspired Frakes and his family to put their store’s employees through the Disney Institute, a professional development and leadership training program designed to improve a business’s customer experience. Providing employees with the proper training and making sure each one is aware of and aligns with the vision of the business is key to retention. Acknowledging employees and their hard work is another easy way to keep good employees from leaving, Kelly explains. “You want to treat them well. People like to get praised. It’s not always all about the money,” she says. “We all have credit cards where we get reward points that you can trade in for gift cards and stuff. I do that, and when my guys do a good job, I throw thema $50 gift card for somewhere. They appreciate that. So it’s little perks like that where it doesn’t cost you a lot to take care of your employees and show them that you appreciate them.” W STAFF REPORT BEST PRACTICES IN TOBACCO RETAIL A panel of tobacconists tackle the difficult questions and issues facing many tobacco retailers today, from staffing issues to increasing store traffic and sales.
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