26 TOBACCO BUSINESS | MARCH / APRIL | 22 Remember, a happy employee is a retailer’s most valuable asset. “Having a good employee is [having] somebody that’s going to project themselves on the consumers,” Talanca explains. “You’re not just selling a product; you’re selling yourself.” Finding capable, passionate, dedicated employees is just half the battle. Once your store has a staff, how do you go about building a strong customer base? It again goes back to training and making sure you build an experience for customers the moment they enter into your store. “I’ve always taught my guys to always say hello to everyone that comes in,” says Kelly. “It sounds like a no-brainer, like everyone would do that. But how many times have you walked into a store and there’s zero greeting? When you walk in, you want to feel welcome, especially at a cigar shop. That’s the most important thing: to greet your customers, say hello, smile. Again, it sounds like a no-brainer, but for a lot of places you go to that doesn’t happen.” The power of the first impression is another valuable lesson Frakes feels more tobacconists need to understand and practice in their stores. From Jeff Haugen, a fellow tobacconist at Tobacco Grove and owner of Crux Cigars, Frakes learned that first impressions are eternal. Greeting customers with a handshake or a smile is the first opportunity to build a relationship with new and returning customers. Once that customer goes into the humidor of your store, a retailer needs to continue that interaction. “We have to identify what their expectations are so that we can exceed them,” Frakes explains. “What do they want? Are they open to suggestions? What is the correct cigar for them? What is the experience they’re trying to find?” Anticipating the needs of the customer takes work and time but gives retailers the ultimate advantage. Talanca describes this entire process as investing in your consumers. Training your employees to greet every customer in the same way when they enter the store, teaching them how to engage with customers in different parts of the store and encouraging them to learn how to pick up on body language cues to anticipate the spoken and unspoken needs and desires of each customer is how retailers can build their own tribes and communities. Put some time into creating a customer experience and whatever money or time goes into it will pay dividends in the long run. Keep it Lit When it comes to products, retailers need to be selective in terms of what they stock. You only have so much space, so how do you choose what products make it onto your store’s shelves? The tobacconists on the panel had different approaches to this problem. For Frakes, his store has a process it puts every product through before deciding whether or not to carry it. This process builds on the community his family has built within Industrial Cigar Company and involves both employees and customers. When a manufacturer sends products for his store to sample, Frakes disperses those samples to several different groups within the store. One group is his family, who owns and runs Industrial Cigar Company. Each family member smokes the cigar and tries to decide how that product can fit into the humidor and what it has to add. Beyond product characteristics, they want to know more about the manufacturer. What’s their story? What’s their personality? What’s their reputation within the industry? How do they treat other retail partners? Once a product makes it past this stage, it then enters into a launch program. This involves an event where the brand owner engages with the customer base, either through an in-store event or virtually. These events are developed around the idea of educating the store’s customer base about the manufacturer, their company and their product. This rigorous, multi-pronged plan has helped successfully launch several brands within Industrial Cigar Company, including those that may be newer to themarket. Smoking the product is a very important factor in choosing what to carry or what to pass on, says Talanca. “You have to smoke the product,” he says. “There’s associations you can make with different tobaccos if you sell a lot of this brand, and this guy’s got this over here and it’s something new—there might be some similar or common ground as far as flavor profile that could be something you might want to try.” KATHLEEN KELLY Queensbury Cigar & Pipe Queensbury, New York BRANDON FRAKES Industrial Cigar Company Frisco, Texas CORY TALANCA Boss Cigars Carrollton, Georgia Meet Our Panel I’ve always taught my guys to always say hello to everyone that comes in. It sounds like a no-brainer, like everyone would do that. But how many times have you walked into a store and there’s zero greeting? — Kathleen Kelly, Queensbury Cigar & Pipe
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgzMDM=