Tobacco Business

[ 32 ] TOBACCO BUSINESS [ MAY / JUNE | 21 ] boutique cigar business, the faces of the companies are treated and made into the celebrities at events. And that’s cool. I mean, there are fanboys out there that love to see that. But when you flip that, you can make your consumer feel like a celebrity. Work the Crowd Rather than working with people individually, what we do is we do is go after collective sales. I don’t want to sell, market and work hard to sell a few people a few boxes of cigars. I want it to be a community thing. At our private event, for example, I’ll announce to everyone there that if we hit a number of box sales, I will put in a raffle item everyone may want. It might be a cabinet humidor, or it could be a trip somewhere or concert tickets. By doing this, I’m giving them something, but I’m not discounting my brand. Don’t get complacent when putting on an event! Complacency is what’s killing this industry right now. I love small business, I love mom-and-pop shops, but times have changed since 1992. The inside of a store should look different, the service should be different, the cigars should be different, customers should be treated differently, and your store’s events should be different too. TB EVENT PLANNING 101 Looking to put on a buzzworthy event? Shore Thing Cigars owner Paul Copeland has three tips to help you get started with your event planning: Get Detailed. You’re running a business, not a hobby. To make sure all goes as planned, map out your entire event. Provide your staff and any outside vendors and reps with a schedule that includes what will happen during setup, the actual event and breakdown. Mind the Guests. Everything you are doing is for the sake of your event’s guests. Any time or attention put toward anything else is going to be waste of time. Create a Wow Factor. A successful event has to have at least one thing that will help guests remember it for days, weeks and even years to come. This could be a signature cocktail, a party favor, even a dress code. Make the ‘wow’ personal and unique to your customers and store. Contributed by Paul Copeland, co-owner of Shore Thing Cigars, located in Watersound, Florida. Copeland’s store was the recipient of a 2019 Davidoff Golden Band Award and 2020 Tobacco Business Award. Shore Thing Cigars only puts on two events a year—an anniversary party open to all and an invite-only exclusive white party featuring Davidoff Cigars.