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brand loyalty versus relying on new
product introductions.” He believes that
the name of the game will be to cultivate
not only what’s existing in the market right
now, but for retailers to cultivate what he
calls the “humidor experience” to continue
to drive business in a confused marketplace.
He is far from alone. In the tobacconist
world, retailers are honing “back to busi-
ness” skills that tobacco outlets could learn
from, particularly those that want to grow
a strong cigar business and be sustainable
for future growth, under regulation or not.
INVEST IN STAFF, EVEN MORE THAN
CIGARS.
Cigar inventory is an important
investment, but especially now, investing in
staff is priority No. 1.When it comes to sell-
ing cigars, tobacconists are quick to say they
don’t think of their staff as clerks in the store,
they think of them as advocates of the busi-
ness. So when owner Dave Garofalo of Two
Guys Smoke Shop, with three locations in
NewHampshire, is looking for a cigar sales-
person for one of his stores, he actually posts
for two jobs—a cashier for $7 an hour and a
salesperson for $12 an hour.
“Every person always applies for the
salesperson job, which is good, because I
don’t need cashiers, I need salespeople,” he
relays. Once they indicate to Garofalo that
they want to sell cigars, he is ready to invest
in them with ongoing training, which in-
cludes novice employees learning from vet-
eran employees because Two Guys Smoke
Shop always has two salespeople on the
floor at all times selling cigars. “An impor-
tant part of it is storytelling.The customer
that comes in wants to hear the sizzle—
that’s what sells cigars,” he says.
The type of training Garofalo is refer-
ring to is a process of interacting with
customers day in and day out. “This type
of training does not rely on vendors,” he
states. “If a vendor comes in to do an event
in our store and he outsells our people,
C I GAR SENSE
18
TOBACCO BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016