80 TOBACCO BUSINESS | SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER | 22 It’s cool. It’s forward. It’s outside of the box. It’s very unique and different,” Patel proclaims. “I certainly don’t have the family heritage to fall back on so I think we’ve created a brand that has quality and consistency. The one thing you learn when you smoke a Rocky Patel cigar is that you’re going to get a consistent, great-quality cigar and you’re going to get a cigar that is diverse and has a unique flavor and brand profile. It’s going to be fun, hip, sexy and cool.” Because of the rigorous and detailed-oriented production process each cigar is put through, Patel is confident that when those cigars arrive in the humidors of each Burn by Rocky Patel they’re as close to perfect as they can be. This removes another layer of concern when it comes to the customer experience within Burn as everyone who lights up a Rocky Patel cigar in a venue like Burn is likely to have a great experience and is more likely to come back in the future. Also, the staff knows the quality of the product that they’re selling and can be proud of and passionate about what they’re promoting and selling to customers. “You can’t be everything to everybody; you need to have great core brands, quality brands, and you need to listen to what the customer wants,” Patel says. “When you’re doing something right and offering people an experience that they can have in a beautiful venue, I think that’s howmagic can bemade.” Knowledge and being able to fully engage with customers is key to good customer service and to becoming a great tobacconist, Patel goes on to say. For him, the experience is everything, something a lot of retailers sometimes fail to understand. Rather than carrying every brand imaginable, Patel instead makes sure Burn can accommodate every cigar smoker’s taste profile by stocking the humidor with Rocky Patel cigar blends of different profiles in addition to carrying a few cigars from competitors. The key to Burn by Rocky Patel’s success is equipping the venue’s staff with the knowledge to help each customer find a cigar within the humidor that they will enjoy and that will keep them coming back for more. Rocky’s Formula for Success Success didn’t come to Patel overnight. It took him 26 years of visiting retailers and building relationships with consumers through events. It’s also Patel’s focus on people that’s made him such a phenomenon within the cigar industry. In terms of his business, Patel is proud that many of his employees have been with the company for years. Most of the hires he’s made over the years didn’t necessarily have the experience necessary for their particular job, but they did possess a passion for cigars. Patel was willing to teach them and train them to do what they need to for the business. One thing he can’t teach them is how to love and feel passionate about cigars. Fun is another important element within the business. When people go into the office at Rocky Patel Premium Cigars, they aren’t entering into the typical work environment. Instead, Patel describes his office as being more like a fraternity and says it’s not uncommon to walk into a party situation. “It doesn’t seem like anybody’s working,” Patel jokes. “It’s like a big party. In fact, they should pay me to come to work!” Knowledge and fun are not exclusive to Patel’s offices; they are also what one can expect when visiting any Burn by Rocky Patel venue throughout the U.S. Even though fun is an important part of the business, Patel pushes hard for perfectionism among his employees. “I’m a perfectionist. I expect them to work hard and perform to the levels and have strict standards of greatness and quality,” Patel says. Quality is what Patel urges others who are working in retail to focus on more than trying to fit too many brands in their humidor. Just as he based Burn by Rocky Patel’s aesthetic and customer service on his own personal experiences, Patel recommends other retailers visit their competitors and take good notes. What does their humidor look like? What’s the quality of their products? How knowledgeable are the store or venue’s staff? Retailers need to focus on products made by companies that are true partners and spend the time to promote and market their products to the market. Most importantly, keep in mind that your business is there to serve the customer, not your own needs. “You don’t have to build a Taj Mahal, but you have to build something that is clean, beautiful, comfortable and a service-oriented business,” Patel explains. For Patel, success comes by following a very simple formula: Create a relationship between yourself and the consumer, and good things will happen. Know your industry, and identify those who are doing a great job at whatever it is you want to do—and find a way to do it even better than they are. TB Rocky Patel is passionate about cigars, and another way he expresses his passion for the craft and industry is through his advocacy work. Patel is regularly working alongside other brand owners and trade associations like the Premium Cigar Association (PCA) to fight and speak out against FDA regulations, state taxes and local anti-smoking efforts that threaten the cigar industry and businesses like his. “I think that’s my biggest fear of the future: What could happen in this industry?” he asks. “The low-hanging fruit is always taxation against cigarettes and cigars, and we will always get thrown in that bucket. When you have states like California and New York with 80-90 percent tax [rates], that just kills this beautiful industry. This FDA regulation has been a monkey on our back for the last decade. Hopefully we’ve tackled it and [have] navigated through it, and hopefully we can get rid of those obscure, obnoxious, ambiguous and overreaching regulations.” Patel encourages other retailers to get involved in the fight against regulations. “If you let the government regulate you, you’re not going to have a retail shop. It’s going to wipe out 75 percent of the manufacturing,” he explains. Regulations and local ordinances that dictate where people can or cannot smoke are a big threat to retailers and manufacturers alike, Patel goes on to say. “If you don’t fight for your rights, you’re not going to survive. When you take things for granted, that’s the death of an industry. This industry is a cottage industry; it doesn’t have millions of dollars to throw around with lobbyists and attorneys.” ROCKY PATEL: THE ADVOCATE
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