Behind the Counter: The Power of Suggestion

The full story goes like this: I’ve been smoking cigars for over 12 years. I’ve been writing about them, first not the Tiki Bar and now here, for over 5 years. And right now, I’ve been working at a cigar shop a little less than 1 year, although I was a customer at that shop for 4 years previous to that. In the 250 to 300 hours I’ve worked in at Burns Tobacconist (part-time, every other Saturday…drop by and visit with me if you’re in the area on one of those Saturdays…110 Jordan Drive, Chattanooga, TN…423-855-5200), I’ve seen some trends and made some observations that I wasn’t able to really make from the other side of the counter. I thought I would take some time once or twice a month to share some of these thoughts and observations with you.

One more word first…I’m not out to slam any particular manufacturer or become free advertising to others. Mostly, I probably won’t even mention brands by their names when I talk about “behind the counter” experiences.

The Power of Suggestion

I heard about a blogger once who told a manufacturer’s rep: “I can make or break your cigar.” Even if it were true, I would say it’s an arrogant and foolish thing to say, but the more I’ve seen, the less I believe any single person at any level can “break” a great product or “make” an inferior one. Usually it’s a team of folks that has to work with great persistence and common vision to achieve greatness in this industry…or any other, for that matter. One member of that team…a link in the chain, as it were…is the brick-and-mortar tobacconist.

The tobacconist’s job consists of several important duties…know the products you sell…explain to people the differences between cigars…teach people how to properly cut and light a cigar. Probably the most important duty, though, is pairing the right cigar with the right person. You aren’t out to “make a sale”…you are trying to “make a customer.” As such, you don’t start a newbie off with something that is going to knock them on the floor. And if someone comes around looking for a powerhouse smoke, you don’t suggest something on the shallow end of the pool in terms of body.

Sometimes it’s “What do you recommend for someone who wants to move up from mass-market mild cigars?” or “What have you been smoking lately?” The thing I’ve noticed is this: about 9 times out of 10, after I give them an opinion…they buy exactly what I recommended.

There are several upshots to that.

First, brands that I like…or specific blends that I like by a certain brand…tend to sell very well when I’m working. I can end up selling the equivalent of half of box of singles…sometimes even a full box or two…of those cigars I’m recommending frequently. Let’s take “Brand A,” for example…a cigar I truly love and a brand that I can really get behind…I recommend them to newer (but not usually first-time) smokers and enthusiasts, both. I sold an entire box to an expectant father who wanted to hand out something better than the typical “It’s a Boy/Girl” cigars.

The flip side to that is that those brands I don’t like, don’t get recommended…and they tend to just not sell much at all. “Brand B” will be our example here…while they make some fine sticks, I just can’t bring myself to recommend them…so I’ve sold a handful of them in the past year, all to people who specifically came in looking for them. Not that anyone walked out dissatisfied…I simply recommended other brands and they bought those.

Finally, it’s not all about me. There are four other people working more hours than me at the shop…and they all do the same thing. They recommend what they have been enjoying lately. We all share some likes, but we all tend to have different “favorites” at any particular moment. Bottom line, any quality cigar has a decent chance in a shop like ours…and there are shops like ours all over the country.