PCA Magazine Show Issue 2021

PREMIUMCIGARS.ORG SHOW 2021 | PCA The Magazine 49 of focus can thrive despite products or services that may be inferior to a competitor. It is human nature to do business with someone we like. This seems easy on the surface, but does it really apply to a retail tobacconist? I am convinced it is EVERYTHING and there is a high cost to missing the mark. Before we opened the Vault in 2017, I spent over a year building a relationship with a successful tobacconist in Las Vegas. He allowed me to tag along on a trip to Nicaragua with him to visit a cigar factory and experience cigar culture firsthand. He took my phone calls and answered my emails faithfully. That same retailer personally accompanied me to my first PCA tradeshow, where I was making my first forays into the industry. He reviewed my manufacturer account planning and guided me through the morass of limitless buying opportunities. He made personal introductions to manufacturing and industry partners who would become my friends and trusted voices on my retail journey. He invested time in my success, not because I was offering him anything, but for my friendship. All of this happened because I was choosing to be likable. I assert that the biggest factor in our four years of success was based on that single relationship. It would stand to reason that if success can be traced to being likable, there is an equal cost to being unlikable. I believe that to be true. The beautiful and crushing digital world that we live in bears out this truth. One need only peruse Yelp, Google or Facebook to see the fruits of retailers and how “likable” the market finds us. While this might seem unfair, it is a reality that we live in. Every person who walks in our door has the potential to improve or malign our business. They can become a value add or disruption to our collective bottom lines. I would offer that this is not limited to just customers. I treat every person who enters our shop as a potential value add to my business. They are most often a customer, but I see equal value adds come through my door in the form of sales reps, fire inspectors, city officials, utility providers or neighboring retailers. These are people who can often offer you SOMETHING because you treated them the way you would like to be treated—which costs you NOTHING. I turn down opportunities every week, but I do it with kindness. In my experience, I earn far more favor and opportunity because I smile than because I am doing things right in my lounge. I see business peers who are antagonistic who struggle making headway and can’t seem to figure out the world runs on relationships. It is the fuel that drives opportunities to succeed. You certainly might have a shiny “whip” on the superhighway of profit, but if it doesn’t have the fuel to move, it is probably getting passed. Here is the tough truth. If you focus on relationships currently, this article is a nifty read that confirms what you have experienced yourself. If this is you, keep up the good work and pick one relationship to invest in this week that has been strained. If you don’t value people over process, this is an annoying romp, or you might not know how to change your culture. I would like to offer you these three suggestions: 1. Smile. This will take work. You aren’t being fake. You are choosing an affect that conveys a genuine interest in someone else. 2. Listen. A large percentage of my retail customers are in my lounge to be heard and share their story. I let them. I don’t have to agree, argue, or convince them of anything but that they are valued. Period. 3. Be generous. People equate generosity with money. That is one expression of it, but the biggest thing we can offer is our time. That doesn’t cost anything, but it is precious to us and our customers. Find a proper amount to give away. There is a benefit and a cost to being likable in your business. Embrace this. It is a universal truth. It’s OK if we are not good at it today if we are committed to being better at it in the future. Your bottom line will reward you for the time spent! Some people are inherently likeable. If you’re not, work on it. It may even improve your social life. - Antonin Scalia, Supreme Court Justice ” T H E T O B A C C O N I S T