Walking into a cigar lounge for the first time can be intimidating. New customers don’t know where to sit, which cigar to start with, or even how to cut and light it.
That’s where your cigar lounge staff comes in. Your employees should make all your customers feel welcome — whether they’re weekly visitors and cigar club members or nervous newcomers trying their very first cigar.
In this blog, we’ll cover the five cigar lounge etiquette basics your team members need to know, including how to guide customers to the perfect cigar, craft an excellent smoking experience, and handle behavior issues when they arise.
How Your Staff Can Model and Encourage Proper Cigar Lounge Behavior
Cigar lounges are a unique environment. They’re classic, relaxing, and upscale — and everyone should be on their best behavior.
You and your staff play a significant role in teaching and modeling cigar lounge etiquette, gently encouraging customers to appreciate the art of fine cigar smoking and be considerate toward other patrons.
Let’s explore five things you and your cigar lounge employees should know and share with your customers.
1. Start With Customer Service Basics
Before diving into cigar lounge-specific training, make sure your team understands the value of high-quality customer service. Here’s a checklist to cover in your first few training sessions:
- Greeting customers: Employees should greet newcomers with a smile and eye contact, acknowledge repeat customers, and offer to assist with cigar recommendations, lighting, or cutting.
- Making cigar recommendations: Employees should guide customers to the right cigars and take advantage of upselling and cross-selling opportunities without being pushy.
- Explaining your business model: Employees should be able to give a quick “elevator pitch” for your cigar lounge and take customers on a short but informative tour of your seating areas and humidors.
- Using your point of sale (POS) system: Employees need to know the ins and outs of your POS system to provide top-tier customer service, whether they’re signing up a new cigar club member, offering table-side checkout on the cigar lounge floor, or flagging a popular brand as out of stock.
Most importantly, your employees need to practice these customer service fundamentals. Plan mock checkouts, greetings, and tours to help them get comfortable talking about your lounge and product selection.
Related Read: How To Hire Quality Employees for Your Tobacco Shop
2. Teach Them Cigar Fundamentals
Next, let’s turn your employees into cigar experts. Your team will interact with tobacco aficionados as well as customers trying their first cigar, so they should know how to answer basic and advanced questions about your selection.
Make sure to cover:
- Cigar types
- Tobacco flavor profiles
- Cutting techniques
- Proper lighting
- Storage and humidor basics
Customers love personal recommendations, so have your team try some of your most popular cigars to identify their favorites.
Your employees are responsible for modeling and enforcing cigar lounge etiquette — but what does this actually mean?
Give your team clear guidelines and rules to help them understand how customers should behave in your lounge. Here are a few examples of popular etiquette tips:
- Be mindful of your smoke: Smoke can travel unpredictably depending on your lounge’s air filtration system, but patrons should be careful not to blow smoke directly into anyone’s face.
- Use ashtrays properly: Unattended cigars can present a fire risk, and snubbing out cigars creates unpleasant odors. Let customers know how to handle their cigars safely from beginning to end.
- Keep conversations appropriate: Conversations in a cigar lounge should be pleasant — both in content and in volume. Talking too loudly or discussing political issues is generally frowned upon.
Remember: Educating customers is the best way to prevent negative behaviors and interactions. When new smokers visit your lounge for the first time, it’s helpful to walk through these expectations to avoid tricky situations.
4. Explain When and How To Have Tough Conversations
Even in the most well-managed lounges, customers can be unruly or inconsiderate. When one customer’s behavior starts to affect the smoking experience of another, it’s crucial for staff to take action and protect your cigar lounge’s atmosphere and reputation.
First, establish when to intervene. Your staff shouldn’t hover around seating areas looking for behavior to correct, but they should know when poor cigar lounge etiquette affects other patrons or creates a health and safety issue. Give specific examples of when to take action — like if a patron is blowing smoke in someone’s face, failing to use ashtrays, or seems intoxicated.
Encourage them to avoid making a scene. Staff should focus on privacy and respect when addressing behavioral issues, which looks like pulling a customer aside instead of addressing them in front of a full group. Make sure to use neutral language without sounding accusatory.
5. Prioritize Ongoing Training
Cigar lounge etiquette training shouldn’t be a one-and-done activity when a new employee is hired. Instead, provide regular refresher training to help your staff stay up to date on the best ways to interact with patrons.
You can even ask them about etiquette issues they’ve encountered recently, and let the full group weigh in on what went right and what could be done better next time.
Use these recurring sessions to give employees hands-on experience and real-time feedback on their customer interactions. For example, you might role-play dealing with behavioral issues, promoting your cigar club program, or upselling premium smokes.
Bonus Tips for Creating the Perfect Cigar Lounge Atmosphere
Thorough employee training is only one element of your cigar lounge experience, so let’s look at a few more tips for creating the right cigar lounge atmosphere:
- Design a relaxing space: Want customers to show upscale etiquette? Then you need to design an upscale space. Use classic elements like wood and leather, keep your space clean and tidy, and play relaxing music to create the right ambiance. (Check out our free guide to cigar lounge design for more tips!)
- Separate social and solitary spaces: Good cigar lounge etiquette means socializing when appropriate and respecting other smokers’ quiet time, which is why it’s helpful to put a healthy distance between solo chairs and larger sofas designed for groups.
- Create an upscale shopping experience: The way you display products, handle checkouts, and market your lounge all contribute to how customers perceive your business. Invest in a specialized POS system that helps you build strong relationships with repeat customers through a loyalty program, facilitate easy checkouts from the sales floor, and keep your bestselling cigars in stock.
In short, having a strong business plan, stellar customer service, and a well-designed space goes a long way in encouraging proper cigar lounge etiquette and building a thriving community of tobacco aficionados.
Related Read: The 4 Best Cigar Lounge POS Systems [Features + Pricing]
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