Cigar evaluation traditionally focuses on what happens after a cigar is lit: construction, draw, burn, flavor, balance, consistency and the overall smoking experience.
Ashologist™ is expanding that conversation.
The independent cigar education and evaluation platform behind the Ashology™ approach has introduced Cigar Industry Standards, a new editorial series examining the people, practices and relationships that help bring premium cigars from manufacturers to consumers.
The new series looks beyond the cigar itself to examine areas such as sales representation, retailer support, communication, product availability, follow-through and long-term business relationships.
The Sales Representative Is Part of the Brand
For many cigar retailers, their primary interaction with a manufacturer is not with the company president or the people making the cigars.
It is with the sales representative walking through the door.
A knowledgeable, responsive and professional representative can strengthen a retailer’s confidence in a brand. Poor communication, broken commitments or inconsistent account support can have the opposite effect.
Ashologist™ believes those interactions deserve serious discussion because the reputation of a cigar brand is built through more than advertising and packaging.
Seven Industry Standards Articles
The initial Cigar Industry Standards series includes seven articles:
- The Sales Rep Is Part of the Brand: What Great Cigar Representation Looks Like
- What Retailers Should Expect From a Cigar Manufacturer
- When Selling Becomes Overselling
- Allocations, Backorders & Communication: What Good Service Looks Like
- The Manufacturer–Distributor–Retailer Relationship
- What Makes a Great Cigar Sales Representative?
- Why Retailer Relationships Matter After the Order Is Written
The purpose of the series is not to target individual companies or representatives.
It is to establish a constructive discussion about professionalism, transparency, communication and the responsibilities that come with representing a premium cigar brand.
Why It Matters to CigarOfTheYear.com
CigarOfTheYear.com evaluates cigars through competition, comparison and real-world performance.
The cigar itself will always remain central to that process.
But availability, retailer confidence, manufacturer support and the ability of consumers to find and repurchase a cigar can also influence its long-term position in the market.
Ashologist™ provides the broader educational and industry perspective behind that evaluation philosophy.
“A cigar has to perform when it is smoked. A brand also has to perform after the cigar leaves the factory.”
Read the Complete Series
Readers can explore the full Cigar Industry Standards series on Ashologist.com.
Read Cigar Industry Standards on Ashologist™
Ashologist™ — The Study of Cigars