Budtender Customer Service Tips

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Attracting customers to your dispensary through occasional promotions, events, and a useful website is a great start, but how do you turn those first-time customers into lifetime customers?

There are a lot of ways, like having well-laid out displays, by providing sufficient labeling on displays, by making the goal of all budtenders to make a connection. All can help create a shopping experience that makes customers want to buy your products at your regular prices.

That connection is the most important factor, as it is the springboard for dialogue between customer and budtender. The rapport that follows is the stickiness that creates loyal customers. Here are some tips on how to create an experience for customers to your dispensary that will have them visiting again for their cannabis needs.

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Quick Connect

Talk to customers within 15 seconds of them entering the dispensary. You don’t need a sales pitch; just a greeting, thanks for coming in or a welcome. You’ve established yourself as an advisor, and you’ve made the customer feel welcome. You’ve also let the door open for further communication with the customer.

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Have answers for common questions immediately

A well put-together FAQ (frequently asked questions) page on your website will eliminate a lot of common questions before they clog up the counter. This can include warranty information, return and exchange policies, installation tutorials and any other common question about the product or service being sold.

Next step, know the answers to those commonly asked questions so consumers can have a positive experience when they come to your counter for help with purchasing at a dispensary or what to purchase.

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Take customers’ privacy seriously

Never ask your customers to provide secure private information (like credit card numbers, social security numbers or other personal questions) to help them. Asking for this information will not only put them at risk, but it will also cause them to lose trust and potentially never do business with you again. Have an order or customer point of purchase system that uses phone numbers or birthdays (like a doctor office) to find customer information.

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Tone down the technical jargon

Remember not every person you communicate with is going to have a full understanding of technical and cannabis industry-specific terminology. Attempt to answer all questions using very clear and direct replies. Be ready to do a bit of education positively. If the response requires a lot of detail break it up into smaller pieces that are easier to digest.

Here are some quick tips you can share with other budtenders at your dispensary.

• Smile when greeting a customer in person and on the phone (yes, people can tell if you’re smiling).
• Be proactive and ask how you may be of service.
• Stay viable and available, but don’t hover unless necessary
• Don’t turn away or walk away, start to make a phone call as a customer approaches the counter.
• The customer standing in front of you working with you on their order takes precedence over someone who calls on the phone.
• Never judge a book by its cover. All customers deserve attention regardless of their age or appearance.
• Don’t let overly chatty customers monopolize your time if others are waiting.
• Call for backup if lines are forming.
• If your dispensary can take credit cards, be discrete if a customer’s card is declined. Ask if there is another method of payment they would like to use.
• Never discuss another customer in front of other customers.
• Inspect all items sold before bagging them to make sure it’s not defective in any way or the wrong amount.
• Make sure the customer gets everything they’ve paid for before they leave your dispensary.
• Smile again as you say goodbye and encourage the customer to come again.

Matching the experience people should be having on your dispensary’s website (helpful, useful information, laid out for the best user experience) is the key to blending the online reputation and the in-store reputation. The worst business practice is putting all the focus on the website and not matching the helpfulness of the website with the helpfulness of the budtenders that customers have to interact with daily.

All in all, give a better experience then the customer expects, and you’ve mastered customer service as a budtender. Being a budtender is an important role in many people’s lives as you are their direct connection to the cannabis they need. People remember how someone made them feel when they visited the dispensary.