Once upon a time, cannabis sales were nothing more than a meet-and-greet on a street corner. There was nothing legitimate about it, so little was needed to elevate the customer experience.
No more.
Today’s cannabis businesses are growing at exponential speed. It’s transformed into a legitimate marketplace where business owners are building highly successful companies.
They’re also faced with some of the most complex regulations and challenging problems. How do you find financial resources when it’s still not recognized at the federal level? How do you secure a business with a high level of risk?
In order to continue to grow a successful business, it’s essential to ensure all sides of business operations are well run. Systems are key. Without adequately trained employees, a security plan to protect your data, and production resources for an efficient business, you won’t be able to attract the right customers. Without a strategic customer service plan, you’ll never create repeat business.
Where do you begin?
Education matters
In 2012, Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize cannabis. Today, 21 states have legalized recreational cannabis sales, while 37 have legalized medical marijuana.
With only a decade of legalization behind it, many are still unsure of the benefits of using cannabis products in their daily lives. It’s up to you as a business owner to educate prospects and customers. This can start in person with one-to-one educational talks every time a customer visits. Get to them individually and talk about different products that might be beneficial.
It continues with online education, and should include a sophisticated customer experience. Revamp your website to include blog articles, product recommendations, and customer reviews. Build out social media feeds to reach a new target audience. Stay connected through newsletters and other connection tools that help build a strong connection. We’re at the precipice of heavy growth; it’s the best way to create customers for life.
Welcoming staff
A healthy business starts with a persona you move forward with and present to the public. You should look for that face in every employee you hire. Will they represent you well every time they talk about your business?
It starts with training. Have a proper onboarding system to ensure each employee thoroughly understands your business. Train them on all aspects of being within a cannabis business. There’s more to it than enjoying the product.
A positive experience starts with knowledge, but it also includes security. Will they be able to ensure customers feel safe throughout the process? As they learn, they’ll have questions. They watch every step you and your employees take.
This is where systems keep you on target. You should have separate systems for recreational and medical. You must approach medical with extra care to put customers at ease. It includes a check-in procedure, ID verification, and point-of-sale guidelines. This is a win/win as it helps you stay in compliance.
Communication
Building a successful customer experience begins before you ever connect with a customer. It includes:
- A social media presence that gives prospects ideas
- A website that’s educational, informative, and motiving
- Knowledgeable sales staff that can answer any question
- Cloud services that keep all customer data safe and secure
- IT services that handle chat, conferencing, mobile management, email, VoIP, messaging, and more
And this is just the start. As you continue to build, you’ll find more ways to create a customer experience that attracts newbies, retains existing clients, and keeps all of the data secure.
Are you ready to elevate the customer experience?
In a new market, building out a healthy customer experience is difficult when there are so many distractions happening each day. Even if customer service isn’t your forte, you can still make it a top priority.
By elevating the customer experience, you’ll enhance the way your customers view your products, while giving them more reasons to share with their friends.
Customer experiences start with systems in place. Are you building yours?
For IT Strategy, Cloud Conversion, or Help Desk Services reach out to us at Silver Linings Technology 360-450-4759.
