Cannabis Retailers: Fix Your Budtender Problem, Yet?
Einstein famously said that insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and hoping for a different result.
Which brings me to the issue of high budtender turnover and low performance.
Many lament these problems, casually advocating for more investment, education etc. Few, however, look critically at the issue.
Don’t get me wrong, I consider my local guy a guru of hash. I know there are many knowledgeable, motivated and objective budtenders out there.
Alas, the data and my consulting experience tell another story.
First off, why over-invest in budtenders when they don’t stick around? Headset, a cannabis research company, found that approx. 55% of all North American budtenders leave their store within one year. Even worse, almost 25% of budtenders exit before the end of their first month.
Some see this is a ‘chicken and egg’ situation. The thinking goes: if you trained budtenders more and paid higher wages, they would stay and flourish. Maybe, but maybe not.
On the latter….
It’s hard to be knowledgeable and inspired when you must speak intelligently on hundreds of products, many of which turn over regularly.
Investing more into your budtenders won’t be pay out if they don’t have the brains, work ethic, and values – all of which can be in short supply. Being a cannabis enthusiast is not enough to be effective.
Many firms can’t or won’t pay higher wages. Paying more money sounds like a fix except when you are operating at a loss or breakeven.
Budtenders need money, too. Their often-paid minimum wage pay is a borderline living income, even with tips. Hence, they have lots of motivation to leave for higher compensation.
Career development is not feasible in most cases. Unless you are a forward-thinking chain there will be limited opportunities to deliver upward mobility.
Finally, budtenders are human and want status. Unfairly but realistically, the budtender has much lower status than other aspirational cannabis roles like producer sales or marketing.
Truth be told, most retailers and budtenders are ok with the current state.
> Lots of young people use the role as a brief, stepping stone to something better.
> Why train a budtender when he/she is going to leave you for a competitor for an extra buck an hour?
> Finally, budtenders are irrelevant to some shoppers. Many consumers don’t want the transactional ‘friction’ of dealing with a budtender.
For many retailers, an over-reliance on budtenders is a shaky and expensive strategy. Moreover, leaders must consider opportunity costs. Pouring limited time and cash into training and incentivizing budtenders is risky, and comes at the expense of more impactful marketing & merchandising strategies.
I have some ideas on how to fix your budtender ‘problem’. DM to learn more.
#cannabisindustry #retail #budtender #cannabis #cannabisbusiness #CX