Do budtenders really matter for most brands?

It depends on the brand and budtender

Conventional wisdom says that the key to building a brand and generating retail sell through is by educating and influencing the budtender.  While this is often true, I don’t think budtenders are crucial for many brands and likely do not warrant the effort and investment directed at them.

Before you get your underwear in a knot, hear me out - and with an open mind

Budtender engagement became foundational out of default (i.e. it was one of the few ‘salesy’ things allowed by regulations) and design (i.e. you could influence the 'holy grail' novice consumer at the point of sale).  

It’s time this approach is torture-tested with valid objective research (I have yet to see any) and good business sense. I will undertake the latter.

Simply put, relying primarily on budtenders is often an ineffective and inefficient strategy.  To wit- 

1. You and your competitors are saying the same things about undifferentiated products to the same budtenders. Moreover, budtender access is diminishing, given high role turnover and restrictive store policies;

2. The typical budtender is relatively inexperienced and pressed for time when dealing with multiple customers. Like all humans, budtenders have limited attention spans and memories. They will inevitably default to products embedded in their long-term memory;

3. Program ROI is taking a hit due to rising costs (e.g., wage rates, gas) and falling wholesale prices.  At the same time, maintaining a quality budtender-focused sales team is difficult, and outsourcing to an agency is often not a panacea;

4. Retail consolidation is driving centralized buying, thereby decreasing available product choices for the budtender to recommend; 

5. Finally, brands usually assume budtenders have the consumer’s best interest at heart.  In reality, budtenders will focus on their company’s immediate sales priorities (e.g, selling the highest margin product) and not yours or the consumers’. 

Producers need to carefully evaluate whether a budtender engagement strategy is a better strategic and financial choice than investing in other key elements such as product development, pricing plans and digital initiatives. 

Figuring this out requires you knowing how your program is working and at what cost (total and opportunity).  Specifically- 

- Compare listings and sell through at stores with and without budtender engagement; 

- Perform channel research to understand their needs & requirements; 

- Tally up the total direct and indirect costs of your budtender plan;

- Diagnose the real capabilities and gaps with your sales function;

- Consider the strategic and financial potential of alternative strategies. 

#retail #budtender #marketing #brand #CX #instore