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Tips For Training Your Budtenders

Hiring a new budtender? Here’s how to train them to make your dispensary experience a comfortable one for the consumer.

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13/11/2019

The cannabis industry expanding quickly isn’t only an opportunity for consumers to dive into the canna-sector, but it is also opening doors for those wanting to delve into the booming world of cannabis. And on the retail side of things, budtending is creating a lot of places in the industry.

Hiring new employees for your dispensary is a process that a lot of people keep getting stuck around, and in this industry, where the budtender is the front face of the dispensary, finding the right person to join your dispensary is a big deal.

Budtenders play an absolutely essential role in the dispensary. This is obviously because they are the ones selling and communicating with the customer directly. From first time customers to the highly educated canna-lovers, your budtenders are the ones who have to attend to everyone  - which can be hard, but you know what they say ‘nothing is impossible’.

To make your already existing bud-staff, and new employees the perfect team, and training them to be the perfect budtender is the first thing you should add to your task list. Well trained budtenders tend to sell more products, and with budtenders who are good at their job, consumers tend to keep coming back for more (just like you might already know). So for your budtending staff to offer impeccable services to patients and recreational consumers, here are a few training tips.

  1. Being attentive and asking questions

As you might already know, a dispensary will always have various customers who are searching for different things. Some might be cannabis connoisseurs, some might be people who’ve had minimal experience with cannabis, and some might be first-timers. Your budtender has to know who the consumer is and ask questions so they can help the consumer what they’re looking for.

It’s also important for your budtender to ask questions such as ‘is it for medicinal use or recreational use?’. This is key because this way they can figure out what to suggest to the consumer depending on the consumer’s needs and wants. So make sure your budtender is attentive to the consumer’s needs and asks questions to figure out what the consumer might be looking for. However, it’s also important to train them to understand the consumer with just a few questions, because a lot of questions can also end up overwhelming them, and you wouldn’t want that.

Being attentive and asking questions

  1. Passion and compassion

The first thing you should have your budtender keep in mind is to be passionate about what they’re selling and to show compassion to the customer, especially when it comes to first-time cannabis users, whether they’re patients or recreational consumers. Many first-timers have never even entered a dispensary before, so when they enter your dispensary, the budtender should be able to make them feel comfortable.

So make sure your budtender understands how to make the consumer feel comfortable, at ease, and should be taken through the entire dispensary experience smoothly.


Check out these 5 things that you should know before starting a cannabis dispensary in California.


  1. Product Knowledge

Well, this is obviously one of the most important things you should train your budtender towards. Educate your budtender about all your products. The budtender should know all about the effects of the different products, what they do, and the dosage. Especially when dealing with a first-timer, your dispensary’s budtender should be able to help the customer out end-to-end with what they’re looking for depending on why they’re consuming the product and how much to take.

Consumers also usually have a lot of questions regarding different products at your dispensary, so it’s important that your budtender is able to answer every one of them. Even though the cannabis industry is expanding, not a lot of people have a full form of trust in the industry. But if your budtender knows what they’re doing and what they’re talking about in terms of the product, then the consumer will build trust with your dispensary and budtender, which, in turn, will most likely make them come back for more. 

For example, edibles. The emergence of cannabis edibles has been a huge part in building the cannabis industry, and if your dispensary offers a plethora of edibles, then people are going to have questions about them - and your budtender should be able to answer them.

  1. Dispensary Protocols

Every dispensary has different protocols, so whether your budtender is experienced or not, make sure they know your dispensary’s protocols. So whether it’s security, your point of sales system, or anything else that is just confined to your dispensary, make sure your budtender knows it thoroughly.

  1. Soft Selling

Teach your budtenders how to soft sell your product. What this means is, make sure that your budtender isn’t forcing any products on the consumer aggressively. Instead, they should be able to offer the consumer a range of suggestions depending on what the consumer is looking for. Once the consumer knows what they’re looking for, your budtender can then go on and tell them about the advantages and effects of the product. Consumers usually want people to help them through cannabis products, and not sell it to them, so keep that in mind when training your budtender. They should be a helping hand, and obviously, the final decision will be the consumer's.

Looking forward to meeting you again next time.