Budtender behavior impacts patient experience

Budtender behavior impacts patient experience

 

Among the team of employees in medical dispensaries you’ll find budtenders.  Budtenders are utility players in the sense that they not only represent the dispensary and the brand, but are typically called upon for educating patients about specific topics of inquiry such as effects, benefits, and sharing feedback from other patients about specific products in their inventory.  While budtenders are not usually clinicians they have likely gone through more extensive training than many of the other employees of the dispensary.  The behaviors of a budtender have a profound impact on the patients’ perception of the brand and can in some cases, make or break a repeat visit from a patient.  Leafly conducted a reader poll to learn more about the 4 bad habits that have turned them into detractors versus ambassadors for dispensaries.

 

Here’s a recap of the 4 habits:

  1. They’re impatient and rude.  One respondent called out that they didn’t like when budtenders made them feel stupid for asking questions or tried to rush them.
  2. They don’t differentiate between medical and adult-use consumers.   A user in the poll called out that he wanted his budtender to “talk about medicine, not weed.”
  3. Bad hygiene and dirty hands.  More than a few who responded to the poll said that they viewed the handling of raw product to have guidelines just like food handlers do, after all they are handling medicine.  Several remarked about not liking their flower being handled with bare hands, preferring tongs or gloves.
  4. They lack knowledge about the products they carry (or they simply don’t care).  Even for seasoned budtenders, there is a LOT of information that is required for success in this role and staying current on cannabis is a must.

When it comes down to it, these 4 habits aren’t really exclusive to a dispensary or even the cannabis industry.  In terms of customer experience, we all want the same things – courtesy, respect, credibility, and to feel like we’re important.  For those who are seeking a role as a budtender – do you have what it takes to avoid the bad habits above?