How to Become a Budtender and Do a Stellar Job

Finding out how to become a budtender is a great start if you want to be hired by a dispensary. Learning the basics before you head in for an interview will give you an advantage over other applicants and show that if hired you can do a stellar job. The cannabis industry offers a job market that is both growing and becoming more professional. Learning how to become a budtender means you have to ability to become part of that industry and take the opportunities that come with it.

The employment opportunities in this new industry are climbing in number and becoming a budtender is a great start to a promising career path in the cannabis industry. Finding your passion within the marijuana industry is a good selling point. Having experience and knowledge with that passion makes the perfect combination of skills to be a stellar budtender.

The Budtender

Before you ask how to become a budtender, understanding the role is important. A budtender is key in the cannabis market that is driven by the consumer. There is so much competition for market share in this new industry a company must have a great team of budtenders in place to make sure customers are finding everything they need. Knowing how to engage with customers, educate them while offering complete buyer satisfaction is central to this role.

Along with customer satisfaction a top-notch budtender wants to bring in repeat customers, increase sales and put forward a premium brand to the market. A budtender is going to be the face of a marijuana dispensary and needs to be the final sale point for any cannabis product in the business. Do not let anyone tell you that the entry-level role is unimportant. It is a key role in a solid dispensary team. Budtender responsibilities are:

• Responsible for knowing about all marijuana products and current cannabis research allowing them to educate customers.
• Creates a shopping environment that is understanding, educational, friendly and professional.
• Focused on creating sales and getting consumers the best cannabis product for their specific needs.
• Explain new market products to consumers.
• Understand all laws and compliance regulations for the industry and the consumer.
• Offer top-notch customer service, drive sales and support consumer needs with products best for them

Budtender Skills

Becoming a budtender means you must have natural and learned skills. Your potential employer is going to want to know both before they hire you. Hiring a budtender without skills can cause decreased sales, poor customer engagement, the stress in the workplace and a lot of staff turnover. Becoming a budtender means understanding both your natural and learned skills so you can meet the businesses needs.

1. Make sure you can provide great customer service. You must be people-centric with a passion for teaching and selling good products. Show your people skills to your potential employer. Prove your industry is valid by creating a professional experience for customers in the shop. Customer service is a skill as is engaging with people so highlight those budtending skills.

2. A second skill needed is to be adaptable. Being a budtender is a unique role because it is so new. There are always going to changes regarding products and legislation that you always must be up to date on. A budtender is always going to have to adapt to the everchanging consumer market. If you like predictability, then budtending probably is not for you.

3. You must be able to learn and be passionate about new advances in product, law and customer service. The learning can never end as the market is always changing. A budtender must have the skill to learn and understand what quality cannabis is and why strains help make customers feel in particular ways. Knowing the difference between CBD and THC is critical for sales and customer satisfaction as is understanding different strains. If you are not someone with a love of learning about cannabis, then the marketplace is not for you.

4. Budtenders need to be a skilled teacher. While you must love learning, there is also a need to be able to pass that knowledge onto the consumers in a coherent manner. Teaching skills are important.

5. Knowing about products is important but also understanding regulations is critical. If compliance regulations are not followed, then not only is the budtender open to liability but the business as well. A budtender must make sure that the final point sale will meet compliance in all manner.

6. A budtender must have superior sales skills. While customer service is important, a budtender job is a sales position. A budtender can have all the natural skills but needs great sales skills if they really want to stand out. Being a quality salesperson that does ethical sales along with keeping compliance in line is going to be a stellar budtender.

Beyond Natural Skills

While the above natural skills are important if you want to become a budtender, there are other important skills as well that a potential employer will want to see. They will want to know if you are interested in formal education around cannabis. Do you have technical skills with computers and POS systems? Are you responsive to customers and your peers? These are just a few of the questions that will be asked regarding hard and soft skills.

Final Thoughts

Learning how to become a budtender means you must be prepared to meet the industry needs. Honing your hard and soft skills before you head into an interview is important. Highlight the skills you have when it comes to learning, customer service and product knowledge. Show your passion and motivation to be in the business and that you have already worked at making sure your skills are solid. Becoming a budtender, furthering your cannabis education will open doors not only to an important entry-level job but will start your climb up the ladder to success in the cannabis industry.