Dispensary Marketing Tips

If you own a dispensary or delivery service there is two key marketing goals you should focus on. The first goal Customer Retention and second is New Customer Acquisition. Trust me I didn’t get the order wrong. What’s the point of having a acquiring a new customer if they leave with a bad taste in their mouth and never return?

Step 1: Make Your Patients Happy!

This might sound like a no-brainer to some but you won’t believe how many dispensaries do not focus on customer service. I have frequented hundreds of storefronts over the years. Some blow you mind with their interior design, some offer a great environment, and others staff their dispensaries with only cute female “Bud Tenders”. Whatever your appeal is, do it well.

Bottom line is: There is A LOT of competition out there, so make sure your patients are happy.

Three Tips to Satisfying Your Patients

Customer Service
Loyalty Programs
Quality Marijuana at a Fair Price

Provide Excellent Customer Service!

You can always advertise more, give away free products or slice prices in order to bring in business. However by offering GREAT customer service you create a relationship with your customers. Providing great customer service starts with your staff. They must know your flowers inside and out! A novice cannabis user might not know the differences between indica or sativa. It’s your staff’s responsibility to match up the patient with the best strain available for them. If a new patient receives a heavy kush strain when they are suppose to work they probably will not be satisfied, and less likely to come back. However if your staff was to explain the differences correctly that patient might pick up a nice sativa strain for the day and an indica at night.

Dispensary Loyalty Programs!

Loyalty programs help to keep consumers locked into your dispensary in hopes of achieving a “Free Product” at the end of the cycle. Setting up a loyalty program properly will not cost you money; in contrast it will bring in more business, locking in your existing patients with the a long-term “bonus” at the end of the program By having a “free product” at the end of the cycle; this will encourage your customers to find their way back to your shop in order to take advantage of your “generosity”.

Quality Marijuana at a Fair!

Again I’m not trying to teach you the basics, but there are dispensaries out there which think they can sell poor quality marijuana at a premium price. I understand you want to maximize your profits but losing a customer over $20 doesn’t make sense to me.

Get More Customers Through the Door!

Now that you understand how to make your customers happy; lets work on building your patient base.

Three Tips to Acquiring New Customers

Ask for Referrals
Advertise to New Customers
Offer a First Time Patient Incentive

Patient Referrals

Word of mouth is still your best source of new customers so encourage your current patients to spread the word. If you offer a great customer service, quality products and fair pricing why wouldn’t someone recommend you? But if you would like to give them an incentive it wouldn’t hurt to!

Advertise to New Customers

HOW CAN I GET MORE BUSINESS? This is the million dollar question, or in the case of WeedMaps the $2 million a month question. Yes WeedMaps does a great job of connecting you to new people but it’s not the only source of new business. I think of WeedMaps as PPC marketing (pay-per-click). In which it can be great to bring in instant new traffic, but it’s usually expensive and unless you keep paying for your ads you have nothing. This is why I work on organic growth campaigns designed to bring your business longevity, and customers to come for months..

First Time Patient Specials – a race to the bottom?

Yes most dispensaries offer some type of FTP specials. Usually this consists of a free pre-rolled, or a cheap glass pipe from India, or my (sarcastic) favorite 4.5 grams eighths. Most dispensairies think that by offering the cheapest price they are going to get the most customes. While it’s true you will get more customer if you undersell your product but more importantly you’re setting the bar for cheap weed. With so much competition it’s a race to the bottom in terms of FTP specials. Instead of offering steep discounts, which will make your patients question the pricing on their second visit, you should use this time to solidify your brand to your patient. Provide a FTP experience, explain how your shop is layed out, where your source your flowers from and for a couple dollars I recommend offing a t-shirt, branded glass jar, custom Bic lighter or other branded promotional items. This will go a lot farther in terms of brand loyalty.