How To Design, Market,

and Sell Your Pre-Rolls

Part 3: Know Your Budtenders

With your custom joint experience designed and your marketing materials ready to go, there’s one thing left to do to ensure your pre-roll succeeds—get to know your budtenders.

Don’t think of budtenders as merely “retail associates.” They’re so much more than that.

They’re your frontline. They’re in the trenches. They stand between your pre-roll and a potential new customer (in many cases, literally), and they can almost always dictate whether or not that customer will purchase that pre-roll. Seriously, check the stat in the next section. 👀

Budtenders are such a valuable part of your sales strategy, they should be treated as another target audience, just as your consumers and your retailers. Ask them what they like about the products they recommend. Get curious about the things they don’t like about the products they won’t recommend. Get to know your budtenders.

Because they’re the ones convincing customers to buy, their thoughts and opinions should hold just as much weight as your consumers’.

Make friends with the budtenders who work at the dispensaries selling your products. The more they know about your product, the easier it will be for them to sell it. The more they know about you, the more likely they’ll support your efforts.

The Role of the Budtender

According to The Great Budtender Survey, conducted in 2022, the majority of budtenders view themselves as cannabis consultants and cannabis experts. Customers, especially those newer to cannabis, likely view budtenders the same way since they are one of the only safe places for them to direct questions and curiosity outside of the internet.

The survey supports this theory, revealing that nearly 73% of the time, customers follow their budtender’s recommendations.

You need to make sure your pre-roll is one of those recommendations.

How To Earn a Budtender’s Recommendation

An evenly burning pre-roll with a great buzz isn’t the only thing you’ll need to earn a budtender’s recommendation. They may already have more than one of those they recommend. Stand out from the crowd with these strategies.

The Great Budtender Survey revealed that nearly 40% of budtenders rarely or never recommend a product they haven’t tried. Respondents also ranked their personal experience with the brand/product as the most important factor when recommending a brand or product to a customer.

Brightfield Group’s Canadian Budtender Study from Q4 of 2021 found similar results, noting that budtenders are more likely to recommend a brand after trying samples from that brand.

Share product samples with your budtenders.

Consider throwing in some free merch as an extra incentive, like t-shirts, hoodies, hats, etc. Brightfield Group’s 2023 survey of budtenders showed that free merch/swag impacts 52% of budtenders and the brand recommendations they make.

After you share your pre-roll with your dispensaries’ budtenders, be sure to follow up with them and ask for their feedback. Their thoughts on your product can help to inform future marketing campaigns and potential changes that may need to be made to your next batch of pre-rolls.

The printed marketing collateral we discussed in part two of this series can help to educate budtenders on your brand/product, but something more substantial like an online product education course will give you more room to share details.

Be intentional with your product education course, and remember that you’re speaking to cannabis experts. No need to go into the basics of growing cannabis, the definitions of words like “cannabinoid,” “terpene,” etc., or other things they’ll already know from their own experience.

Instead, in your product education course, discuss details around things like:

How your grow process may differ from others—You don’t need to explain the grow cycle to a cannabis expert, but if you use something special, like an indoor environment with full-sun exposure, it’s worth mentioning.

How your concentrates are produced (if applicable)—Again, your budtender will generally know how concentrates are made, but if you have a unique element to your process, be sure to point it out.

Why you chose the flower/flower + concentrate combo for your pre-roll—Use this part as an opportunity to define your target audience to your budtenders. Instead of saying “We chose Gelato for its relaxing effects,” try something like “Customers looking for a post-workout pre-roll to help them relax and reduce discomfort will love this joint.” Tell the budtenders whom they should be recommending your pre-roll to.  

The construction of your pre-roll—This is basically the details of everything we went over in [part one]. Budtenders won’t need a ton of info here, but if you’re rolling your pre-rolls with the BlackBird, you’ll definitely want to mention it as it’s a valuable and positive differentiator. 

What causes your brand supports—If there are any charities or causes your brand supports, be sure to let your budtenders know. This can encourage them to prioritize recommending your pre-roll over others, and it can encourage customers to purchase yours over others.

Budtenders have a lot of product education courses provided to them, so to ensure yours is fully reviewed and absorbed, offer an incentive. Many brands will provide gift cards, free merch/swag, cash, concert tickets, etc. to budtenders in exchange for their time and attention on their product course.

You can also educate budtenders through an in-person educational event. Hosting a product demo allows you to identify the exact product features and details you want budtenders to share with customers. For example, if you’re going with a rolled pre-roll, consider demonstrating the differences between a rolled pre-roll and a stuffed cone. Show them that your pre-roll doesn’t canoe while stuffed cones do with a side-by-side light up. If you’ve added a donut hole of concentrates, point out that bright red dot in the middle of the cherry.

You can also invite budtenders into your facility to show them exactly how your pre-roll is made. Having them as guests in your “home” demonstrates the value you place on your relationship with them and educates them on your product.

In-person events can be more engaging than an online course and can allow you to forge friendships with budtenders early on in your retail agreement.

Another recent survey about the hierarchy of loyalty in cannabis retail confirmed that people are loyal to people first, then brands.

You and/or your brand reps need to be physically in the dispensaries that sell your pre-roll having regular face-to-face interactions with the budtenders. Get to know them and let them get to know you. Nearly 50% of The Great Budtender Survey respondents said they have occasional or rare interactions with brand reps—leverage that. Be the brand rep who’s asking questions, sharing knowledge, cracking jokes, and becoming a regular.

It’s simple—friends support friends. Be friends with your budtenders.

Share Product Samples

The Great Budtender Survey revealed that nearly 40% of budtenders rarely or never recommend a product they haven’t tried. Respondents also ranked their personal experience with the brand/product as the most important factor when recommending a brand or product to a customer.

Brightfield Group’s Canadian Budtender Study from Q4 of 2021 found similar results, noting that budtenders are more likely to recommend a brand after trying samples from that brand.

Share product samples with your budtenders.

Consider throwing in some free merch as an extra incentive, like t-shirts, hoodies, hats, etc. Brightfield Group’s 2023 survey of budtenders showed that free merch/swag impacts 52% of budtenders and the brand recommendations they make.

After you share your pre-roll with your dispensaries’ budtenders, be sure to follow up with them and ask for their feedback. Their thoughts on your product can help to inform future marketing campaigns and potential changes that may need to be made to your next batch of pre-rolls.

Online Brand/Product Education

The printed marketing collateral we discussed in part two of this series can help to educate budtenders on your brand/product, but something more substantial like an online product education course will give you more room to share details.

Be intentional with your product education course, and remember that you’re speaking to cannabis experts. No need to go into the basics of growing cannabis, the definitions of words like “cannabinoid,” “terpene,” etc., or other things they’ll already know from their own experience.

Instead, in your product education course, discuss details around things like:

How your grow process may differ from others—You don’t need to explain the grow cycle to a cannabis expert, but if you use something special, like an indoor environment with full-sun exposure, it’s worth mentioning.

How your concentrates are produced (if applicable)—Again, your budtender will generally know how concentrates are made, but if you have a unique element to your process, be sure to point it out.

Why you chose the flower/flower + concentrate combo for your pre-roll—Use this part as an opportunity to define your target audience to your budtenders. Instead of saying “We chose Gelato for its relaxing effects,” try something like “Customers looking for a post-workout pre-roll to help them relax and reduce discomfort will love this joint.” Tell the budtenders whom they should be recommending your pre-roll to.  

The construction of your pre-roll—This is basically the details of everything we went over in [part one]. Budtenders won’t need a ton of info here, but if you’re rolling your pre-rolls with the BlackBird, you’ll definitely want to mention it as it’s a valuable and positive differentiator. 

What causes your brand supports—If there are any charities or causes your brand supports, be sure to let your budtenders know. This can encourage them to prioritize recommending your pre-roll over others, and it can encourage customers to purchase yours over others.

Budtenders have a lot of product education courses provided to them, so to ensure yours is fully reviewed and absorbed, offer an incentive. Many brands will provide gift cards, free merch/swag, cash, concert tickets, etc. to budtenders in exchange for their time and attention on their product course.

In-Person Brand/Product Education

You can also educate budtenders through an in-person educational event. Hosting a product demo allows you to identify the exact product features and details you want budtenders to share with customers. For example, if you’re going with a rolled pre-roll, consider demonstrating the differences between a rolled pre-roll and a stuffed cone. Show them that your pre-roll doesn’t canoe while stuffed cones do with a side-by-side light up. If you’ve added a donut hole of concentrates, point out that bright red dot in the middle of the cherry.

You can also invite budtenders into your facility to show them exactly how your pre-roll is made. Having them as guests in your “home” demonstrates the value you place on your relationship with them and educates them on your product.

In-person events can be more engaging than an online course and can allow you to forge friendships with budtenders early on in your retail agreement.

Regularly Engage With Budtenders

Another recent survey about the hierarchy of loyalty in cannabis retail confirmed that people are loyal to people first, then brands.

You and/or your brand reps need to be physically in the dispensaries that sell your pre-roll having regular face-to-face interactions with the budtenders. Get to know them and let them get to know you. Nearly 50% of The Great Budtender Survey respondents said they have occasional or rare interactions with brand reps—leverage that. Be the brand rep who’s asking questions, sharing knowledge, cracking jokes, and becoming a regular.

It’s simple—friends support friends. Be friends with your budtenders.

Learn From Budtenders

Budtenders are the middleman between your product and your customers. They’re also the middleman between your customers and you. Meaning, they have direct communication with your customers. They hear the questions they ask. They hear the concerns they have. And they hear their feedback on your products.

Ask your budtenders for this intel.

For most cannabis brands, there’s not much opportunity to get face-time with customers outside of pop-up events. You may have some direct conversations via social media or email, but for the most part, you don’t really have the opportunity to interact directly with your customers. Budtenders do.

Nearly 60% of budtenders who participated in The Great Budtender Survey said they always ask customers for feedback on products that were recommended to them in a previous visit. This is gold for you.

Asking your budtenders for this info can help you determine:

Future marketing campaigns for your pre-roll. If customers keep coming back saying they love the flavor of the pre-roll, capitalize on that!

Updated language for your current marketing collateral. Using the same example mentioned in the previous bullet, you could simply update your current marketing materials with details about the product’s flavor if you’re not in a position to roll out a new marketing campaign.

Adjustments to your pre-roll. If consumers are telling budtenders they love the effects of your pre-roll but not the quality of the burn, it might be time to explore creating rolled pre-rolls instead of using stuffed cones.

New product ideas. If your customers love your pre-roll but keep saying things like “Man, I wish there were a pre-roll like this that gave me an energy boost,” that’s your queue to release another pre-roll with a different strain.

Budtenders Are Your Buds

Budtenders don’t get enough credit for the value they offer the cannabis industry. They play a major role in educating consumers and elevating brands.

Cannabis is a competitive landscape, and it’s only going to get fiercer once the plant is moved to Schedule III. To succeed in this industry, you need a loyal brand following. That starts with a custom-designed joint experience and progresses with intentional marketing campaigns and techniques. But, at the end of the day, it lands pretty squarely on a budtender’s shoulders.

You can earn consumer loyalty without a bunch of marketing campaigns simply by being the go-to brand budtenders recommend to customers. To be that go-to brand will require a lot of face-time with budtenders. Make sure the brand reps you work with understand their role—they need to be in the dispensaries making buds with the budtenders.

However, no amount of face-time can make up for a lousy product. Brightfield Group’s 2023 survey found that nearly 50% of budtenders are unlikely to give a brand a second chance if they don’t like its products after one try.

Basically, you’ve got one shot to impress budtenders with your pre-roll. If you don’t want to risk it, get in touch with RollPros now. We can show you a product demo of the BlackBird so you can see just how superior its output is compared to stuffed cones. With the number of stuffed cones on the market, one hit off an evenly burning pre-roll will be a memorable experience for any budtender.

Let’s talk.