The cannabis industry is a unique community, and giving back to that community is a wonderful way to foster camaraderie as well as gain loving and loyal clients. Hosting a themed Customer Appreciation Day at your dispensary is a smart tactic to get some unique clients through your door and show them how much they mean to you. Below are a few examples of different Appreciation Days thrown by dispensaries and cannabusinesses to help inspire you to plan one of your own.
Patients Appreciation Day
A simple Patients Appreciation Day is a great way to acknowledge the challenges medical marijuana patients face every day and to show patients that you care about helping them overcome (or at least better manage) these challenges. For example, you can create a special on certain products that are particularly aimed at medical cannabis patients, such as high-CBD strains or infused topical lotions.
California Herbal Remedies (CHR) is one of Leafly’s top dispensaries in California, and at least one of the reasons it’s so well-known is its devotion to its patients. The location regularly hosts patient appreciation celebrations, featuring deals, giveaways, and even celebrity guests and musicians. Take a page from this long-running dispensary and treat your patients like royalty.
Veterans Appreciation Day
Another great opportunity for your business is to pay tribute to military veterans. With so many veterans who rely on cannabis, often for service-related injuries or ailments, it can be very impactful to have even one day where you and your dispensary go out of your way to honor them and show your appreciation. If you happen to have a larger percentage of veterans that frequent your shop, you might even consider making this a regular event, or maintaining a veteran’s discount for those with a military identification.
At Santa Cruz Veteran’s Alliance, every day is Veterans Appreciation Day. The dispensary not only offers a daily 15% discount for veterans, it also honors military service through its Veterans Compassion Program (VCP), which meets with the veteran community every first Monday of the month and gives away free cannabis to collective members.
Pets Appreciation Day
Throwing a Pet Appreciation Day is a hugely popular event, but it can be a bit tricky to pull off depending on how strictly your state regulates dispensaries.
Vela Cannabis in Seattle recently hosted a Pets Appreciation Day, where customers’ pets were welcome to visit the dispensary. The promotion offered special deals on pet-friendly CBD products and even had a photo booth for “puptastic” selfies.
(Courtesy of Vela)
By all accounts, the day was a raucous success. A portion of all proceeds went toward supporting the Hurricane Harvey Pet Relocation efforts put forth by the Seattle Humane Society, and the day even featured adoptable pups from Emerald City Pet Rescue. The event proved to be a wonderful way to celebrate clients’ furry friends, support local pet shelters, and help some furbabies find their forever homes.
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Showing you dispensaries nearBudtenders Appreciation Day
A slightly more unorthodox but increasingly invaluable idea is hosting a Budtenders Appreciation Day. Much like an industry night, offering a day (or evening) to recognize and celebrate those who work hard in the dispensary will keep employee morale high and show your staff how much you care about and appreciate their hard work. Keep in mind that even during a Budtenders Appreciation Day, you’ll still need to have budtenders staffing the dispensary, but perhaps you can reward your hard-working employees by giving them a future day off and a well-earned discount or some free goodies.
DOPE Magazine held several Budtenders Appreciation Days (or B.A.D. parties) earlier this year with much success. Sponsors offered topical massages, dab bars, joint rolling contests, swag bags, food, games, product samples, and more.
Have you had success with appreciation events at your dispensary? Let us know in the comments!
