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How to Pick a Cannabis CRM

In the cannabis industry, investing in the right CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software may not always be at the top of an operator’s to-do list. After all, setting up a CRM can seem like a time-intensive task with little immediate payoff. However, when implemented effectively, a cannabis CRM can transform your business by providing risk protection, data centralization, actionable reporting, and detailed customer histories. These features ultimately lead to stronger customer relationships and greater operational efficiency.

In this blog, we’ll explore the importance of a cannabis CRM, how cannabis operators can leverage B2B CRM tools, and how to select the best CRM to grow your business.

What is a CRM and what does it do?

A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform is software that helps businesses organize and manage interactions with their customers, vendors, and leads. Think of it as a centralized hub where all data about your customers is stored, making it easy for your team to stay organized and proactive.

At its core, a CRM enables businesses to:

  • Track customer interactions across multiple touchpoints (e.g., emails, phone calls, meetings).
  • Manage sales pipelines and accounts.
  • Automate routine tasks like follow-ups and reporting.
  • Gain valuable insights into customer behavior and trends.

Whether you’re working with individual customers (B2C) or businesses (B2B), a CRM improves efficiency and fosters better relationships. In the cannabis industry, where operators work with retailers, distributors, and end customers, a tailored CRM can simplify these complex relationships.

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How Cannabis Operators Can Leverage a CRM software?

A cannabis CRM is a CRM platform specifically designed to meet the unique needs of cannabis operators. It helps businesses track and manage relationships with vendors, distributors, and customers while ensuring compliance with state regulations. Cannabis CRMs can be categorized into B2B CRMs, which help operators manage relationships with other businesses (e.g., retailers, distributors), and B2C CRMs, which support direct-to-consumer operations, such as dispensaries.

Cannabis CRMs offer specialized features such as:

  • Inventory tracking tied to customer orders.
  • Integration with compliance and seed-to-sale systems.
  • Automation of sales workflows.
  • Centralized data for tracking relationships over time.

For cannabis operators working in wholesale, cultivation, or distribution, a B2B cannabis CRM is an essential tool. It enables you to manage relationships with dispensaries, vendors, and other businesses while ensuring that your sales processes are smooth and efficient.

Here’s how a B2B CRM can help your cannabis business:

1. Centralized Customer Data

Keeping track of multiple retailers, distributors, and wholesale customers can get complicated. A cannabis CRM consolidates all customer information—contact details, purchase history, order preferences, and notes—in one place, giving your team instant access to everything they need. This is especially helpful in managing high-value accounts.

2. Creating Sales Pipelines

A B2B CRM enables you to build and track sales pipelines, showing you exactly where each lead or account stands in the sales process. From initial outreach to closed deals, you’ll have a clear picture of your team’s progress. You can also prioritize high-value opportunities and follow up on deals that require extra attention.

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3. Territory and Account Management

For operators with large sales teams, a CRM can help assign sales reps to specific territories or accounts. This ensures that no customer falls through the cracks and allows your team to focus their efforts where they’re needed most.

4. Performance Reporting

Want to know which accounts are performing well and which aren’t? A CRM provides detailed performance reports for accounts and sales reps, helping you make data-driven decisions about where to focus your resources. You can track key metrics like revenue, order frequency, and customer lifetime value.

5. Contact History and Risk Protection

The cannabis industry experiences high turnover rates, and losing a team member often means losing valuable account knowledge. A CRM records every interaction with your customers, creating a system of record that protects your business. If a sales rep leaves, you’ll still have all the critical information needed to maintain relationships.

Examples of B2B Cannabis CRMs:

  • HubSpot: Affordable and user-friendly, perfect for small to mid-sized cannabis operators.
  • Outfield: Designed for field sales teams, offering location-based tools and gamified performance tracking.
  • Salesforce: A powerful CRM for large-scale operators with advanced customization needs.

How Cannabis Businesses Can Use B2C CRMs

For dispensaries and other direct-to-consumer cannabis businesses, a B2C CRM offers unique benefits for managing customer relationships and driving sales. These CRMs focus on delivering personalized experiences to end customers while optimizing operations.

Key features of a B2C cannabis CRM include:

  • Customer Profiles: Build detailed profiles of your customers, including their preferences, order history, and demographics. This helps you create targeted marketing campaigns and loyalty programs.
  • Automated Marketing: Use your CRM to send personalized emails or SMS messages to customers, whether it’s a reminder to reorder or a promotion for a new product.
  • Behavioral Insights: Track purchasing trends to identify your most popular products and customer segments. Use this data to guide your inventory and marketing decisions.
  • Loyalty Programs: Many B2C CRMs integrate with loyalty platforms, enabling you to reward repeat customers and increase retention.



How to Choose a Cannabis CRM

With so many options on the market, choosing the best cannabis CRM for your business can be overwhelming. Here are some factors to consider:

  1. Integration Capabilities: Ensure your CRM integrates seamlessly with your seed-to-sale system, accounting tools, and marketing platforms. This reduces manual data entry and keeps all systems aligned.

  2. Automation Features: Look for automation tools that streamline workflows, like scheduling follow-ups, creating sales reports, or sending marketing emails.

  3. Scalability: Choose a CRM that can grow with your business. As you expand, you’ll need a platform that can handle more accounts, customers, and advanced reporting.

  4. User-Friendly Interface: Make sure the CRM is easy to use, as adoption by your team is critical to its success.

  5. Customization Options: Your CRM should be flexible enough to meet the unique needs of your operation, whether that’s managing field sales, tracking dispensary orders, or generating compliance reports.

Modernize Your Customer Interactions via Flourish’s Partnerships

Flourish partners with industry-leading CRMs like HubSpot and Outfield to help cannabis businesses take their customer relationships to the next level. These integrations allow seamless data sharing between your CRM and Flourish’s seed-to-sale platform, providing a unified view of your operations.

  • HubSpot: Perfect for B2B and B2C cannabis businesses, offering tools for email marketing, pipeline tracking, and data visualization. Flourish’s HubSpot integration ensures real-time data sharing for consistent customer management.
  • Outfield: Ideal for field sales teams, with location-based tools and gamified performance tracking. Outfield’s CRM complements Flourish’s robust inventory and compliance tracking capabilities.

As a client and business partner of HubSpot for over five years, Flourish’s team can help you assess the next steps in investing in a unified sales solution. Flourish can help you ensure that you’re getting the most out of HubSpot's marketing tools, with their integrated team of HubSpot experts (read more about this here.)

Contact Flourish

Flourish also offers a full-service cannabis software solution capable of syncing with HubSpot and other cannabis partners, which you can learn more about by clicking here.

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