Relationship building is the key to success for your cannabusiness.  Like most business ventures, this takes work. No time to get wicked baked and slack off.

One change is happening across almost all industries and organizations of all sizes; and that is the move to a membership or relationship economy. Instead of focusing solely on products and processes, we focus on customers or members.

According to Robbie Kellerman Baxter, author of The Membership Economy: Find Your Super Users, Master the Forever Transaction, and Build Recurring Revenue, “The membership economy changes the focus from anonymous transactions to known relationships” and gives us the opportunity to enable connection and community under the umbrella of our beautiful and amazing brands.

In the old school model, an owner or manager may never know who is shopping in his or her store, or how often that person is purchasing. In the membership economy, the focus on building relationships enables those customers to receive more value and feel more connected.

Guess what happens when a customer receives more value and accomplishes her goals more quickly? She becomes loyal to YOU, joins your amazing cool club, and helps you grow that cool club.

Okay, so side note…

…This new economy is officially called the ‘Membership Economy.’  However, because we’re cannabis business owners, our businesses don’t always support a membership program. So, I’m calling this new way of thinking the Relationship Economy. The principles are the same, and the name is a bit different.

Back to your cool club…

…Robbie Kellerman Baxter, also states that “This new economy is all about putting the customer at the center of the business model rather than the product or transaction.”

Because this new economy focuses on “forever transactions,” we as business owners have an opportunity to create a very different emotional vibe with our customers versus the vibe that comes with a one-time transaction.

Think about it: as you move your prospects from customer to member, they move from constantly evaluating their purchases and wondering if they could get a better deal or experience somewhere else to the mindset of “give me what you got—I trust you.”

That, my friends, is crucial to the forever transaction. When your customers trust your organization enough to help them identify ways to better achieve their objectives (reducing pain, reducing stress, understanding the law, combating pests organically etc.), they move from the mode of constant questioning and evaluation to total trust.

Now which alternative do you think sounds more lucrative for your business?

Ask yourself, what are YOUR CUSTOMERS’ primary objectives when they walk into your store or solicit your services?

Keep in mind that two of the most important themes at play here are community and connection.

Organizations that can tap into the above basic needs (once food, clothes, shelter have been met) of their customers will be able to create community and connection. This—hallelujah—will lead to an increase in sales.

Above basic needs include belonging to a community or tribe, fitting in with said community or tribe, and of course being heard, being valued, and being held in high regard.

Small businesses owners have the upper hand here because we have an opportunity to get to know the people we serve. The more we know about our customers, the more easily we can employ strategies to build community, connect deeply, and create the “cool club.”

Remember, if you’re only focusing on your products and services, you may forget that your customers are making choices based on their basic human needs noted above.

Where do they belong? Where do they feel connected? Where do they feel like the choices they’ve made in their lives are held in high regard?

Like all of us, they want to go where everybody knows their name.

Let them have their Cheers moment with your business. Let them be like Norm!