Marijuana Business Magazine April 2020

Marijuana Business Magazine | April 2020 58 Like management, sales is an area where some recruiters predict growth and others are dubious. Perhaps the positions most vulnerable to being cut are those in CBD sales, Bush said. While demand is high and many companies beefed up their sales forces, some companies have not been able to produce or obtain enough product to sell, leaving salespeople without enough to do. “They don’t have enough product or a lot of the companies are screwing their salespeople by not paying them,” Bush said. Humiston sees the opposite trend, saying, “The No. 1 area where we are seeing our clients hire is on the sales side.” She cited two reasons for the demand: The need to win market share and brand-building. Both reasons require getting products on the shelf, and that requires sales teams. “As brands expand into new states and expand their footprints in existing states, they are doing that through getting into additional retailers, and they’re doing that through very strong sales teams,” Humiston said. MARKETING, SALES AND HUMAN RESOURCES The value of retail positions is somewhat undervalued today, but smart executives will start paying attention to how they staff the last stop on the supply chain, because its importance is going to increase as more states add recreational markets. “I think it’s very similar to what we saw in the wine and beer industry a few years ago. More and more expertise is required in the retail environment,” Bernard said. The cannabis retail work environment is more regulated and challenging than most other retail environments, and that challenge will become increasingly layered as more products, a greater variety of customer personalities and more regulations hit the market. As the market makes retail more challenging, retail workers will be able to command greater compensation. “I definitely see the sophistication and pay level increasing as that happens,” Bernard said about the future of cannabis retail positions. RETAIL COMPENSATION CONTEMPLATION Photo by Thomas Kelsey Photo courtesy Seed & Smith