Marijuana Business Magazine - January 2017

selling medicinal products to dispensa- ries, you want a sober-minded sales rep who focuses on the health benefits of your products. If you’re selling high- potency concentrates to an adult-use shop, you might want a former bud- tender or extractor who can speak to the customers’ experience. Industry executives agree you need someone who’s a born salesperson. You’re looking for experience, but you’re also looking for innate char- acteristics such as self-confidence, a propensity to strike up an easy rapport and an ability to convey the value and benefit of what that person is selling. It’s easier to train someone about your product versus teaching that person how to sell it. That person should also be aggres- sive, personable, self-motivated and have a great work ethic. “Hiring good salespeople is a very tough thing,” said Ben Wu, president and chief operating officer of Santa Ana, California-based Kush Bottles, which sells packaging and supplies to can- nabis companies. “Because ultimately these are salespeople. If you can’t talk yourself into a job, you’re probably not a good salesperson.” WHAT TO LOOK FOR Andrew Kerklaan - president and founder of Dr. Kerklaan Therapeutics, a medical marijuana topicals company in Marin, California - wants a deter- mined go-getter. “Someone who’s ready to knock on lots of doors and possibly face ‘no’ a bunch of times but can get up the next day and do it over again,” he said. A long track record of sales success is one good indicator. On a personal level you want someone who is confident and won’t get rattled by rejection. Kerklaan also likes someone with cannabis industry experience, but those people are hard to find in such an emerging business. The next best attribute, he said, is sales experience in another industry. Kerklaan has had luck with hires from the pharmaceuti- cal industry. “Sometimes a person is a bit dis- enchanted with the whole pharma industry and what they’re selling there,” he said. “So they’re very keen to get involved with the natural products.” Persistence, commitment, passion and follow-up are all key character- istics of a good salesperson, said Mark Friedman, director of sales and marketing for MedPharm Holdings, a Denver-based company that provides cannabis-based pharmaceutical products. “I’m looking for sales experience first, cannabis experience second,” Fried- man said. “I feel like a good professional salesperson can be taught about prod- ucts more easily than you can teach someone to be a salesperson.” For the Kush Bottles sales staff, Wu is looking for one of the same char- acteristics that any mainstream busi- ness would want: professionalism. His company has been around since 2010, and it’s moving away from the idea that a candidate who is famil- iar with cannabis will make a good salesperson. Instead, Wu wants someone who works hard and understands that “this is a large industry that’s growing expo- nentially every day. Having a desire to learn is critically important.” For instance, Wu has salespeople on staff who do not use cannabis but take an interest in it by reading up and watching videos. “They do really well because they’re able to relate to cannabis producers and processors,” he noted. Wu also wants people with pro- fessional sales experience who can demonstrate self-discipline and make quick decisions on the spot. He looks for people who can tactfully tell a client no when presented with a circumstance that might have a negative outcome. What type of circumstance do you want to avoid? “ A salesperson can walk into a shop and a guy offers them a hit or an edible and pretty soon that salesperson’s day is derailed,” Wu said. And he’s looking for candidates who understand they have sales quotas and that time is money. “We need to stay active and we need to push and have that sense of urgency,” Wu said. Phil McCutcheon, left, and Brice Murtaugh are territory sales managers for Kush Bottles. Photo courtesy of Kush Bottles 90 • Marijuana Business Magazine • January 2018