Steve Hastings

The median pay in our Kalkaska, MI cannabis processing facility is $65,788.96. (AVG $72k) Our CEO (me) to lowest paid staff ratio is 3.37x. We are rolling a lot of prerolls, sure, but we are also building real livliehoods for a small community in Northern Michigan, that desperately needs them. When Ben and I started this company, we said we would either do it this way, or we would fail trying. These are the numbers I am proud of. These are the numbers that make our company great. These numbers are why we continue to win. 75% healthcare coverage 3 weeks PTO (1 day off for every 17 worked) 4-day work weeks 7.5% cost of living raises Up to 7.5% performance-based raises Lowest paid makes $49k annual 2yrs in I would challenge every cannabis founder who is building a team to follow this route. Despite the taxes, the competition, the converted disty, the price compression…. There is more profits, more freedom, and better sleep when you pay your people what they are worth. The working class of America needs entrepreneurs who don’t treat them like a replaceable commodity. The cannabis industry can do better.

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5 Steps to Better Strategic Selling in Cannabis Most LPs focus on tactical selling to retailers. This type of sales is transaction-driven, store focused, and undertaken by passionate albeit junior salespeople and brand ambassadors. When properly managed and executed, this approach can yield solid results. However, it’s not sufficient to deliver long term competitiveness and higher margins. What is often missing is a longer-term sales strategy tailored specifically for wholesalers and medium-to-large retail chains. This cohort has big, sustainable volume and strategic advantage in terms of crowding out your peers. Not surprisingly larger, more sophisticated entities are much harder to snag - and keep. They don’t have the same business needs as an independent store or small chain. Furthermore, big chains and wholesalers don’t want to be ‘sold’ the same way or with the same ‘why us’ pitch. Yes, data deals play a role, but they too are insufficient. Data Deals obscure the fundamental drivers of competitiveness such as product-market fit and supply chain performance.  And they are not completely legal. 🏆 To win with the big players, LPs need a more strategic, longer-term approach. ⚡ I call it Strategic Account Management.  💡 SAM generates results by building symbiotic partnerships (i.e. shared economic value) and relationships (i.e. mutual trust) with key customers. 💵 The rewards are significant, including increased ‘stickiness’, more listings/better display, and higher margins. SAM is common in B2B markets such as CPG, financial services, and IT where producers do not have an easy or economical path to directly influencing consumer behaviour.  I've deployed these SAM strategies at my consulting and fractional leadership clients: 1️⃣ Assist with financial & competitive analysis and long-term planning support that helps category manage the retailer’s assortment. 2️⃣ Develop and implement a retailer 'value proposition' that addresses THEIR business needs. I asked one of Canada's best cannabis sales leaders and LPs, Adam Coates from Decibel Cannabis Company, to add his SAM best practices: “We’ve learned that sustainable success comes from moving beyond transactional sales to building true partnerships with boards and large retail chains. For us, SAM means: 3️⃣ Deeply understanding the wholesaler and/or retailer’s business model & priorities, then tailoring solutions, through our products and programs, that clearly demonstrate value for them AND their customers. 4️⃣ Developing tailored, data-driven programs to drive sell-through. 5️⃣ Engaging channel stakeholders in innovation brainstorming and planning. At Decibel we use SAM to drive channel trust and reliability which can unlock incremental volume and margin, as well durable competitive advantage.” Hit me up.  I help leadership teams maximize sales effectiveness & efficiency for long term competitive advantage. #cannabisindustry #cannabis #sales #selling #LPS  

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