Budtender Burnout is Real: Tips to Prevent It

An essential skill for anyone in customer service to master is dealing with feelings of emotional burnout. Customer service can be draining, particularly for a budtender. It is exhausting to go from trying to help a rude or irate customer to one with a serious illness who wants medical advice and guidance the budtender cannot provide. Both situations are frustrating and can be aggravated or alleviated depending on how the budtender handles their emotions. 

Burnout is real and damaging to customers, the business, and the budtender themselves. It is easy to take on a bad mood after a negative interaction and more difficult to quickly mitigate the emotions and start fresh with the next. Budtenders should develop strategies to cope with the heavy emotions customers may bring into the store. 

Preventing Emotional Burnout

Some good options to prevent budtender burnout include:

• Take Breaks: Recognize when it is important to take a break between customers to get composed and ready for the next one. A good manager will account for these necessary breaks from customer interaction and offer tasks such as restocking products to provide the opportunity.
  
• Incorporate Mindfulness Practices: Stretching, meditation, yoga, exercise, and short walks can mitigate emotional burnout.

For more tips on being the best dispensary budtender or your own best budtender, check out Oaksterdam Publishing’s The Budtender’s Guide: A Reference Manual for Cannabis Consumers and Dispensary Professionals.