3 ways to avoid costly compliance and customer communication mistakes

How to strengthen your dispensary’s compliance and customer communication

1. Stay current

Cannabis regulations aren’t static. They evolve as lawmakers, regulators, and communities adjust to the realities of legal cannabis sales. What was legal last year may now be restricted, and what was once prohibited could suddenly be allowed.

A customer might not know that their preferred product is subject to new purchase limits or that ID scanning procedures have changed. If your staff isn’t informed, they could unknowingly break the rules or offer incorrect advice.

Best practices:

• Make compliance training ongoing, not one-and-done. Hold quarterly or monthly updates so your staff can adapt to changes quickly.
• Designate a compliance champion. Assign someone to track rule changes, attend industry meetings, and bring updates back to the team.
• Communicate changes proactively. If there’s a shift in product limits or ID requirements, make sure it’s posted in-store, reflected in your menus, and reinforced in staff conversations.

When your entire team understands the current rules, it minimizes risk and makes for smoother customer interactions.

2. Document & standardize customer interactions

In many jurisdictions, regulators require you to keep detailed records of every sale: purchase amounts, customer verification, and transaction timestamps. But even if your local laws aren’t as strict, documenting and standardizing how your team handles customers can save you from compliance headaches in the future.

In our company, Call Canna, we liken this practice of standardization to working as a single unit. When your customers (and regulators) experience continuity across your team, you can rest easy as an operator.

Why it matters:

Consistency is the backbone of compliance. If every team member follows the same process for verifying IDs, recording orders, and noting special cases, you reduce the risk of human error.

Best Practices:

• Develop standard operating procedures (SOPs). Create written guides for processes like customer check-in, age verification, handling medical vs. recreational sales, and processing returns. It also works well to have video versions of your SOPs so your team can educate themselves using their preferred method.

IMPORTANT: Test their knowledge on this. Early and often.

• Use a compliant and up-to-date POS system, configured to current regulations. For example, many cannabis POS systems can flag purchase limit violations or prompt for ID verification before finalizing a sale.
• Audit regularly. Spot-check transaction records weekly to make sure procedures are being followed.

When regulators visit, being able to show organized, consistent records can make the difference between a smooth inspection and a costly citation, or worse.

3. Use a call center that understands cannabis compliance

Even with a well-trained in-store team, many compliance issues arise over the phone, and that’s where many dispensaries drop the ball (or the call, wink wink). 

In addition to the usual calls about store hours and placing orders, customers also call with questions about dosage, purchase limits, or individual allotments. If those calls go unanswered or are answered incorrectly, you’re going to have problems.

For example, we had a call where someone asked if one of our client stores takes credit cards. They’re only allowed to accept debit cards in that state. If we said yes to the wrong person – for example, a regulatory rep – that’s a potential ding on the license.

In cannabis, misinformation can have legal consequences. For example, suppose a customer is told over the phone that they can buy a certain amount, only to be told otherwise in-store. In that case, they may claim they were lied to, which is potentially damaging to your reputation and puts you under regulatory scrutiny.

How Call Canna helps:

• Trained on cannabis-specific regulations. Our agents understand local and state rules and are equipped to give customers accurate, compliant information every time.
• Consistent brand voice. We work from your approved scripts and SOPs, ensuring your customers hear the same information they’d get in-store. Again, continuity of service across the board, helping you operate as a single unit.
• Exclusively serving the cannabis industry. Cannabis is far too complex an industry to be yet another service vertical for such a critical industry vendor. Our team understands not just the rules but the nuances of our beautiful industry, allowing your customers to have a budtender-level experience at 60% less labor cost compared to an in-house team.

By outsourcing calls to a cannabis-trained call center, you keep your in-store staff focused on customers while ensuring no compliance-related questions slip through the cracks.

📞 Want to see how Call Canna can help you safeguard compliance and keep customers informed?

Visit www.callcanna.com, email us at team@callcanna.com to learn more about our

cannabis-trained customer service solutions.