Role track • Front of House
Front Of House
Operational mastery for every employee customers actually see: receptionists at check-in, budtenders on the sales floor, and the lead-budtender who bridges both. The arc opens with the thirty-second first impression and ends with the retention economics a great budtender personally drives. In between: ID verification at expert level, queue and medical check-in mechanics, the four-beat consultation framework, qualifying questions that read a customer in half a minute, recommending product without medical claims, the hard conversations on tolerance and dosing and "I got too high," the cross-sell that doesn't feel pushy, deep product expertise across every major category, and the floor-compliance instinct that knows when to escalate.
20 lessons7.3 hours0 section quizzes5 chapters
Begin courseFree during early access
What you'll master
Outcomes you can defend.
- Run a thirty-second reception that filters age, intent, and need without slowing the queue
- Verify IDs at expert level, including the five tampering patterns and the refusal script
- Conduct the four-beat consultation (greet, qualify, recommend, close) in under five minutes
- Recommend product confidently without crossing into medical claims
- Handle hard conversations on tolerance, dosing, and "I got too high" without losing the room
- Build a regular customer base that lifts your store's retention numbers
Curriculum
The full syllabus.
Every lesson, in the order we recommend you take them. Click any lesson to begin. Your progress saves automatically.
Part 01
4 lessons • 81 minReception
- 01Reception Fundamentals: The 30-Second First ImpressionHow the first 30 seconds at the check-in desk decides both compliance posture and basket size: the four-filter gate, the six-point ID scan, the greeting script, and the handoff that turns a verified ID into a budtender's best chance of a clean sale.17 min
- 02ID Verification Mastery: Detection, Tampering, and the Refusal ScriptHow to verify any ID a guest hands you with the speed of a senior receptionist and the rigor of a compliance auditor; covers the six-point scan, the five tampering patterns, the DOB quiz that catches borrowed-real IDs, and refusal scripts that hold the line without burning the customer.21 min
- 03Queue Management, Medical Check-In, and Loyalty Enrollment at the DoorHow to run the front desk during peak: stage the queue without breaking compliance, verify medical patients without making them feel labeled, and turn first-time check-ins into loyalty members so the store actually keeps the customers it spent acquisition cost to bring through the door.19 min
- 04De-escalation at the Door: When a Customer Can't Come InHow to refuse entry without escalating the confrontation: the four lawful refusal triggers, the three de-escalation moves that actually work at the door, and a bright-line decision tree from refusal to shift lead to 911.24 min
Part 02
6 lessons • 127 minConsultation
- 05The Four-Beat Consultation: Greet, Qualify, Recommend, CloseThe four beats every floor consultation must hit, the qualifying questions that route a stranger to the right shelf in 30 seconds, the 2-to-3-option recommendation frame that beats a 10-option lecture, and the close that converts the basket without pressure.19 min
- 06Qualifying Questions: How the Best Budtenders Read a Customer in 30 SecondsHow the first half-minute at the counter compresses persona reading, the opening question, and three to five branch questions into a routing decision that lands a customer on a single shelf section, with cannabis-specific qualifying language, persona-aware shortcuts, and the recovery moves that save a stalled consultation.23 min
- 07Recommending Products Without Medical ClaimsHow to run a recommendation that helps a guest, moves the basket, and stays cleanly inside the regulator's lane; covers the reported-effects frame, the verbs that get stores cited, the four-move recovery when a customer pushes you toward a claim, and the documentation a senior budtender leaves behind every shift.21 min
- 08Objection Handling: "I've Tried That Before and It Didn't Work"How to handle the highest-stakes consultation objection in cannabis retail; covers the eight failure modes behind a "didn't work" complaint, the calibration questions that diagnose which one you are facing, and the recovery scripts that turn a disappointed guest into a regular without making a single medical claim.20 min
- 09The Hard Conversations: Tolerance, Dosing, "I Got Too High"How to run the three consultations every front-of-house veteran eventually owns: estimating tolerance honestly, dosing edibles without prescribing, and walking back a customer who got too high last weekend without losing them as a guest.24 min
- 10Cross-Sell and Upsell Without Being PushyHow to grow basket size on the floor without burning the relationship: which add-ons fit which baskets, when an upsell is a recommendation versus a push, and how to read sell-through signals so the products you suggest are the ones the store actually needs to move.20 min
Part 03
5 lessons • 112 minProduct Expertise
- 11Flower Like a Connoisseur: Trichomes, Curing, and the Sensory ExamHow to read a jar of flower the way a senior buyer reads it: trichome maturity at a glance, the cure behind the smell, the structure that signals indoor versus greenhouse, and the four-question sensory exam that turns a budtender into a guide instead of a salesperson.25 min
- 12Pre-Rolls: The Category Quality SpectrumHow to read the pre-roll wall like a senior budtender: whole-flower versus shake, single versus multi-pack value math, the infused tier driving premium share, and the compliant scripts that match the right format to the right customer in under a minute.17 min
- 13Vape Cartridges: Distillate vs Live Resin vs Rosin, and How to Talk About ItHow to read the vape-cart wall like an extractor: what each oil base is, where it comes from, why the prices triple from the bottom shelf to the top, and the consultation script that matches a $25 cart or an $80 cart to the customer in front of you without pushing premium and without trashing distillate.23 min
- 14Edibles, Onset Curves, and the "Start Low, Go Slow" ConversationHow edible pharmacokinetics actually behave on the customer's couch, why the 30 to 120 minute onset window is the single most dangerous fact in the dispensary, and the verbatim dosing conversation that prevents the bad night.21 min
- 15Solventless, Concentrates, Dab Culture: Serving the ConnoisseurHow to recognize and serve the two highest-spend personas in the concentrate aisle, the full live-vs-cured and solvent-vs-solventless decision tree, and the specific extract vocabulary (BHO, ice water hash, hash rosin, live rosin, diamonds, sauce) that earns the connoisseur's trust on the first visit.26 min
Part 04
3 lessons • 69 minService Mastery
- 16The Budtender Mindset: Trust Over TransactionsThe mental model that separates a budtender who runs the register from a budtender who runs a book of regulars: every interaction is a trust deposit or a trust withdrawal, and the lifetime value of one well-handled first visit dwarfs the basket size of any single transaction.24 min
- 17Building a Regular: Retention Economics the Frontline ControlsHow frontline behavior compounds into repeat-customer revenue: the actual dollar value of a kept regular, the small handful of in-shift moves that bend the retention curve, and the mistakes that quietly leak the customers acquisition spend already paid for.21 min
- 18Handling Mistakes: Returns, Refunds, and RecoveryHow to recover the customer (and the store) when a sale goes sideways: the broken-cart return, the "this didn't work for me" repurchase, the recall refund at the counter, and the rare hostile complaint that has to escalate cleanly. As of April 22, 2026, state-licensed medical cannabis is Schedule III, which affects tax deductions for medical operators going forward, but recall and return procedures remain unchanged.24 min
Part 05
2 lessons • 48 minFloor Operations
- 19POS Flow, Menu Navigation, and Transaction SpeedHow to run a clean dispensary register at speed: the nine-step transaction flow, scan and tender discipline, the $100-bill dance, void and refund rules, and the menu-navigation habits that compound into shorter lines and tighter drawers.27 min
- 20Compliance on the Sales Floor: Limits, Labels, and the "When to Escalate" InstinctHow a working budtender holds the compliance line during a live transaction; covers the daily purchase limit and equivalency math you must do in your head, the label elements you confirm before product crosses the counter, the Metrc and POS flags that always stop the sale, and the six no-hesitation triggers that get the manager on the floor.21 min
Ready when you are
Front Of House starts with one lesson.
Reception Fundamentals: The 30-Second First Impression, 17 minutes. Pick it up here whenever you have time.
Start lesson 1