In business, we often hear the phrase “under-promise and over-deliver” when discussing ways to make customers happy and exceed their expectations. Stepping into the cannabis industry and more importantly, the medical cannabis community, this is not the safest way to go about providing people with the right type of customer satisfaction and value. Medical cannabis can be categorized as a plant medicine, which can interact with every person in unique ways specific to their physiology. When brands are looking for ways to earn customer loyalty, build trust, and establish long-lasting relationships, they need to focus on doing what is always the right thing by the consumer. Here are three ways that brands can enhance their customer’s experience in a safe, responsible, and ethical way.
Avoid Presumptuous Research Claims
As we have seen many times, CBD companies have a tendency to share cannabinoid-focused clinical research on their websites. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sent warning letters to a plethora of CBD companies who have shared scientific papers for clinical studies performed that did not have anything to do with their own product. Oftentimes, companies share this information on their website thinking that it is helpful for consumers. Rather, it can potentially mislead the consumer if not worded properly.
A rule of thumb to follow when talking about cannabinoids or clinical research is to remember that we need to phrase information at an eight grade education level. Therefore, if a CBD company shares clinical research that does not have anything to do with the CBD company or their specific products, a consumer may be led to believe that the CBD company whose website they are on performed the clinical research. The consumer may then purchase the CBD product because they were led to believe that there was clinical research relative to the CBD product they just purchased, when in fact there was not any research performed on that particular product at all.
Therefore, it is best not to share any clinical research studies on CBD company websites for consumers, unless there are product-specific studies with supporting information. If consumers have questions about clinical research and CBD companies, they can reach out to patient advocacy organizations like Affinity Patient Advocacy that can steer patients to clinical research studies that were performed by CBD companies or other research companies utilizing cannabinoid-based therapies.
Help Consumers Make Scientifically-Backed, Better Buying Decisions
If you are an influencer, professional, or researcher in the cannabinoid industry, it is very important to explain to consumers the differences in cannabinoids, extraction processes, and the healing components of the plant based upon previous clinical research. When clinical research is performed on products, a patient is able to find clinical research studies on www.clinicaltrials.gov. The website is easy to use and a consumer can search by terms relative to medical conditions and products that they are interested in learning more about.
Support Consumers With Knowledgeable, Responsible Recommendations
Supporting consumers with knowledge and truth will positively impact the CBD and medical cannabis industries and communities. It’s critical to empower individuals with proper data that helps them make better decisions about the products that they are interested in incorporating into their wellness regiment. If we want to see medical cannabis and CBD become adopted as mainstream as pharmaceutical use, then we need to make sure individuals receive the full, 360 degree, unbiased information that will empower them to make better, more effective decisions.
