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In sales, you always hear about the big fish.

For one, catering to new companies, or what some would call business babies or startups, takes a lot of work for less return. However, Danielle Hernandez has built her business on these very young cannabis companies. A big part of it is that Hernandez, agency manager and cannabis practice leader at Gilbert Å˽ðÁ«´«Ã½Ó³»­ Group, likes the helper/coach role. But there’s a bit of a bottom-line too, which Hernandez covered in our latest Insuring Cannabis podcast.

Our latest episode features Hernandez. Following are takeaways from that conversation.

“Well, I would say that my position within the cannabis industry has evolved into helping clients who are babies or new in business and people that are deciding whether or not they really want to enter into the cannabis space, and of course, social equity applicants,” Hernandez said. “So, anyone that’s been in cannabis long enough can understand that there are so many unknown answers when you’re at this level and when you’re looking for answers.”

Hernandez said she saw too many businesses new to cannabis get inundated with information, and sales pitches. She even noticed some companies getting taken advantage of.

She felt like that was where someone like her should come in – to help and teach, which are two important traits she likes to bring into the way she goes about doing things.

“People in the segment of the cannabis space get two things,” she said. “They get information overload, or what I like to call information drunk. There are some vultures, and by vultures, I mean people who work alongside the cannabis industry who think that just because it’s a cannabis entity, the business owners have endless means to money. So, when I started having more new, smaller businesses come across my desk, I really, really wanted to help them navigate a situation that’s already very confusing and help them understand something that non-insurance people don’t understand.”

It’s not always easy work. These smaller companies often need a great deal of help. Some don’t know much about insurance or risk management, or even the rules and regulations in place in where they are doing business.

“I take a lot of time educating my clients. It can be through email or zoom calls, phone calls, even videos, whatever I’m able to assess will a valuable tool to help educate them, because if I can assess or design a new tool for help, I’m going to do it,” she said. “So, we work a lot on education and education is my passion. It always has been. And I am one of those people that truly does believe that with knowledge comes power. So, in my cannabis practice, we’re constantly designing new offers specifically to take care of the concerns of our clients.”

What’s the advantage to her business in going out and focusing on these “babies” in the cannabis industry? It’s more work, and less money per account, but Hernandez look at things on a scale.

“Well, so there’s strength in numbers, right? There’s a couple of really large MSOs, but there’s way more smaller fish out there,” she said. “And by smaller fish, I’ll define that as larger state specific operations, and even the babies. So, when we’re talking about large MSOs, it’s been my observation that when companies get to a certain level, it kind of becomes a feeding ground for agents where everybody wants to catch Moby Dick, and that’s totally okay. And if other agencies want to fight over them, more power to them.”

However, with smaller, newer companies, she gets the opportunity to work with the clients she wants to work with.

“But what I won’t do is I won’t compete in a common situation where everyone’s focused on getting quotes from a carrier in some kind of like a blind auction,” she said. “All that ends up doing is it leaves money on the table for the clients anyways. And it’s not unique and it’s really not beneficial for the businesses I’m trying to help.”

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• Takeaways from Our Conversation on Michigan Cannabis Sales
• Takeaways from Our Conversation on Reps & Warranties in a Changing Cannabis Market
• Takeaways from Our Conversation on Insurtechs in Cannabis
• Takeaways from Our Conversation on Cannabis Operators Custom Fortifying

Topics Cannabis