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Dive into Kaya Cast each week for candid conversations with the visionaries shaping the cannabis landscape. We sit down with industry trailblazers to uncover their hard-earned insights and incredible experiences—arming retail entrepreneurs with the know-how and motivation to build a cannabis business they'll love.
Jack Blaeser: It's the customer focus.
It's understanding your customer
and what's important to them.
Then being able to create that
environment that really engages
them and, and keeps them.
You get that right, it makes your job so
much better and easier and gives you a big
advantage over everybody else around you.
Welcome back to the Kaya Cast podcast.
I'm your host, Tom Mulhern and
I'm excited today to have Jack
Blaeser from Mosaic on our podcast.
He's going to be talking about dispensary
growth and digital customer experiences.
And really diving into how to utilize
technology to grow your business.
Mosaic offers a all-in-one solution
for loyalty and customer experience.
Jack has a wealth of information, a wealth
of experience in business and starting
businesses and building businesses.
And really, I think he has a lot of
great insights to share with dispensary
owners about how they can really
up their game when it comes to that
digital customer experience, building
a loyalty program, and how to engage
your customers more effectively.
So I hope you enjoy this conversation
with Jack Blaeser from Mosaic.
Tom Mulhern: Our guest today is Jack
Blaeser, the founder and CEO of Mosaic,
a company revolutionizing digital
solutions for dispensaries with their
industry first all in one branded
app, payment, and loyalty platform.
He is a trailblazer in the tech and
business sectors with vast experience
as a CEO and board member across tech,
software, insurance, and non profits.
So Jack, welcome to the Kaya Cast podcast.
It's fantastic to have you on this show
and I can't wait to learn more about you.
Jack Blaeser: Thank you, Tom.
I appreciate you having me on the show.
Tom Mulhern: Yeah, well
let's jump right in.
Can you share a bit about your
background and how did you end up
in this crazy cannabis industry?
Jack Blaeser: For the last 20 plus
years, I've been raising funds for
startups and building startups around
disrupting industries with technology.
So I started to watch the cannabis space
when states start to legalize cannabis
and noticed that one, it's a big market,
it's a market that's, has a potential
to bring a lot of good in terms of, you
know, wellness and health to individuals
in terms of the economy and, and just
really helping people in general.
Then when I looked a little bit
closer at it, I noticed that.
The technology was a real challenge
for the folks in the industry, largely
because these big companies and Amazon
and others weren't ready to enter because
of the federal legalization issue.
So, technology wasn't there and
having a technology background
and seeing an opportunity to bring
technology and solutions that could
really help the businesses, in
particular, the dispensaries and MSOs
better connect with their customers.
Was a real opportunity to, to bring
value there and build a business around.
Tom Mulhern: What is the disruptive
technology that you guys are using
at Mosaic to kinda, you know,
tackle some of the issues and
challenges within the industry?
Jack Blaeser: If you know that Starbucks
app experience where as a customer,
you can download an app or go online,
order your coffee or whatever, be
able to pick it up and gain loyalty
points and all you know, that's a good
experience for a lot of customers.
So that's what we're bringing.
We're making it possible for every
dispensary MSO to have their own branded
Starbucks like experience to better
engage their customers to better able
to help them in that sales process.
Tom Mulhern: So looking at, you know,
the perspective of a dispensary, what can
they learn from, you know, the digital
customer experience of a Starbucks or
Taco Bell or CVS, like you're saying?
Jack Blaeser: The first thing I'd
say is it's very hard in the cannabis
industry because the technologies
that are available are fragmented.
Meaning that you got providers
providing e-commerce solution, but
different providers providing a loyalty
solution and different providers
providing a kiosk platform and then
different providers providing payments.
So one of the things that we
do is bring it all together
and very easy to use platform.
From a dispensary owner
perspective or say a manager.
The best thing to do is if you've
used any of these apps like the
Starbucks app you get it, you know,
the value, you lived it, you see it.
And then you'll start to get an
understanding of why it can be
very valuable, not only to your
ability to engage customers, but to
minimize the overhead that you have.
So customers can order online and
come pick up a little bit less to
do in the store for a bud tender.
Tom Mulhern: If there's a dispensary
owner who is looking at their current
customer experience and they're like, it's
just not, it's not where it needs to be.
What are some tips you would have
for someone to work on making
a better customer experience?
Jack Blaeser: Yeah.
So my first suggestion, we do this as
a business, but I'm sure it applies to
dispensary, listen to your customers.
Keep an open mind and where are they
seeing, feeling and how are they reacting?
What do they like and don't like?
And that'll give you a little bit of
direction on what you might be doing
really well or what you could do better.
It does come down to leveraging good
technology and evaluating your options
and understanding what's going to work
best for you and ultimately your customer.
That can make all the
difference in the world.
If you have an archaic or fragmented or
technology stack, you can't necessarily,
you can only go so far with that.
Whereas, you know, there are better
technologies and technology changes fast.
So you always got to keep an eye on it,
but if you can find the right technology.
And leverage that and then learn
how to best utilize that technology.
You'll get way ahead of everybody.
You become, it's a competitive advantage.
Like I'll mention Starbucks again, but
you know, they become an industry icon
because a large part of their technology.
Investment and focus.
And I know if you read about them,
they spend well over a billion
dollars on their technology and
scaling it and leveraging that.
So, we see the opportunity there to
really help customers in that way.
Tom Mulhern: What about for those
dispensaries that are scaling from
one location to multiple locations?
How do you grow with them and,
and help them create a customer
experience in each of their shops?
Jack Blaeser: If you look at the
playbook by Starbucks, you know,
they've got tens of thousands of
stores and they'll have one app, right?
And they have one platform.
So that consistency of experience
across those stores is key for them.
And the good experience, the user
experience really is effective.
So for us.
Our platform enables a dispensary very
easily to launch all the capability
that a big Starbucks or even a big MSO
might have as an independent dispensary.
But as you add more locations,
those just become additional
locations in the platform.
So not only can it grow with you
that way, but now it becomes even
more powerful because you may have
several locations in the same area.
Someone may be traveling, they
may have friends, but now they can
download a single app under your
brand because it's a branded solution.
It's not a marketplace that we provide
for that dispensary or group of
dispensaries MSO to leverage that
brand across multiple locations in that
same customer experience and to make
it really easy for the end user again.
Tom Mulhern: How do you kind of approach
the different types of cannabis users, you
know, from those long time, maybe they've
been in the illicit market to those
new ones who are really canna curious.
How does your approach kind
of help every different type
of customer that's out there?
Jack Blaeser: You know, I think the
stores, the dispensaries, the retail
operations are going after, the users
that know cannabis and the ones that
are willing to go into the shop to buy.
But there's 2 segments that are largely
being, I won't say ignored, but not being
pursued effectively because everyone's
focused on that and they're fighting
for that market that's a user who's
willing to go into the cannabis store.
Number 1.
are the other illicit users.
I mean, well over 50 percent of
the market in most states are
illicit still, where it's legalized.
They buy it because it's less expensive
or, you know, that's how they've done
it and they've got connections there.
So how do you attract those and convert
those users from illicit to pay a
premium for the legal experience?
On the other side of it are all a huge
group of people that want to maybe
test it out the new users to adopt,
you know, how do you get them to get
comfortable with how it can help them?
How do you educate them?
How do you pull them into the space?
Those are two big challenges that I don't
think people are tackling very well.
And here's my suggestion amongst many, but
the, the, the one area we can help is make
it easier for them to kind of dip their
toe or to add value to that experience.
because within our platform, you don't
only show the product in a picture, but
you can show video with a voiceover and
other details about the product and how it
helps you personally and educate the user
and by kind of pulling them in that way
and making it easier and more familiar.
I think you can adopt those new users
a little bit better and even give more
value and more options to the folks
that are buying on the illicit market.
So that's kind of the area that we
think we can help that can make a really
big push towards trying to get that
open market that I don't see a lot of
people fighting for necessarily yet.
Tom Mulhern: Have you seen any new,
like, emerging technology trends that are
happening in dispensaries that dispensary
owners should keep an eye out for?
Jack Blaeser: Data is what makes
businesses unique and empowers
them to make the right decisions
and leverage technology better.
The ability to take that data and then
start to segment users into groups
and then start to offer them special
pricing or promotions or offers or
rewards is a good way to engage your
customers better and keep them loyal and
keep them from moving around to other
competitors or back to illicit market.
You get loyalty points and you have
a program like that, that might
pull in illicit users as well.
Tom Mulhern: Then taking that data and
being able to leverage it for marketing
campaigns or, you know, direct email
marketing or SMS marketing, like.
That's, that's the gold right there and
you have a great customer experience
when they come in and then they leave
and they're still getting that, you know,
constant flow of an amazing experience.
Jack Blaeser: Yeah.
And then there's another trend
around data and it sounds like it's
a hyped term, but you know, ChatGPT.
So we're already working with it and
looking at how we apply machine learning,
AI with the data to be smarter and
eventually be able to provide, you know,
personalized menus on an individual
level and certainly personalized
communications and offers to users.
So you can really hone in target on that
user and what's going to drive their
behavior and the most cost effective
way for the dispensary and in a way
that engages that user and gets them.
You know, to buy the right
products and more of the products.
Tom Mulhern: Now, I'd like to kind
of wrap it up with, you know, what
is your number one tip for a business
owner to grow or scale their business?
You've been in a part of a lot
of different businesses and a
lot of different industries.
what would you say is your number
one tip for a business owner?
Jack Blaeser: I come from a sales and
marketing background initially, right
out of school, and then I have gotten
the opportunity to build businesses
over and over it's the customer focus.
It's understanding your customer and
what's important to them and then being
able to create that environment that
really engages them and, and keeps them.
That can vary based on industry or
even in cannabis, it can vary based
upon, whatever location you're in and
the type of customers you have around
you versus another area or location.
Obviously it varies by state.
So that's number one is really
understanding your customer.
Because everything builds off that.
And then, you know, secondarily,
as a person that always has tried
to leverage technology to gain the
competitive advantage and then build
businesses to help others do that.
I think it's really looking at
technology and understanding how data and
technology can give you that advantage.
And that's probably an area
where a lot of dispensaries maybe
wish they had more expertise.
You get that right, it makes your job so
much better and easier and gives you a big
advantage over everybody else around you.
And you don't have to take my word for it.
Look at other industries and what
Starbucks and others have done from that
and why they've become so successful.
There's case studies on it.
So, you know, look at technology
and how you can leverage it.
Tom Mulhern: How can people connect
with you and connect with Mosaic
and, you know, find out more about
how you guys are really creating
disruptive technology for this industry?
Jack Blaeser: Yeah, I'd love
to talk to anybody who wants
to learn a little bit more.
I'm happy to do demos as well.
Mosaic.
green.
Go there and check us out.
If you want to reach out to me, feel free.
It's a Jack.
Blaeser, B L A E S E R at Mosaic.
Green.
I'm happy to engage with
anybody, share what we're doing.
We've got great partners like KayaPush
that we're happy to suggest to if
you're looking for help in other
areas that we don't provide today.
The more we can help others, hopefully we
can rise the tide for everybody together.
Tom Mulhern: Jack, this
has been so fantastic.
Thank you for taking the time
to share that, you know, about
Mosaic and what you're doing.
And and for being, you know,
a great partner with KayaPush.
It's, it's awesome to see, unique
solutions like what you guys offer.
And to be a part of that.
Jack Blaeser: Thank you for being
a great partner as well and the
opportunity to get on your show.
This has been fun.
I love it.
I love talking about this stuff
and you make it so easy, Tom.
So thank you.
Tom Mulhern: Once again, I want
to thank Jack Blaeser for taking
the time to be on the podcast.
And, you know, he had so many
fantastic insights into that
digital customer experience for
dispensary's and cannabis businesses.
Talking about creating a world-class
experience with an all-in-one
solution with an app and loyalty app.
Is key.
If your customers are walking
into your store and they've got
a great experience when they walk
in a beautifully designed store.
And, you know, they're able
to access rewards and points
and, and create that loyalty.
That's the key to business.
And if you're able to harness the data.
That is coming through those loyalty apps
and your point of sale, your HR payroll
system all of that, your entire tech
stack, if it's all integrated into one.
You are going to be so powerful and your
business is going to grow and scale.
So, thanks again, Jack,
for sharing your insights.
I also want to remind you, it's not too
late to vote for Kaya Cast and KayaPush
for the Emjays Awards happening this
November voting closes on October 15th.
So it's, we're, we're down to the wire.
We need your help.
We need those votes and you
know, this would be huge.
Also, if you're planning
to go to MJ biz con.
Hit us up.
We've got a whole bunch
of events happening.
We'd love to meet you in person.
And, you know, I'm going to be there.
A bunch of members of our
team are going to be there.
Again, I want to thank you for listening
to the podcast, subscribe and stay tuned
for more conversations with business
owners that are trying to launch
scale and grow a cannabis business.