How to reach Sterling Solutions for a cannabis sovereignty assessment.

The procedure.

1. Email. Send a short message to [email protected]. Subject line: "Cannabis assessment - introduced by [name of the person who suggested you reach out]". The person you name is the verification anchor; we cross-check the introduction with them before the conversation. If you were not introduced by a specific person but found this page some other way, use the subject "Cannabis assessment - direct" and we will treat the inbound as a higher- verification-burden intake.
2. What to write. One paragraph. Your operation's name (or a working name, if you prefer to confirm identity later), your operation type (dispensary, cultivator, processor, microbusiness, ancillary), your jurisdiction, and one sentence on what prompted you to reach out. Do not include sensitive operational detail in the initial email. The initial email is for arranging the conversation, not for conducting it.
3. What happens next. We verify the introduction with the person you named (if applicable), and respond within two business days to propose times for a short in-person meeting. The first conversation is short (typically 30 to 45 minutes), in person, and scoped to figuring out whether the assessment is the right shape for what you actually need. The location is mutually agreed; commonly your operation, our office, or a discreet neutral location, depending on what works for you.
4. Higher-OPSEC channel, if needed. If you prefer to conduct the working conversation through a channel that does not generate as much third-party record as email, we can move to Signal after the initial email exchange. You provide a Signal contact at the time you ask to shift; we confirm receipt; the working conversation proceeds on Signal from that point. We do not push Signal as a default because not every operator needs it. We do not refuse it when an operator does.
5. No automated drip. No list. You do not get added to a mailing list. There is no marketing sequence. There is no quarterly nurture campaign. If the first conversation results in an assessment engagement, we proceed with the assessment. If the first conversation results in a determination that the assessment is not the right shape for what you need (or that you are not the right shape for the assessment), we say so plainly and part well. Either outcome is fine.
6. Phone is available but not preferred for first contact. If email is not workable for any reason, AJ's direct line is 914-623-8433. Voicemail goes to a human who returns calls. The phone is fine for arranging the meeting; it is not the channel for conducting the working conversation.

Why we do it this way.

The reasons sit at three layers.

The operator's working assumption. A cannabis operator's default posture toward public contact surfaces is skepticism. Public booking widgets generate structured records that live on a third party's infrastructure under that third party's terms. Public contact forms generate the same. Automated email-sequence systems generate detailed activity logs across the sequence. The operator who maintains a defensible privacy posture in operations should not be required to abandon that posture to engage with a vendor whose value proposition is helping the operator improve that posture. The introduction-required intake removes the structured- record-on-third-party-systems concern for the operator's first touchpoint with us.

The introduction itself is verification. The person who suggests you reach out to Sterling is someone who has reason to suggest us specifically. We cross-check the introduction with that person. The verification is mutual: you learn that we operate in a community where the introductions happen, and we learn that you are connected to a person we recognize. This is the same verification model many high-trust professional services have used for the same reason. The cannabis vertical's operational reality means this is the right shape here.

The structure matches the offer. The assessment is built on a sovereignty posture. The intake runs on the same sovereignty posture. The mismatch (a sovereignty offer with a non-sovereignty intake) would undermine the offer's credibility. The match is part of what makes the offer mean what it says.

Online does not replace in person, here.

The reading you do online to vet Sterling before the meeting is real, and the surfaces are public. Read the published ETHOS. Read the Helm and Crew product surface to see what our own AI infrastructure looks like. Read the cannabis hub and the operation-type pages (dispensary, cultivator and processor) for the substantive read on how we think about the cannabis sovereignty problem. Look at the other vertical assessments to see how we treat regulated SMB segments more broadly. That work is the vetting surface; it is published deliberately so the operator can do the diligence before agreeing to the meeting.

What the published surface does not replace: the conversation where you and we figure out whether we are a fit for the work you actually need. That conversation happens in person. Online augments it; it does not replace it.

What the conversation will look like.

Thirty to forty-five minutes. Probably two people on our side, probably one or two on yours. Probably the operator and whoever runs the technology or operations function. We come prepared: we will have read the public-record on your license, looked at your operation from the outside, and pulled the current terms of service for the vendors you tell us about in advance. We will ask short, specific questions about your current vendor stack, your data flows, your banking and payment posture, and the regulatory cycle you are inside of. We will not ask for access to systems, credentials, or sensitive operational detail. The output of the meeting is a decision on whether the short cycle or the long cycle of the assessment is the right fit, what the timing looks like, and who on your side is the operating contact.

If during the meeting it becomes clear the assessment is not the right fit, we say so and end well. If it becomes clear that a different shape of engagement is needed (pen-test rules of engagement, a sale-preparation diligence package, a license-renewal posture document), we name it and discuss whether we are the right firm for that shape.

What we are not going to do.

We are not going to pitch you on a software product. Sterling is not a cannabis software vendor. The assessment is the engagement.

We are not going to ask for sensitive operational detail, credentials, or system access in the first conversation. The assessment, when it begins, has its own scoped data- handling discipline.

We are not going to add you to a CRM or a nurture sequence. The cannabis vertical intake does not flow into our normal marketing operations. The conversation records, the working notes, and any documents we exchange are held under tighter handling than our normal client intake.

We are not going to share that you reached out with anyone other than the introducer you named, and only to verify the introduction. We do not publish a client list for the cannabis vertical.