TIMBER TIMBER TRAINING:
DEVELOPING MERCHANTS’ TIMBER
POTENTIAL
Guy Best, national key account manager at Arbor Forest Products, talks to BMJ about why the company invests hundreds of hours in developing training for merchants
A
t Arbor Forest Products, we’re firm believers that education is the key to success, says Best.
Over the years, our training
manager Peter Kelly has developed an in-depth timber training programme which combines on and off-site learning to equip merchant staff with the knowledge they need to become experts in the timber products they sell. The training is constantly evolving to ensure that our merchant partners can stay ahead of the game. For example, we want people who have attended one of our training courses to be in a position to confidently sell timber by really understanding the product.
Investing for merchants’ futures
In some cases, training days can sometimes be considered a waste of time, especially when there are other more pressing tasks to do within the business on a day-to-day basis.
But with timber being a key aspect of business within merchants, it’s important to invest in its development – and that means investing in people and their knowledge as well as in product ranges and point of sale.
Our training is uniquely designed to empower the people on the shop floor in the timber yard: you’re far more likely to find branch staff than senior managers on our training programmes. We have found that the investment in this area reaps its rewards with effective customer service
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being directed from the yard and the trade counter, along with other areas. To make the process as simple as possible, we start by sending our detailed timber training workbooks for the “trainees” to complete over an agreed period, and the individual is monitored by Arbor Forest Products staff during this time. This is followed by a visit to our facility at New Holland to gain a ‘live insight’ into the timber milling, treatment plants, MDF factory and dock areas.
As part of key partnerships, we have on occasion invited a select group of trainees to accompany us on a trip to Sweden, where we see the samplings being grown, the harvesting, and the Swedish sawmill. This has been invaluable, and along with the New Holland visit shows many aspects of the timber workbooks in real life – it’s an experience not forgotten.
Why training matters In-depth training of this kind requires a great deal of commitment from our training department and sales staff who give up their time to run these sessions. But it also requires a high level of buy-in from the merchants, as we’re effectively asking them to allow their staff time
away from the branch to undertake the training. Why do we go to these lengths? And why would merchants want to send their shop-floor staff all the way to Sweden?
For merchants, the benefits can ultimately be seen in their bottom line. Timber can be the most profitable part of a merchant’s business, and we have compelling evidence that our training can impact directly on sales. For example, E H Smith has put around 50 members of staff through our training programme since commencing the course in 2017. In that time, the company has seen timber sales increase from a turnover of £7,000,000 to a turnover of £10,000,000, allowing the merchant to diversify its offering and increase its timber sales.
By investing in training merchants, suppliers are hoping to see a concurrent increase in sales too: but it’s also about developing long-standing partnerships with like-minded businesses – this being a key part of the Arbor business. At Arbor Forest Products, we pride ourselves on product quality and service, with our ‘Warehouse on Wheels’ offering of C24, CLS, machined goods, MDF, fencing, Arbordeck and composite decking all available on a single delivery, we have the complete offering to help a merchant develop their timber sales. The training offered backs this up from both sides and the benefits in development of people and sales have been proven.
We aim for our partner merchants to become advocates for increased standards across the timber industry as a whole – to the benefit of the construction sector as a whole. Education is vital to achieving this goal. BMJ
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net June 2019
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