Shopfloor DEALER PROFILE: KNEES HOME AND ELECTRICALFOCUS: TRAINING 34


Investment in training T


It’s never been more important for shopfl oor staff to be on their a-game when customers walk through the door, and therefore, top quality training is essential. To fi nd out more, ERT gathered views from across the industry.


he electrical retail industry continues to change rapidly; working in a growing, independent business in this envir onment can be all- consuming, and for most small to medium-sized businesses, team training and development often takes a back seat. However, this approach can be counterproductive – investment in training can be one of the best ways of growing and future-proofing your business for years to come, so whilst the graft associated with running a small business can make you feel relatively time-poor, tangible benefits can arise from taking the time to learn new skills and playing the long game in addition to meeting daily business challenges. In this article, retailers, manufacturers and training service providers come together to discuss the importance of seeking out professional, tailored, potentially local training programmes to help retailers and their staff reach new heights.


Paul Laville, CEO, T21 Group


B


ack when I started T21 Training, there seemed to be such a dearth of training that


I remember almost an entire issue of ERT (May 2015) was given over to wondering where all the training had gone. What wasn’t widely known at the time was that we were working on behalf of the trade association, Retra, putting together a brand new e-learning platform for its members; at the time it hosted a couple of award-winning courses on how to sell compliantly with retail finance and Retracare extended warranty. Since then we’ve worked independently with some of the most successful retailers in the industry, helping their sales teams attain the mindset and skills to increase their sales and attract loyal customers without simply dropping their prices. We continue to work with Retra


but there are other associations in the industry offering training too. Much of the training from CEDIA, for example, is, as you might expect, based around the technologies, products and systems within custom install and design. However, it also runs training workshops aimed at helping businesses improve their commercial strategy, finances and sales and marketing functions. It’s a neat idea because it’s all very well knowing about the product and the technology, but if your backend is an uncoordinated mess you will never grow your business.


Clarity Alliance, the trade association for the UK hi-fi industry, kickstarted a new sales training programme this year, for which the first sessions to date have been incredibly well-received. This new initiative aims to address the needs of


audio retailers and manufacturers in the 21st Century, where the pressure to establish a strong proposition that attracts and retains high net-worth customers is greater than ever. Smart home has been much- discussed of late, and retailers looking to get involved in this should look up the


Epsom-based distributor,


AWE Europe, which offers superb foundation courses across a wide spectrum of smart home technologies. And then there’s training from manufacturers. I’m continually amazed when retail


staff say one


of their weaknesses is ‘product knowledge’ and then tell me they’ve never been on a manufacturer training course since they started work. I know as well as anyone that training within the industry hasn’t always been great. I’ve been working in consumer electronics since the mid-


1990s and with only one exception, every sales


trainer I saw from the


big training companies (who are still there if you want them) either had never sold a thing in their lives, or had no experience or knowledge of the realities of the environment we were trying to sell within. Frankly, it was a load of expensive tosh. But right now – in 2019 – we’re a world away from that. I set up T21 Training to provide effective training purely for the CE sector.


Having


been part of this revitalisation of the training within the industry, I would urge every retailer to get up and sign up, because it’s tough out there. We are all here to help, whatever kind of training you need – business support, product knowledge, finding new ways to engage your customers – whatever training you need is right here, right now.


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