Education and training are keys to success
By John J Keough -- Industrial Distribution, 3/1/1998
As an industrial distributor, you have a couple of ways to increase your business. One way, of course, is to broaden your product offerings in order to sell more products to more customers. Another way is to further specialize your product lines and concentrate on one product area rather than several.There is no clear-cut answer as to the better choice. Over the years we've seen some specialists diversify and the results, at least in some cases, have been less than spectacular. In fact, one Northeast distributor had tried that approach and eventually went back to his specialization before he went out of business.
On the other hand, there are some general-line distributors who have added more products than they could handle. And some of their own employees don't even know all the lines the distributor carries.
Regardless of what steps you take to grow your business, it's obvious that all your employees should be properly educated as to the products you sell as well as have application expertise. It sounds basic but the reality is that distributor employees tell us that their number one need is product training. "I've never received any product training,'' one inside salesperson told us. "My product knowledge is what I've learned on the job. I've never been asked to attend a manufacturer's factory training school.''
His story isn't unique. A survey ID undertook last year showed a lack of training at distributorships across the country. Training, in fact is often overlooked by many distributor excecutives, employees say.
So where do employees receive product training? Primarily, training is given by manufacturers. But inside and front counter salespeople are often overlooked in the process.
At some distributorships, application specialists have been hired. Degreed mechanical or electrical engineers are on the staffs of many fluid power or power transmission distributorships. Often these employees become trainers to their colleagues.
Industrial distributors have to allow more time for training their employees. This isn't our opinion, but that of buyers who say that product and application expertise are critical elements to selecting suppliers. Training is a long-term investment that can only lead to better educated employees and, ultimately, more sales.
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