Truck Parts and Service | Heavy Duty Trucking, Aftermarket, Service Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/848272
15 Cover Story W W W . T R U C K P A R T S A N D S E R V I C E . C O M J u l y 2 0 1 7 | T R U C K P A R T S & S E R V I C E More than 40 percent of responders to the 2016 Truck Parts & Service Reader Survey claimed sales training to be an important or extremely important priority for their businesses; and 60.5 percent of those same responders said the same regarding the acquisition of maintenance and technical how-to information. While this quest for information isn't new, when coupled with the torrent of new technologies being installed and retrofi tted on equipment, it's easy to see how distributors could feel overwhelmed. The good news is these new products haven't come alone. With literature, multimedia and old- fashioned hands-on instruction, the supplier community is supporting its technology boom and creating materials to keep the aftermarket up to speed. But these efforts only go so far. Keeping a sales team on top of its product portfolio requires a push at the distributor level as well. Like any teacher or educator, distributors who want to train must have a plan. By answering a few key questions, distributors can discover where training is most vital in their operation, as well as the best avenues for providing it. What do you want to learn? A distributor specializing trailer parts won't get much from a training course on turbocharger replacement; nor will a Peterbilt dealer sitting down to learn about the character- istics of a Western Star's electrical system. Training is most valuable when it addresses a problem, fi lls a knowledge gap or expands the capabilities of those in attendance. For counter professionals and outside salespeople, CRW Parts has found success with product-specifi c training, says President Dave Willis. Willis says product training is a necessity to keep CRW employees up to date on new supplier lines, related parts, product identifi cation and service tips that allow them to better recognize customer needs and quickly fulfi ll orders. In most cases supplier-provided product training is tech- nical in nature, with a focus on performance, functionality, and the equipment for which it is built. For distributors looking to training parts and service employees alike, these courses can be doubly useful. But distributors without a service shop shouldn't be dissuaded from requesting vendor training. There's no better sup- plier of product information than its manufacturer. Some suppliers will even modify their conventional training to better inform distributor employees. Sean Ryan says he's had good luck with that at Point Spring & Driveshaft. Ryan says his company schedules a dozen or more supplier training courses a year as part of its quarterly sales meetings. Ryan, the company's vice president, says the courses normally track on the technical plane mentioned above, but he has had success in recent years asking suppliers focus more of their presentations on value and product differentiation. He says knowing how a product works is helpful, but when it comes to point of sale, he wants the Point Spring & Driveshaft sales team to also know why the part they sell "is better than the competitive product out there." Other skills for selling, such as problem solving and customer service, also can be taught through training. Some vendors touch on these topics within product demonstra- tions (when contacting a vendor to schedule a training, nev- er hesitate to ask about what else they can cover) and many aftermarket associations feature educational programs and webinars geared toward selling on a yearly basis. A fter employee recruitment and retention, there may be no larger issue currently facing the independent aftermarket than training. HDA Truck Pride and VIPAR Heavy Duty are both supporting comprehensive supplier training libraries on their websites.