The number one manufacturer of domestic appliances Electrolux, is the first one in Europe who has adopted online training as a part of the retail dealer net’s product training. Open-minded thinking, efficient training method and a good quality training content are the success factors that Electrolux has, in order to maintain the competence of the large distribution net.
- The ever tightening competition demands new innovative operation models. All operational sectors should aim to efficiency, and Electrolux group has a long tradition to think “out-of-the-box”. If something proves to be good in practice, even if it was from a completely different field of activity, the new aspect is immediately taken to use. An example could be that someone on the R&D department, while developing the products for laundry line, has learned something new on heat line’s production process. E-learning, or online training, is a brilliant example of this kind of unprejudiced thinking, says Electrolux’s Training Manager Jussi Kytösaho.
- Online training is also a good way to stand out from the crowd – it is modern and dynamic action. Our products aren’t necessarily the cheapest, but they give a lot of joy in use for the end-user. In order to sell well, these kind of products need a competent and professional chain from the start to the end, and our e-learning school is a fantastic tool in creating that chain.
- We want to offer our customers a new professional,
dynamic and efficient way to learn, says Electrolux’s Training
Manager Jussi Kytösaho.
- The e-learning school brings a distinctive additional value to our business. It is seen as a one strong piece of the whole puzzle of our services that we want to offer to our retail dealers. The market leader has to show the way and we are very proud that we are the first actors in our branch of activity in Europe, that have offered online training to the retail dealers who are also our customers. And Finland was once again the one who showed the way to the whole Electrolux group, so we are really on the top of the development here in the north, says Kytösaho happily.
The training has an immense demand
Electrolux is the market leader in the sales of domestic appliances, and it sells approximately 20 million products per year to customers in 30 different European countries. The e-learning school was launched as a new training method to the distribution net’s training in the beginning of the summer.
- The feedback has been mostly positive. Our e-learning school has three levels, so the further you go, the more detailed the information becomes. Very specific and detailed information seems to be desired. When the salespersons achieve even a touch of something new for their daily sale work, it seems to matter a lot.
- Even those ”old troupers” have said, that even an old dog can apparently learn new tricks. Our products have a lot of features, but some of them might be forgotten to communicate to customers, or they can be insufficiently or inaccurately presented. The online trainings have always the same training content to everybody, so the efficiency aspect is on a completely different level, Kytösaho continues.
- I’ve heard that some of our salespersons/sales managers have studied our training materials at home on Saturday night. They have afterwards commented that “What a brilliant thing!”. This clearly shows that the training has an immense need in the companies selling domestic appliances. The wireless training is now possible even from one’s own living room couch, 24/7.
Measurability has a clear impact on the level of performance
Electrolux’s online courses operate in the Prewise Gimlet LMS e-learning platform, which provides effective tools for trainings’ user administration, monitoring and reporting.
- I couldn’t imagine administrating online training without proper measurability. Some of our territory sales managers have already taken a very active role with the reports and the truth is that those territory sales managers, who actively hype up this thing in the field and utilize the reports, have chains that are noticeably more engaged, Kytösaho emphasizes.
- At the moment we have around 2700 active users in our online training courses, but I believe that next year our user base is more than 3000 learners. We have about 30 different study groups, which are basically our customer chains, and we follow their study performances closely.
- Our e-learning school has been up for four months, but we’ve already noticed, that the word spreads among the salespersons in the field, and that the message has been mainly positive. So the positive user experiences clearly encourage and motivate others.
- Because of the e-learning school, for the first time we are able to have specific performance data of the training. We have earlier worked extremely hard in the field for the re-selling’s face-to-face trainings but we have never had any exact data or statistics of these trainings.
E-Pro training model strings different training methods together
Electrolux has developed its own training model called E-Pro. According to Kytösaho it is supposed to string all training methods – online training, face-to-face training, different events and special training occasions together under the same umbrella.
- E-Pro thinking has also a base in recognizing the right consumer groups, their needs and through them, the display of different products’ features. Each customer group has its own products and with the three brands strategy Electrolux is able to offer a complete product assortment to its retail dealers. Our e-learning school is a perfect instrument to implement this concept too.
- Online training is only one part of our E-Pro concept and we will never abandon face-to-face training. The interaction is as important as it has always been – or even more important during these hard times that we are living. Face-to-face training is a natural surrounding, where we can easily enhance the knowledge base learned in online training courses.
- With our e-learning school it is a lot easier to talk about brands, different consumer groups and other fundamental issues, which have earlier been in the background. With the online training we can once again point out these issues.
 |
Is the retail dealers motivated to learn?
The retail dealer net is a challenging target group for training to the suppliers. The suppliers compete with their products and trainings of retail dealers’ time and attention, so motivation tricks are certainly needed.
- At the moment the most important way to motivate is to increase the knowledge. When the
|
salespersons know their products and products’ additional values, it’s guaranteed that they can sell better and more valuable items and so their earning logic is in balance, states Kytösaho.
- We didn’t want to end up to a “junk rumba” when rewarding the study performances. Learning and training are part of maintaining professional competence and improving it and Electrolux wants to keep it that way. That’s why the name “E-Pro” – Electrolux Professional!
Cut the prattle and concentrate to the essential
According to Kytösaho, the biggest challenges from the supplier’s point of view are the time used and functional training content.
- The sales outlets are constantly in a hurry and they don’t really have time for studying, even though they would like to and they always talk about it. Well planned and thought through training content are factors which separate the wheat from the chaff. Nobody wants to listen useless prattle. If precious time is used for training, it should be worth the sacrifice.
Same training for the Electrolux personnel
Electrolux personnel are encouraged to go through the same online training. The goal is a modest 100 %.
- It is important that everybody from our staff knows the e-learning school’s structure and content. The basis is, that everybody, even the one who doesn’t really do any selling, knows the consumer group thinking, different product brands’ positioning, and through all that the most important features and sale arguments. In the end we are a strong sales sale organization and we represent Electrolux and all its great brands at work as well as on our free time, says Kytösaho.
We are on the right path
- The development of the e-learning school concept found the right path already in the first kickoff meeting. Prewise emphasized the importance of measurability, and wanted very actively to recognize the possible trap holes and find ways to motivate learners. This made us confident, and erased the feeling of someone trying to sell the moon from the sky. Communication is fast and Prewise have been flexible when needed. I have also given a mandate to the Prewise contact person to lash me if the timetables are at risk. This has led to strict goals but you don’t get anything for free in this life, notes Kytösaho.
- We want to offer our customers a new professional, dynamic and efficient way to learn. A targeted and functional cooperation demands hard work from both participants, but I believe that Prewise is the partner with who we reach the goal!
For more information on Electrolux, go to www.electrolux.com
Text: Jaana Raaska