Electrical retailers learn it, try it and prove it
Article Type: Notes and news From: Industrial and Commercial Training, Volume 41, Issue 4
An e-learning program is helping to deepen the product knowledge of employees at UK electrical retailer Comet. Some 2,700 staff have, between them, taken more than 62,000 modules since the program began.
The modules cover four product groups:
- 1.
N: core, which includes warranties and credit;
- 2.
grey goods, which cover personal computers and mobile telephones;
- 3.
brown goods, which include television sets and audio equipment; and
- 4.
white goods, such as cookers and fridges.
The e-learning was developed to underpin the long-term profitability of the business by increasing sales through knowledgeable and trustworthy customer-facing staff. The company wanted staff to have “deep”knowledge. It aimed to provide this through a three-tier process.
- 1.
“Learn It”, where the student sits a 30 minute e-learning module after which ten questions are selected from a question bank. The student needs a pass mark of 80 percent before proceeding to the next stage.
- 2.
“Try It”, where the student undertakes a role-play with his or her manager to demonstrate understanding of the product messages and customer-service skills learned in each module.
- 3.
“Prove It”, where the student is observed in a real sale and scored against agreed criteria.
Comet believes that e-learning gives staff consistent product-knowledge training at a lower cost than classroom-based training. Scheduling for e-learning is simpler than for group face-to-face training.
Simon J Herriott, e-learning designer in Comet’s product-knowledge department, commented: “We have introduced effective learning that has produced significant savings compared to the equivalent classroom training. Customers have benefited by being faced with more knowledgeable colleagues, more often, in stores. And suppliers have benefited by sponsoring modules. They have reached a wider audience more efficiently than ever to convey their product messages.”
He concluded: “Our training program takes product knowledge into the real world of customer experience and demonstrates how that experience can be consistently enriched through the application of previously learned information.”
