Branch staff from Tippers Builders Merchants have praised a bespoke training day at Setcrete’s Centre of Excellence training facility, located in Cheddleton, Staffordshire.
The training day was designed, specifically, for merchants to build confidence in recommending the best products to customers and to highlight when complimentary product recommendations can help to avoid simple installation issues.
Including a mix of short ‘explainer’ introductions to the products and their key benefits alongside hands-on, practical exercises where Tippers staff were encouraged to ‘get a feel for’ installing products in tailor-made training bays, the training covered the different items in the manufacturer’s floor levelling compound range and their applications, as well as the importance of complementary products such as primers, damp proof membranes (DPMs) and repair mortars.
The Tippers delegates were “unanimously effusive” about the course and the value it delivered. For example, Dan Lewis, Assistant Manager at the merchant’s Shipston branch said: “The course was fantastic and we learned a lot from it, such as the importance of priming before installing a levelling compound; you could visibly see the difference it makes when applying the compound.”
Dale Stenning from the Rugeley branch observed: “It was brilliant to see how the products all work together; it’s not that obvious just seeing the separate packs in branch,” while Josh McCready, who is on counter sales at Tippers, Stoke, explained: “Getting to know the products was great. I thought they would be harder and more complicated to mix and use; really straightforward.”
The course was arranged by Tippers Marketing Manager Daniel Broadhead. He said: “It was a great learning day for everyone. Tippers like to ensure staff have the training they need to make suitable sales recommendations to customers; the more product knowledge they have, the better. Courses like the one put on by Setcrete, where things are explained so clearly and simply, are a massive benefit for us.
“The idea is that sales staff build their confidence in the products so they can advise customers on the best or most appropriate product for their job and our staff also know to recommend complementary products, especially when they are necessary for the job; such as primers and DPMs.”
Daniel concluded: “The training is something we will repeat in the future with other branch staff. There’s little to match it for merchants.”
