Building Customer Loyalty with Learning Portals
We just returned from the annual Cellular Telephone Industry Association(CTIA) convention. While we were there, we had the opportunity to meet with a number of wireless retailers in order to evaluate their retail training needs. Our most productive meetings, however, were with distributors and wholesalers of wireless handsets and accessories.
In an increasingly competitive marketplace, distributors and wholesalers are looking for new ways to help their retail customers succeed. Traditionally they have brought added value to their customers through custom packaging, quick order turn around, and advertising programs.
Now they can give additional value to their retail dealers by providing retail sales training, retail management training, and product training to them through low-cost learning portals. A distributor learning portal or knowledge platform can be funded through vendor contributions, market development funds, or retailer payments. Training can be delivered through traditional web-based platforms and/or retail employees’ wireless phones and can include licensed training content, manufacturer product training, or internally developed content. You can even integrate the retail training from the learning portal with classroom training.
The benefits of these learning portals include:
- Increased dealer loyalty
- Improved sell through
- Lower returns
- Faster product launches
If you are a distributor or wholesaler who is looking a new way to reach out to your dealer-base, you should consider implementing a learning portal that provides retail training for them.