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During the month of June, True Value Company began hosting one-day certification training workshops for its members across the U.S. There will be 67 sessions held during June and July and more to come in August.
The training workshops were announced at the True Value Spring Reunion this past March as a way to helps members enhance the customer experience. The national program is available to retailers for free through True Value University.
During the Spring Reunion, more than 50 retailers were part of the pilot program and have been implementing the strategies learned in the months that have followed. The program focuses on informal store training, called “chats.”
John Hartmann, president and CEO of True Value, and 25 members of the True Value leadership team are fanning out across the contiguous U.S. to continue to offer the workshops.
Since the Spring Reunion, Hartmann says the co-op has been able to gather retailer feedback from those who piloted the training course and had time to make adjustments prior to hitting the road. He says the True Value leadership team members are hosting sessions in pairs, allowing them to co-present.
“While computer-based and classroom training is important, these chats are informal, concise and easy to implement,” Hartmann says.
Hartmann says he knows the spring and early summer may be a tough time to get away, so the co-op is spreading the sessions out in hopes retailers can attend.
“We’ve gotten a ton of positive feedback from the pilot group,” Hartmann says. “We also have great feedback from the initial members who have attended training in June.”
The purpose of the training sessions is to help all retailers improve customer service and the overall customer experience, Hartmann explains.
“There is nothing like spending a day in a room with retailers to understand how they’re feeling about things and to be engaged with our retailers,” Hartmann says. “We’re incredibly excited that we’ve had 400 people or so attend across the country, and we’re excited for July and August as well.”
Hartmann says there are 40 people fully trained to provide this certification on an ongoing basis, and sessions will be available at the Fall Reunion as well. Once a member is certified, they will receive all additional training materials as they become available, so retailers don’t need to attend multiple sessions.
True Value members can find out more or sign up for the sessions through the co-ops online portal and clicking on True Value University to see the schedule, dates and times.
“Satisfied customers who feel they’ve received exceptional customer service are loyal customers,” Hartmann says. “Whether our retailers are already delivering it exceptionally, everyone has an opportunity to grow. Improved customer service leads to improved customer experience.”
To learn more about True Value, click here.
