Wholesaler training?

DanHolohan

Does your wholesaler offer systems/product training? If so, is it in-house? Online? What do you think of it? Does it sway your buying decisions?

EBEBRATT-Ed

I used to attend a lot of those. Some were good and informative, and you could learn something.

Others were nothing more than a sales pitch.

DanHolohan

Did the wholesaler's employees do the training or did they invite reps (or others) to do the class? Does that make a difference? Thanks.

Mad Dog_2

Yes, I always try to take advantage of these, especially the Inhouse training.  Many of  the wholesalers have the top teachers, but sometimes bring in Giants.  Its extremely helpful in many ways.  I've got to say, I've had maybe only 1 or 2 over the years that were Anemic or boring 😴.  Mad Dog  🐕 

EBEBRATT-Ed

Around here the wholesalers don't teach. They always have a factory rep or a salesmen.

hot_rod

Able Distributing and Porter Pipe are two Chicago area wholesalers that have training. They have in house and also bring in reps and factory trainers. Plenty of wholesalers I visit have training rooms, some with live fire training equipment.

Many of the rep firms have training rooms also

clammy

Since Covid and onward I haven’t attended any it always ends up being just a sales pitch and any really technical questions weather service ,maintenance and or interesting piping or wiring they seemed like either they had no answer or pushed it to a not seen to much type of thing . Mostly I stopped going it seemed a lot went because they were getting paided to be and or the free food . Plus none of the tougher subjects and questions went answered or just skimmed over . And on the flip side it hard to complete when there a huge sliding scale of quality and skill set and pricing ,it tough out there. In all when I need to know I do the research and read the service manual and if worse comes to worse contact the manufacture's tech service and speak to them . When you have been doing this for a decent time aside from mod cons and some newer digital controls not much has drastically change except the price and the availability and the warranty . Peace and good luck clammy

JohnNY

I attend as many wholesaler led seminars and training sessions as I can. I can't sell something if I can't answer questions about it so I try to have the best understanding about the uniqueness of the product or system as I can. First I need to know if it's right for me and my team, then I'll determine where in the field it would be best applied, so yes, the product training does influence my purchasing decision.
I'm on Day 2 of having two guys in Weil-McLain's School of Better Heating today. They get full salary and the course is $200 each. I'm getting killed, but what are you gonna do. This is what classroom learning in the trades looks like.
Unless you join Mechanics Institute, of course. www.generalsociety.org

Mad Dog_2

You're doing the Right thing for your men, Johnny.  Just remind them how fortunate they are....Mad Dog 🐕 

ScottSecor

Some of our local wholesalers have training and some don't. All of them have the manufacturer's rep most of time, occasionally the manufacturer will have a company person do the training. Since 2020 there has been very little training available.

I agree with others comments above. Seems many attendees are there to eat the pizza and perhaps they are also getting paid for showing up. If there is a free baseball cap, tee shirt, or even a notepad they show the boss and act as if its a trophy.

I'll report back soon, I'm going to one tonight that a boiler rep is running (not a wholesaler). I know the rep well and I'm pretty familiar with the manufacturer. Hopefully I'll learn something and possibly enhance my relationship with the rep and the manufacturer.

JohnNY

ScottSecor said:

and possibly enhance my relationship with the rep and the manufacturer.

That's a great point. I've attended the WM School of Better Heating 5 or 6 times over the past 10 years or so and mostly to maintain that relationship. But I always learn something new anyway.

tim smith

Not much for training from wholesalers around here. So much of the time they are sales oriented where really what is needed is technical training on service and design. As I approach retirement I ponder the future of the trade and will there be enough trained techs to keep up with demand.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Some of the training is good some is a waste of time.

I went to one that was a Copeland compressor tear down that was excellent. But that was years ago when semi-hermetics were still popular. Now most units have multiple scroll compressors

GroundUp

I have been begging any and all local wholesalers to offer some sort of training for at least a decade. I've gotten exactly 4 so far, 3 of which were a guy reading a brochure. The other (just a month ago, and I drove 200 miles to be there) was actually very informative and the instructor was extremely knowledgeable, but I felt it was more geared toward the new guy moreso than a guy looking to expand his knowledge. With that said, there were maybe 30 guys in that room and not a darn one took notes, and only 1 other besides myself answered any questions the instructor asked so I understand why they tried to gear it toward the new guys.

ScottSecor

As planned, I drove to a nice restaurant for dinner and product information. Sat with a friend from the trades that I've known for 35 years, our salesman that I've known for about 20 years, the owner of the manufactures rep and a fellow tradesman that I've never met before. The conversations at our table varied from family to radiant to some large heating projects that we've all worked on. I miss these conversations and the comradery.

Met the speaker from the boiler manufacturer briefly before the presentation. She was articulate, to the point and basically was showing us the companies current (and future) offerings. This was not supposed to be a six hour seminar or even a question and answer session. More of a meet and greet, while learning about products that most of the attendees had not seen before.

While I did not learn a lot of technical information from the presentation, I was made aware of some fresh products. We also were treated to a great meal. What I enjoyed most was learning from the people at the table. One person was friendly with an air traffic controller and shared some interesting stories. Another person explained how they utilize the heat coming off the refrigeration units in the supermarket to heat the radiant floors and sidewalks. One guy explained how a owner of an enormous junkyard struggled to keep help in the winter decided to build a huge radiant heated warehouse, his profits skyrocketed and his employees were much happier.

Thankfully, no one scoffed down their dinner and raced out of the building this time...

Call me old school, but I got much more out of last night as compared to a You-tube video.

Mad Dog_2

So True Scott.....nail on the head.  Its all about personal relations...Mad Dog 🐕 

DanHolohan

That's beautiful, Scott. Thanks.

hot_rod

We do a lot of hybrid trainings for wholesalers. Both for their staff and also versions for their customers.
Basically a local rep or Caleffi regional is in the room with product cases, food, etc.
Then one of the Caleffi trainer Zooms in and conducts the seminar live on a big screen, via the www.

Max did 8 of these hybrid trainings in one week recently. So it is another training option without the travel hassles.

DanHolohan

How is that received, @hot_rod? Thanks.

hot_rod

DanHolohan said:

How is that received, @hot_rod? Thanks.

It started during the Covid era when many wholesalers closed the doors, but still wanted to keep their staff and counter people exposed to product training. 

It caught on with with the engineering groups also. There are still many engineering firms working from home. So they can tune in or go into the office.

They are also recored.

We are always booked with hybrids, but 3 trainers are back on the road 

Nice to offer options😃 we accommodate the wholesalers, engineers and contractors.