PENNSAUKEN, N.J. — Williams Trading University (WTU) has announced its 2016 e-Learning course curriculum catalog.
The free e-learning program offers 73 online courses available 24/7, all accessed through a simple login. Each course details product benefits and features, as well as a seminar that explains its importance to a customer, and their well-being.
“Our goal was to reach 10,000 certifications by September 2015, one year from the program’s launch.” Williams Trading Co. Director of Sales and Marketing Scott D. says. “We easily surpassed that goal and proudly report that 32,000 course certifications have been downloaded and awarded to our retailers. This is an amazing milestone especially since it has happened before we anticipated.”
Each WTU course is approximately five to seven minutes long, which keeps the user’s attention with easy to understand information. The courses do not compete or sell over each other; but rather, they offer the broadest spectrum of information available for retail trainings. Each course highlights selling techniques to increase sales, enhance cross and upselling techniques, reinforce key selling benefits and help to train new employees.
“E-learning has definite benefits over traditional classroom training,” explains WTU content developer Erin Viereck. “While the most obvious are the flexibility and the cost savings from not having to travel or spend excess time away from work, there are also others that might not be so obvious.”
“Compared to manufacturer’s onsite product trainings, it’s less expensive to produce, self-paced and moves faster,” Viereck says. “This is partly because the individualized approach allows learners to skip material they already know and understand and move onto the issues they need training on.”
According to Viereck, online learning eliminates the problems associated with different instructors teaching slightly different material on the same subject, which is critical for company-based training.
The classes can be taken at any location and at any time, with e-Learning providing a higher retention rate than traditional product training, with use of learner interactions because of the many elements that are combined in e-learning to reinforce the message — such as video, audio and quizzes. There is also the ability to revisit or replay sections of the training that might not have been clear the first time around, which is difficult in a crowded room.
“We want to thank our participating vendors who believe in retail education and worked diligently to offer courses that have proven to lift sales,” Williams Trading Co. CEO Bob Pyne Jr. says. “WTU is an industry game changer and I am proud to offer it to all of our customers free of charge.”
Upon completing a course, the user takes a quiz certifying their newfound knowledge and is rewarded with a downloadable certificate. Free premiums, samples and special offers are being made by select participating vendors.
This feature is an added benefit to the retailer as their employees can try a product, become a consumer and ultimately recommend it to their customers.
“Not only do select vendors offer free premiums, most will create huge raffle baskets that WTU participants are automatically entered to win upon completing their course,” Viereck added. “This exclusive prize opportunity is advertised in the WTU Cyberstar newsletter sent to all participants.”
WTU monthly prize drawings are often in sync when a manufacturer is running a Williams Trading inventory sale, so retailers receive double the support, a product sale and free product training with prize incentives, at the same time, with the company crediting this triple-whammy approach with significantly lifted sales.
For more information, call (800) 423-8587.
