Today’s increased consumer knowledge is a hot topic in most every industry. It’s not that people are smarter today than they were 10-20 years ago; it’s that they have easier and quicker access to more types of information than at any previous time in history. 

Technology drives this information accessibility and when you’re in the business of selling technology and tech devices, your sales reps must stay ahead of the learning curve. 

Gone are the days when customers entered stores with little to no knowledge about what they wanted to buy. Your employees have to know the products, the technologies behind them, and the benefits they provide the customer. 

Benefits of Versatile Training 

The Intel® Retail Edge Program gives your sales reps access to educational tools and resources that not only increase Intel® product knowledge and applicable sales skills, but introduces them to the learning content of Intel® technology partners too. 

Through the Partner Showcase¹ feature of the Intel® Retail Edge Program, your team receives first-hand insight from OEMs and peripheral manufacturers on how to best position products to customers and up-sell to premium devices. 

Types of content deliverables include: 

• Interactive Learning activities  
• Videos
• Articles
• Downloadable sales aids
• Blogs

Gaining knowledge about partners’ products as well as Intel® products and technologies can help raise the level of expertise of your sales reps, resulting in benefits for them and you as a manager. 

Managers experience: 

• Increase in customer satisfaction as sales reps know how to position products that will best meet customers’ needs.
• Boost in store sales as reps have new selling strategies they can apply as they talk to customers. 
• Increase in sales rep motivation as they continue taking Learning activities with special incentives from participating partners.

Some of our recent partners include:

• Acer*
• Corsair*
• HP*
• Microsoft*
• Razer*

Consistent with the completion of other Learning activities in the Intel® Retail Edge Program, sales reps earn Chips—the Program’s currency—as they gain valuable information about all types of devices and partner-specific technology.

Set Your Team Up for Success

You can’t teach personality, but you can provide and suggest teaching opportunities that give your team a solid knowledge base about the products you sell. Setting them up for success creates an environment where everyone benefits, including your customers.

English writer Dr. Samuel Johnson had it right when he said, “Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.” Those words were spoken back in the 1700s and they are just as true in 2015.

Customers come through your doors armed with a wealth of information about the products they’re interested in, and they expect to interact with knowledgeable sales associates. Encourage your employees to take advantage of high-quality, versatile training programs to ensure you are exceeding the expectations of your customers. 

Find out more about how you and your staff will benefit with the Intel® Retail Edge Program and its Partner Showcase Learning activities.

References:

*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

¹ All content is created solely by our partners and does not reflect the thoughts or opinions of Intel or the Intel® Retail Edge Program. 

© 2015, Intel Corporation. All rights reserved. Intel, the Intel logo, Intel 6^th Generation Core Processors, Intel Graphics, Intel Retail Edge Program are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.