Executive View: Time for brands to reevaluate their training partners

The gap between a brand’s ambitions and the practical realities of those in the dealerships and retail networks must be acknowledged, according to Max Tuttle.

We’ve been creating and delivering automotive retail training programmes for over three decades now. Many of them are instigated by OEMs or NSCs - which can introduce challenges if there is a gap between the ambitions of the brand and the realities of the final audiences for the training: those in the dealerships and retail networks.

When it comes to helping people understand and develop, the ‘real-life’ knowledge and experience of those creating and delivering training is enormously powerful.

Take a facilitator who has worked as a car salesperson, parts controller, manager or service advisor, who has helped customers navigate trim levels and finance options or had to call a customer with bad news following a VHC - only they can truly understand how to help people on the auto retail ‘front line’ do their jobs more effectively.

The experience within

As someone recently observed, somewhat caustically, “Everyone’s an expert now. About everything.” While this was a rather damning observation of how our connected world gives everyone a platform, there can also be a conviction - possibly an arrogance - that ‘we know best’.

While the experience of those designing or delivering training is often a focus, a good training provider will also realise that real expertise is often concealed within a client’s own retail network. As a society we’re very good at assuming that people who are there to teach are experts, and that people who are there to be taught are not. Sometimes the best, most practical and - most importantly - credible insights, hints, tips and solutions already exist; often, there just needs to be an opportunity to share them.

Where’s the value?

“We need a course on subject x,” is something we often hear - but having a partner that will test that statement is invaluable. An OEM or NSC needs to be sure that what’s created will help people (and therefore its business) develop and grow - rather than agreeing to the creation of something – anything…

It’s annoying when politicians do it, but answering a question with another can be extremely powerful. Having a training development partner that doesn’t simply say ‘Yes, we can’ but asks ‘Why’, ‘What’s the value?’ or ‘Can this be implemented?’ is invaluable.

In a busy world, where the number of programmes, course, assets and curriculums is high, it’s vital that training departments - or, more commonly now, academies - are sure they are creating assets of practical value.

A fresh take

The best theatrical directors understand not only what they want actors to do for them on stage - they understand how they want the audience to feel; and they understand how the actors must interact with the physical environment, as well as how the lighting and sound can be best used to enhance the performance.

Similarly, in the automotive retail training realm the best training partners should extend the vision of the brand throughout its retail network, bringing fresh perspectives and views and drawing inspiration from participants’ personal experiences and other market sectors. They should also understand the practicalities of the physical environment in which participants operate, as well as the tools and systems they must use.

If clients and their training providers view the world only with their eyes there is a risk of stagnation. And the whole purpose of training and development is positive change - the opposite of stagnation. After all, as mystery novelist Rita Mae Brown wrote in her 1983 book Sudden Death, "Unfortunately, Susan didn’t remember what Jane Fulton once said. 'Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results'."

Max Tuttle is account director at Meda