Avoid the slick salesman syndrome

On-site, end-user training is an effective way for distributors to generate more lubricant business.

by Richard Vurva

If you’re searching for a way to boost lubricant sales, an on-site, end-user training program may be the answer. Three manufacturers with successful training efforts say distributors that provide training position themselves as lubrication system solution providers rather than slick salespeople. One company charges end-user customers for training while the others offer it as a value-added service. Either way, it’s an effective method for generating stronger customer relationships and ultimately greater sales.

“On-site training for users is the single most important way to promote your products,” says Jim Girard, vice president and general manager for Lubriplate.

He encourages salespeople to set up training for end-users before offering to do a plant survey. The training session helps set the stage for a more effective in-plant survey, Girard says.

“It’s great to do plant surveys where you walk around the plant, write the machinery down and the points of lubrication. But if you do that before you’ve established good dialog with the maintenance people, you have the potential to put up a lot of barriers,” he says. “You have to win the customer’s trust. You do that by sitting down with them and listening. Then you respond to what the customer tells you.”

Girard encourages distributor salespeople to work closely with Lubriplate district managers to schedule training sessions. District managers typically lead the training sessions, but whenever possible, Lubriplate’s chief engineer conducts the training. A typical session covers basics of bearing and power transmission, chain, hydraulic, oil recirculating system and air compressor lubrication.

The training is not a glorified sales presentation. It covers all facets of machinery lubrication, lubricants and correct lubricant selection and is tailored to fit each company’s needs.

The training also explains acronyms printed on labels. For example, trainers tell end-users that the American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA) sets viscosity parameters for fluids and why products carry the American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM) designation. Trainers also discuss common lubrication problems and how to avoid them.

Show and tell
Through its Manufacturing Reliability Training process that trains more than 2,000 end-users a year, Henkel Loctite takes a somewhat different approach to training. MRO market manager Dave Carbone says Loctite trainers prefer to conduct plant surveys before each training session. That way, they uncover examples of specific application problems customers could avoid by applying the proper Loctite product.

For example, one company replaced pillow blocks in a section of its plant on a weekly basis. The pillow blocks were exposed to hot, humid conditions and continuously failed when water got inside the seals and broke down the grease. The trainer can drive the point home by suggesting that water-resistant grease like ViperLube can solve the problem.

“We’re giving them specific action steps they can take to solve a real problem they’re experiencing,” Carbone says.

Loctite charges companies $495 per person to attend its Manufacturing Reliability Training. The cost covers sample products and includes up to nine hours of hands-on training accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training.

Loctite guarantees the cost of its training and will refund the difference if savings do not exceed the cost within 12 months. To date, 93 percent of the customers that took the training recouped their investment in about four months. The average four-month payback compared to the cost of the training is 600 percent. Last year, Loctite saved customers more than $1.4 million as a result of the effort.

Provide flexibility
Manufacturers say distributors should be flexible when scheduling end-user training sessions. Some plants may ask you to schedule seminars during lunch breaks, shift changes or even late into the night.

“If the second shift ends at 11 o’clock and the plant can convince their maintenance engineers to stay into the night, that’s when you have to be there,” says Girard. He says the best sessions last two to three hours, but some plants may limit the session to an hour or 90 minutes, so trainers must be grateful for whatever time they can get.

“Training is a great way for people to get a hands-on feel for how a product works,” adds Volker Fremuth of Permatex.

Since it began offering training clinics in 1999, Permatex has trained more than 56,000 end-users. Participants receive a packet with product samples and feedback forms. The company captures the names and contact information from attendees and enters the data into a database for future marketing purposes, then sends participants a certificate after they complete the training.

“Through that feedback, we’re able not only to improve our training process, but we also discover customer needs,” Fremuth says.

To give distributor salespeople an incentive to schedule training clinics, Permatex developed a clinic cash program that awards salespeople with certificates from companies such as L.L. Bean, Omaha Steaks and Bass Pro Shops. Although the gift certificates make a nice reward, salespeople also gain in other ways.

Often, product sales increase considerably immediately following a training session. Since starting the training clinics, Fremuth says sales of the company’s general anoerobic product sales increased 15 percent, anoerobic gasketing sales climbed 31 percent, and its Right Stuff brand sales jumped a dramatic 67 percent.

Fremuth adds that training can introduce companies to new customers and also strengthen the bond with existing customers because it gives salespeople another reason to call on a customer. For distributor salespeople, it can mean the difference between selling yourself as a solution provider or looking like a catalog-carrying salesman peddling bottles of oil.

This article appeared in the March 2003 issue of Progressive Distributor. Copyright 2003.

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