By James Wells
SYDNEY: Haier Australia said today that it has received strong support for product training sessions held at its head office for retailers from Retravision, Harvey Norman and Narta.
In April, the company said it was committed to an induction program that introduced floor staff to Chinese whitegoods manufacturing processes, philosophies and plans for future growth.
Haier marketing manager, Tony Gersback said the special training evenings held at the company’s Silverwater premises in western Sydney are designed to familiarise retailers with the brand and the range.
“The Haier brand is relatively new in Australia and therefore it is important for us to ensure sales assistants at our major retailers are knowledgeable about both the brand and our products,” Gersback said.
“We know that the consumer, when seeking a new appliance, is highly influenced by the shop floor staff when making a purchasing decision. By educating these key people we are able to see a significant shift in sales.”
During these training sessions Haier gives the sales staff an in-depth overview of their company, pointing to key factors such as the company being the number one brand in China, the world’s fourth largest whitegoods producer, the fastest growing appliance manufacturer in the world today and is on the world’s top 100 recognised brands list.
“Sales staff are often amazed by the size of Haier, whose manufacturing base is not only three times the size of Monaco, but is growing by the equivalent of a football pitch each month. At these training sessions we are able to instill in them that Haier is a very established brand internationally and is working hard to link itself with the Australian way of life.
“In addition, we talks them through the features and benefits of all the key product lines to ensure they have a full understanding and the confidence to sell the Haier brand.
“We explain that, as such an enormous brand, Haier benefits from economies of scale and this means we can sell high quality, fully-featured whitegoods to the consumers at excellent value for money prices”, Gersback said.
“We are very encouraged by the support and commitment to our training sessions and aim to extend these into the remainder of the year. Feedback suggests that sales staff were previously unaware of the scale of Haier’s operation and the global support it gives its brand.”