The Falcon and Liebherr brands within the Andi-Co portfolio have performed well over March and April, according to national sales manager – residential, Jo Edwards and the company is pleasantly surprised with the year-on-year growth.
“Under normal circumstances, we would have been happy with the result but given temporary store closures, lockdowns and sales teams grounded, the results are far better than anticipated,” she told Appliance Retailer in a recent interview.
“Both Falcon and Liebherr were already performing strongly so we had momentum and goodwill in the market, which held us in good stead. I believe operating at the premium end of the market has been an advantage; if we were selling entry level or mid-range brands, things may look a little different,” she said.
Falcon Nexus SE cooker
When asked about how the sales team has adapted to the shift to online, Edwards said the sales teams have had to, and have embraced, online training platforms to brush up on their online training skills.
“We discovered early on in the pandemic that a new way of conducting training was required and it is vastly different from standing in front of a group of people. We already had the platforms in place to conduct these sessions so have used the time to perfect our virtual training skills. Training with our retail partners has gone well and it has shown us how we can reach a very large amount of people in a very short amount of time,” she said.
Monolith by Liebherr refrigeration
Edwards believes the pandemic will change the way the company, and perhaps the broader industry, do things moving forward.
“I think there will always be a requirement for some aspect of physical training in front of the product, so you don’t lose the touch and feel aspect. Conducting live training sessions from your home office can be challenging but still worth while”.
“Our message to the sales teams was that we need to adapt, we need to find new ways of doing, and perfect our virtual training skills. It is a new world and we all need to move with it because things will look vastly different in the future, so let’s embrace it and do it while we have the time,” she said.