Channel Training to Drive Sales at Continental Tire North America, Inc. Continental Tire North America, Inc. (CTNA) is a tire manufacturer headquartered in Charlotte, NC.  CTNA is owned by Germany-based Continental Corporation, a leading supplier of brake systems, chassis components, vehicle electronics, and tires.  Continental is the second largest tire manufacturer in Europe and ranks fourth worldwide.

"Our sales team can now leverage personalized offers on-the-fly that have an immediate impact on counter sales people." - Nakia Medlin, Product Training Analyst at CTNA

CTNA does not sell direct but rather does business through a reseller network that includes mass retail chains like Sears and Wal-Mart, distributors and retail locations.  CTNA relies heavily on the selling ability of sales counter personnel to promote CTNA's main brands, Continental and General Tire, to the consumer.  The tire manufacturer's challenge was to gain sales-counter personnel share of mind using e-Learning, with the goal of increasing awareness and consequent sales of their car and light truck/SUV tire lines, by means of a cost-effective delivery method.

The Need for a More Dynamic Training Model
Until late in 2005 Continental Tire used a CD-based learning program to deliver product updates and training.  But as their product line evolved it was impossible to update their existing training, and new learning materials were constantly being produced and shipped to channels.  In addition to growing stale or outdated relatively quickly, the instructional CDs were often long and lacked the interactivity needed to sustain the interest of counter salespeople.

"We needed to make training as interactive as possible for our dealers.  e-Learning is not unique in this industry, so ours had to provide a memorable and worthwhile experience – to differentiate CTNA from other tire manufacturers," said Nakia Medlin, Product Training Analyst with CTNA.  "Our dealers know a lot about tires, so the priority was to increase sales by giving them training that was current on a product level and also provide selling scenario examples based on a potential customer's needs and preferences, to aid in making a sale."

CTNA made a strategic decision to devote their resources toward targeted training for their dealer counter personnel via the web.  In addition, this avenue provided their own sales staff with resources to conduct one-on-one training sessions with dealers.  CTNA realized that the approval and recommendation of sales-counter personnel at the dealerships played a significant role in the purchasing decisions of customers.  Their target audience – counter sales people, small business owners and tire dealers – was not an easy one to support, and their current training methods were not performing well enough for changing needs. 

Until that point, dealers completing training CD's had to take a physical exam, and mail or fax it back to CTNA for certification approval.  CTNA knew their existing distribution method and static training did not provide the flexibility and reporting capabilities essential for accommodating the reward-based certification requirements of their nascent program.  CTNA set out to capture dealer mindshare, offering new and easier ways for accessing learning and demonstrating competency through the use of engaging, incentive-based e-Learning.

Putting Rubber to the Road with Effective Content Development
With business objectives clearly defined, CTNA enlisted the aid of Element K's content development services.   The learning provider offers three kinds of development options: KnowledgeHub™ Authoring Tool, a web-based course authoring environment that provides rapid e-Learning development and deployment; Content Customization where business-specific examples, terminology and branding elements are incorporated into existing content; and Custom Content Development where proprietary courses are created from the ground up.  CTNA chose to design and develop two new custom courses as a pilot program. 

The e-Learning needed to be engaging and trackable, with highly targeted product content – and it had to be developed in a month's time.  Having employed their previous training provider for many years, the switch to a new partner under a tight timeline required significant ramp up. "First and foremost, we needed a training company who understood instructional design, and we then worked with their SMEs to get them over the initial learning curve where it came to our industry," noted Nakia Medlin.  CTNA realized they had a large amount of information to convey, and acted decisively at the beginning of the project to ensure Element K had the correct understanding of the tire business to develop training.  Having solved business-specific challenges for clients across all industries through custom content development, Element K had the experience necessary to engage CTNA's objectives with an effective methodology from the start.

Integrating Training Deliverables
CTNA had already launched a successful marketing materials site, called Web Toolbox, which they used to circulate their existing CD-based training to dealers and their internal sales force.  With 75% of their channel internet-ready, CTNA was encouraged by the possibility of providing trackable, evergreen training to their geographically dispersed audience through a training portal.

Element K transformed the existing CD based training into a branded LMS solution called E-Zone.  CTNA's E-Zone training site now features nine custom developed courses, with reference materials designed to accompany each course.  E-Zone also provides a straightforward online assessment tracking component to help facilitate certification and alleviate the need to mail exams.  While many of the dealers already have internet access, CTNA was careful to make training available even to those distributors who were not internet-ready.  Element K created a CD version of each new course, in addition to tri-fold K-cards  for salespeople to carry on the job for quick feature reference.  Updated versions of these materials are available for download via E-Zone or through their CTNA sales representative.

Since CTNA offers training to their channels via field sales representatives in addition to distributor-focused e-Learning, they wanted to offer an easy way for reps to create custom training on demand.  Hosting a multitude of content types on their KnowledgeHub™ learning platform, Element K delivered stand-alone PowerPoint templates accessible from directly from E-Zone.  This gives reps the ability to download images, training video, marketing collateral and other materials to author custom presentations.  

Benefits from the New Program
The response – both internally and at the dealerships – to CTNA's e-Learning program has been very positive.  The availability of new, up to date and customizable training tools via E-Zone has enabled CTNA representatives to tailor a unique training message for each distributor.  Field sales people can now more accurately address the needs of their dealers by modulating the complexity level of training and the scope of products covered.   Notes Nakia Medlin, "Our sales team can now leverage personalized offers on-the-fly that have an immediate impact on counter sales people."

From an administrative perspective, CTNA's new and evolving learning program required more effort than their small training administration staff could sustain.   They looked to the managed services offered by their training partner to provide deployment and post-launch support.  Element K trained CTNA's administrators and was instrumental in shaping learner development paths, managing users, running reports, generating marketing materials and providing technical support – all with the end goal of reducing stress and resource expenses at CTNA.

The Road Ahead
"Getting Element K up to speed early has paid off as now we're converting seven courses on an even tighter timeline," said Ms. Medlin.  Element K's ability to convert existing training into a new and more effective format, communicate openly with CTNA SMEs, and provide consultative administrative services continue to be a key factors in the overall success of the learning program.  CTNA's learning-centered approach to capturing dealer share of mind hinges on the development of focused, engaging courses that sales-counter staff can put to use immediately.  With effective, versatile methods of training, a well-equipped selling team, and an upcoming incentives-based plan for driving sales, CTNA aims at further mobilizing their dealers through education and effective market differentiation strategies.