Training Provider Award

Miele

In response to the current crisis, Miele has acted quickly to ensure that training support has remained in place for its Partners as we navigate through this unknown territory, and a number of new initiatives have been put in place so that training can continue where appropriate.

Prior to Covid-19:

In 2019, Miele offered 111 courses across its 2 Experience Centres in Abingdon and London. In total, 995 people attended these courses.

The courses, managed via Miele’s convenient online booking system, offered a mix of cookery demonstrations, hands on activities and presentation-style teaching to offer something to every style of learner.

The training team work closely with the Miele account managers and category teams to ensure messaging was in line with the key features and selling points of the products. Delegates received specific information aligned with the products that they sell, watched key features being demonstrated and learned how to upsell and increase attachment rates. If attendees were more than a 2.5-hour drive away, Miele organised accommodation.

In addition to the full day courses, Miele also provided shorter sessions at different times of the day. These were offered to accounts with smaller teams or high workloads that are unable to attend a full day of training. Breakfast Training ran from 10am-12pm to include breakfast cooked on the Miele appliances and quick-fire training on specific product categories, which would often tie in with current promotions. Evening Training ran from 6pm – 9.30pm. Partners experienced a Chef’s Table dinner cooked by the in-house chefs with training and product demonstrations, allowing them to discover more about the appliances as they ate and to experience the Miele difference in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

For freestanding and electrical retail accounts, Miele offered a tailored ERT Training course, which included the new entry level cooking products as well as laundry, dishwashers and refrigeration. The style of training was focused on the sales person on the shop floor, helping them to clearly understand the benefits of selling Miele and giving them the tools to justify selling a higher priced machine. The day included some hands-on cooking to help illustrate the quality of the Miele ovens and hobs, as well as practical exercises and demonstrations to bring the features of the freestanding products to life.

In 2019, Miele trialed the first Integrated Appliance Installation course, showing kitchen fitters from independent retailers what they need to be aware of when installing integrated cooking, cooling and dishwashing products.

Introduced in 2016, the Premium Delivery Driver course offered delivery teams from independent accounts the opportunity to learn about installing and setting up freestanding laundry and dishwashers. Miele has set up a mock ‘house’ on site which enabled delegates to practice delivering into a real-life home environment, as well as training them on how to stack washing machines and tumble dryers. Delegates are then trained to be able to give a 15-minute demonstration on the basic functions of an appliance so that the consumer can be shown how to use it.

Launched in 2016, the Brand Immersion course is a bespoke level of training for accounts with multiple doorways to allow them to bring large numbers of staff (approx. 30 delegates per course) to Miele in one go and be immersed in the brand and products. Attendees were split into smaller groups and rotated across a number of dedicated sessions through the day, covering brand introduction, product training, hands on cooking and business support.

In 2019, Miele’s Field Training Team carried out 990 visits to individual doorways in the field, training a total of 2,775 shop floor staff in electrical retailers. The training delivered was tailored to the specific needs of the account and the individual team within the particular store being visited, allowing the trainers to use their extensive local knowledge and relationships with the store staff to ensure the training targeted their areas for improvement and helped them to sell up through the range.

During Covid-19:

With many retailers completely closed and lockdown rules in place, Miele has been unable to train in the usual way, but the team has acted quickly and put a number of new solutions in place to support its Partners. At every stage, Miele has kept in touch with Partners to see how they are doing and what they need, to ensure that what it is offering works for them and their unique situations.

Live Training via Skype was introduced w/c 20th April (Partners felt they needed time to organise their teams and close premises etc. before they were able to accept training). These are sessions on multiple different product topics which average 1-1.5 hours in duration and are open to both working and furloughed staff, with the agreement of their employer. Staff register their interest via their account manager and are then sent the Skype links to join the sessions at specified times. The sessions use live video presentation and PowerPoint to illustrate the qualities of Miele appliances and explain the ranges and trade-ups. Each session offers a maximum of 20 spaces to create a personal feel and to allow time for questions and discussion once the content has been delivered.

To date 45 sessions have taken place with 318 attendees. Delegates are recorded using the online booking system and a short feedback survey is sent to all attendees afterwards to gauge how effective the training has been. Miele is constantly increasing the catalogue of training topics available and is able to quickly make alterations or add in bespoke sessions in response to feedback and requests. Feedback so far has been excellent, with many delegates commenting on how much they appreciate the effort that has been made to offer support to them during the current situation.

Training videos were filmed in the Experience Centre just before lockdown, and additional videos have since been filmed using Miele appliances in the Trainer’s homes to highlight key features of products. These are being offered to individual staff members who express an interest in further learning and also to accounts to upload to their own staff learning portals where they have them. In addition, some of the content is being used on Miele’s social media accounts where efforts are being made to engage much more with retailers during lockdown rather than just with end consumers. Live Q&A sessions with Chef Ambassador Sven-Hanson Britt (winner of Masterchef: The Professionals – Rematch 2019) have taken place with Partners invited to submit their questions on appliances, cooking and baking. This received great engagement from Partners and enabled them to learn and us to highlight their businesses on the social media channels.

PowerPoint with recorded voiceover is available to those Partners who wish to learn but aren’t able to join the live Skype sessions.

Miele’s new and improved E-learning portal has been launched early to allow Partners access to the new interactive online learning modules whilst they are unable to work. As well as the full ‘desktop’ version the portal can also be accessed via a mobile or tablet for a lighter version which focuses on only the main sales features of the product selected, making it a great tool to dip in and out of to build knowledge.

Independent retailers are vital to Miele’s success and every training course is offered to them. Miele endeavors to tailor its courses to ensure that independent retailers get all the support they need to be able to confidently sell its appliances, as well as having field trainers that are able to visit and support staff on the shop floor with additional training. The training team work flexibly with department and showroom managers to ensure that they can meet the needs of busy independent showrooms and shops, offering early morning, evening and weekend training to fit round opening hours and ensure all staff can get the training they need. The relationship that has been built with accounts over time mean that partners are proactively contacting Miele to request training, and the feedback is that they appreciate the flexible approach Miele has in supporting them.

Miele’s net promoter score for its training has consistently been over 85% for the last three years with several months scoring 100%.

Please see below NPS results for Miele Head Office Training courses, Field Training and the new Live Online Skype Training.

o Would you recommend a Miele Training Course to colleagues? – 86%
o Would you recommend Miele Field Training to colleagues? – 95%
o Would you recommend Miele Online Training to a colleague? – 88%

Feedback on Experience Centre Training Courses

“The course was brilliant and makes you want to get back to work and start selling.”

“Not sure I would change anything. The content, presentation and ambassadorship of the Miele brand is spot on.”

“I thought that the trainers were exceptional, professional and amazing brand ambassadors.”

“I thought the course was just right, it didn’t feel like we were rushing through anything but also it didn’t feel like it was dragging on either. There was a good balance of listening to the presentation and being able to walk round and see/use the appliances.”

“Really informative, best training I’ve been on yet!”

Feedback on Field Training

“Very good knowledge and training for already experienced partners and new partners as well. Felt very respected as a sales representative and was given great insight into functions and features that I was unsure of.”

“Very well explained on all products – learned a lot in such a short time! new starting on the shop floor as a salesman – and this has boosted knowledge and confidence in selling Miele products.”

“A very good training session. It was extremely knowledgeable and I definitely benefitted a lot from it. After this session my initial view of Miele has changed and I have a much better understanding of Miele as a brand.”

Feedback on the new Live Skype Training

“As always Miele out do themselves when it comes to training and to be able to achieve this quality within these circumstances is remarkable.”

“I found the training provided new and interesting information and I would appreciate this kind of training on-going, not just in current lockdown conditions as it is not always possible to take time away from the studio. I do feel this will help me and my staff to sell more / upgraded Miele.”

“Some training can be a tad boring but this was my first training with Miele and I was really pleased with how it kept me intrigued, the pace was perfect. Most of all the trainer was very knowledgeable and very pleasant to deal with always happy to answer questions no matter how trivial.”

“Paced really well with clear images of the products so that we can go on to demonstrate the products well to customers, very useful.”

“Thank you to the Training Team. I am furloughed and thrilled to receive training. This format is excellent and I appreciate a lot of hard work has gone into making this new format available.”

The Future:

It’s very hard to know what things will look like over the coming weeks and months and so the Miele Training Team are determined to remain flexible and reactive to the changing conditions and the fresh challenges faced by Partners as they attempt to transition out of lockdown conditions. Miele will stay in close contact with its accounts throughout and ensure that it is tailoring its offering to individual circumstances as the situation evolves.

Remote training will remain a key offering for the foreseeable future but as Miele starts to regain access to its Experience Centre premises, it hopes to be able to expand this to include live product demonstrations and cooking sessions to enhance the learning experience, with the ability for Partners to request certain demonstrations in advance of the live video session.

Once Miele is able to start face to face training again, it will work closely with every account to ensure that it is abiding by their specific requirements and maintaining safe practices.

As always, Miele remains committed to offering best in class training to meet the needs of its Partners, whatever the future may bring.