Difficult times encourage on the ability to overcome. This is the case of STIHL employees around the world, who are seeking to achieve positive results in challenging times. Ipe Máquinas, a distributor in southern Brazil, has been standing out in this regard. The ower Ana Carla Möller tells us more.
The store’s posts on social media highlighted the alternative services they offered
FAST ACTION Since the spread of the new coronavirus was very fast in Latin America, there was no time to make a plan. Ipe Máquinas had to adapt to this new scenario fast. “Our store was closed for 10 days. During that period, our social networks saved us. We launched an online service via WhatsApp, which allowed us to continue meeting customer demands by scheduling contacts through this platform,” says Ana Carla. She points out that posts on Facebook and Instagram were also very important to keep in touch with their clients.
SUPPORT TO CUSTOMERS Ipe Máquinas has among their customers the fire department, and companies in the agricultural market, which did not pause their activities. “We needed to keep giving support to our customers, so our service continued online. Through WhatsApp, we arranged deliveries or scheduled visits to the store, following all health and safety protocols,” reports Ana Carla. According to her, everyone’s response was very positive. “The online service made customers even more loyal, making everything more agile and practical.”
HEALTH FIRST “Hand sanitizer has been made available to customers and employees, we restricted the number of people in the store, and everyone started wearing masks, not only the staff members, but also the consumers.” Ipe’s posts on social media reinforced the importance of social distancing during that period. “Posts showing care and empathy for the moment were another way of demonstrating a connection with our customers.”
INSPIRING MESSAGE The video recorded by Dr. Nikolas Stihl touched Ana Carla, who shared it with her staff. “Health must come first. Without health there is no business. It was very touching to receive these words from the Chairman of the STIHL Group, who cares about the entire dealer network wordwide. I identified with it, a lot.”
Our training processes have been redesigned and now offer the simplicity and advantages of Online Education and Distance Learning. Moving forward in this digital format is part of STIHL’s plan and our commitment to train importers in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In order to plan the new teaching format, a survey was carried out with importers who expressed their preferences regarding the time for online meetings, the knowledge of the technologies to be used and the resources they had available for the sessions. The online training sessions began on August 10 with the start of the STIHL commercial products training, which was attended by 85 people, from six importers. Six more countries participated in the second class of the module, and the same training will be offered in English, in an online format, for Caribbean importers.
The training gained new content, routines and resources, but mainly a new concept.
FROM NEED TO SOLUTION
“On the day-to-day of points of sale, how can we help them increase their results?” This thought was the starting point for creating a new method called “From need to solution,” since one of the challenges of the sales process is to identify what is the real need of the customer to offer the solutions that are appropriate, among the set of products that STIHL offers to customers. In practice, points of sale need professionals who can conduct an advisory sale, asking about the customer’s needs to identify the appropriate product for their specific application. By identification and correlation through four variables – use, load, volume and frequency –, a method was established that assists sales personal in identifying customer needs, thus enabling them to correctly evaluate each application.
TRAIN THE TRAINER
The new concept in sales training is part of the training strategy for importers in Latin America and the Caribbean, who must pass on content and knowledge to their distributors, with the training material available on the STIHL Training platform. In addition to the week-long courses, one-hour webinars are offered on content updates, new technologies, among other subjects. All meetings are recorded and, like the training material, are available on the STIHL Training platform for later access. Technical courses will also be offered in the online format, aiming to transmit to importers technical information about our products.
TOP 10 STIHL TRAINING ƒ
SEE THE 10 MAIN FEATURES OF THE PLATFORM.
1. PROACTIVITY AND AUTONOMY
Users participate in online training, have access to re-watch the recorded meetings, and at the end of the course, after passing the knowledge challenge, they automatically are granted access to print their certificate
2. USER FRIENDLY
The STIHL Training platform is the official training tool of the STIHL Group. The version for Latin America and the Caribbean has been rebuilt and standardized in Spanish and English, making it easier and faster for users to access.
3. ASSERTIVE METHODOLOGY
The method used to develop the training is based on a logical, practical, and useful concept, which can be applied in the sales person’s day-today life.
4. REAL-TIME INTERACTIONS
Live streaming classes always have two instructors: one to give the training and another to answer questions on the chat.
5. KNOWLEDGE CHALLENGE
An online test checks the content absorption and understanding by the course participants who need to have a minimum of 70% correct answers to receive a certificate. Otherwise, they will have to take the course again.
6. MORE STUDENTS
The number of students per class was increased, allowing more people to participate in the same event.
7. LOWER COSTS
Without the need for transportation, flight and accommodation, the amount invested is significantly lower.
8. MORE AVAILABILITY
Online courses reduce participants’ absence time for their training.
9. PREREQUISITE
Prior to registering for online training, it is mandatory to participate in distance learning classes and be approved for you enrollment.
10. SALES IMPROVEMENTS
The theoretical framework aligned with building skills leads to better results in sales.
Training and qualification team: Tássia Canterle, Raul Kriedte and Paulo Serpe
Catalog for SSC parts, SDS diagnostic software, among other very important information for distributors’ day-to-day activities, are now accessed through the portal. Exclusive our STIHL dealer network, the new system guarantees data protection. If you have not yet joined the platform, you have until March 2021 to migrate. It is very simple: importers need to register their distributors and each person will receive a login and password in order to gain access to the applications of STIHL. “In addition to being much safer, the website is quick and practical. We are happy to be able to offer this advantage,” says Carlos Wey, Service Center Supervisor. These changes seek to provide a better user experience, agility and, above all, security.
Online activities are growing around the world, which is why investments in digital marketing today are so important, even more so in this time of the pandemic. To take advantage of its presence in the virtual environment, STIHL Mexico created STIHL Contact in 2018, a versatile platform that has since presented increasingly better results, supporting those interested in buying the brand’s products online and bringing them closer to the nearest distributor, taking into account its geolocation.
“We trained personnel to provide online and telephone service. Clarifying doubts and offering a timely follow-up to the sales process. In addition, we facilitate customer service, which often the points of sale cannot provide due to other demands of the store operation”. Emílio Castro, STIHL Marketing Manager, Mexico
“STIHL Contact” is present in all STIHL communications in Mexico, which informs customers of all contact possibilities: WhatsApp, phone call, chat, email, or SMS. After the service center talks with the clients through any of these channels, the indicated distributor is informed about the consumer’s data (name, when he will go to the store, which product he needs). STIHL then verifies if the sale was successful and three months after purchase, contacts the customer to assess his satisfaction and after-sales service requirements.
STIHL CONTACT HIGHLIGHTS • Only in 2020 (in late August) 1.327 items were sold through this platform, representing a turnover of USD 455.000 for our distributors.
• 1 in 10 contacts converts to a sale.
• WhatsApp is the customer’s favorite channel, responsible for 60% of contacts. Easiest way to follow up.
SALES PERFORMANCE PER WAY OF CONTACT 1. Google Adwords: 51%
With Paulo Bazo (to his right), at a convention in Cartagena, Colombia, in March 1995
Former commercial director of STIHL Brasil, Arthur Torelly Franco died on September 28, 2020. Born in Porto Alegre on May 17, 1941, he graduated in Biology but made his career in the commercial area. He loved two things: Classical music and STIHL, to which he dedicated 26 years of his professional life. Passionate about classical music since childhood, he knew how to find space in his business agenda to tirelessly research Richard Wagner’s life and work. He participated in several editions of the Bayreuth Festival, the great mecca for Wagnerians, and had one of the greatest bibliographic collections in Brazil about the genius of the German opera. He died at the age of 79 due to a stroke in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, leaving his children Luciana, Arthur, Alberto and Carlos, as well as many friends.
“Mr. Arthur was a human being of great value, character and integrity, who allowed us to live with him for 26 years at STIHL, from 1975 to 2001. To express our grief, we raised the flag of the Brazilian factory at half-staff. To the four children, we send our deepest feelings.” Romário Britto, Vice-President of Marketing and Sales at STIHL Brazil
“A person of an odd intelligence and elegance that delighted everyone. I was honored and had the privilege of receiving a lot of advice that I bring with me today from this friend who carried STIHL’s flag everywhere he went and who remains a reference today. May God welcome him with open arms and may he continue in peace telling his stories and jokes to cheer the other side of life!” Paulo Bazo, Southeast Sales Manager at STIHL Brazil
“Mr. Franco, or simply Mr. Arthur, has always been a source of inspiration, culture, and wisdom. Listening to him talking about history, travel, the development of STIHL in Brazil, and of course, about classical music, was a privilege I will never forget. In the company I saw him as the very embodiment of culture and the way STIHL was.” Henésio Stumpf, former Marketing Manager at STIHL Brasil and current owner of the car lot STIHL Rota da Serra Máquinas e Motores Ltda.
Other events of Mr. Arthur:
Before working at STIHL, he worked at Trilho Otero, an importer that is responsible for starting the commercialization of STIHL products in southern Brazil at the end of the 1960s.
He was one of the people who encouraged the standard resale project in Latin America, considering an Andreas Stihl’s premise: “At first, every chainsaw is good. The leading brand will be the one that provides services of quality to the customer.”
He enjoyed telling jokes and was fond of a cigar with whiskey.
He had an extravagant hobby: He liked to pee on famous rivers and after tell the story, as a joke, saying he had committed a sin.
He wrote the book, Adágio, Crônica dos Bastidores da Música Erudita, which was a synthesis of articles that were published for 15 years at Revista Digital.
He was invited as a speaker in open recitals about Wagner’s songs at the Municipal Culture Center of São Paulo, at the Goethe Institute Theater and at the Foyer of Theatro São Pedro.
