More than 100 colleagues have taken part in our most comprehensive fittings training programme ever as part of our bid to grow share in this market.
A number of internal and external sales teams have participated in the sessions, which are run by Product Sales Trainer Chris Pearson and supported by Ash Smith, Brassware Product Manager, which outline the breadth and depth of our offering.
The training hub has been completely re-fitted with a display of Ideal Standard taps and mixers, including kitchen fittings, from entry level right up to Atelier Collections, as well as our full showering portfolio.
Ash explained that fittings is a key growth area across the Ideal Standard group, with huge potential for the UK as we are currently under-represented in a lot of channels and also because brassware generally offers better margins than ceramics.
He said: “We are often thought of as a ceramics business, despite the fact that our group business sold seven million pieces of ceramics in 2021 and the same amount of brassware.
“We have an incredible amount of fittings expertise and over the past two years have had major changes to our showering portfolio, as well as strengthening our range of taps, meaning we now have a very credible offering.”
He added: “There are big plans to carry on this fittings investment, making our core offer more comprehensive and introducing innovations such as ALU+ and iSeries, which will only make our offering stronger and more credible.
“All this means we are in a strong position to take share in the fittings market, especially in the UK, and these training sessions are all about giving our sales teams the knowledge and confidence to show customers we have the products and the expertise they need from a manufacturer.”
Chris said: “Our first sessions have gone very well, with lots of questions and lots of discussions among those taking part.
“It’s helpful for people to see the breadth of our range in person and to see competitor products, so when we are talking about our own features and benefits in the training sessions, we can compare them directly.
“We also use the session to discuss what it means that Ideal Standard is a European manufacturer and how sales colleagues can use that to their advantage when talking to customers.”
Order Fulfilment Co-ordinator Richard Jones said: "I felt the training gave an insight into how important the drive for fittings sales is and how it can enable us to have a stronger place in the market and use our company heritage to expand this opportunity for growth within the sector."
Retail Team Leader Sharon Brown said: "Two of the team who have been with the business for years said it was great to be taken back on the business’ history and re-ignite information they learnt some time ago.
"It was a reminder of the good things we do and they even learnt new tips and technical information. They hope to have more sessions like this on different categories."
Order Fulfilment Coordinator Emily Forde said: "The training was very informative. It was interesting to learn about the different types of taps for showers and how the water pressure can affect it from working correctly."
If you haven’t received an invite and would like to take part in the training, contact Ash or Chris for more information.