The training way
CMME joins the team at Genie to see how they take training out of the classroom and onto the machines in Dubai The last time CMME saw the team at Genie was at Intermat. The tour around its telehandler range had taken place during a chilly and wet blustery afternoon. The machine was great, the […]
CMME joins the team at Genie to see how they take training out of the classroom and onto the machines in Dubai
The last time CMME saw the team at Genie was at Intermat. The tour around its telehandler range had taken place during a chilly and wet blustery afternoon. The machine was great, the weather was not, and although product manager’s Gert de Boon walkaround was an informative and entertaining trip through its Middle East credentials, it wasn’t necessarily the most enjoyable 30 minutes this sodden journalist had experienced.
We next meet in the Al Quoz district of Dubai and it’s the hottest day of the year so far with the mercury touching 45 degrees. Credit de Boon, the Dutch-based tutor for the day, he is racking through his overview to a group of a dozen dealers and customers, giving direction and assistance like it was a mild spring morning.
Valuable time
The purpose of the two-day telehandler training course is to equip Genie’s regional representatives with the knowledge that will help them out in the field when talking to customers about the virtues of the machine, while giving them an overview of Genie as a business, and also helping them to understand their customer’s demands better.
Training days like these are popular routes for manufacturers looking to push their product to the market via their dealer network. CMME is tagging along to see if they really have value for the end-user.
“We are creating some specialists here,” says de Boon as one of his students starts to roll a Genie GTH-4017 SX out into the open at of the Al Laith Scaffolding Yard.
Genie believes that in its telehandler range it has a reliable, capable and, they stress, simple machine ideal for the Middle East market, but, to de Boo, the course is essential if its dealer network is to understand that message.
He points over to the machine that is beginning to reverse back towards him.
“The great thing about this is that they notice now how the machine works. So it is effective training.”
The group participating on the course come from across the Gulf region. There are representatives from Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Iraq. While most of them have not met de Boon before they all know Genie’s Middle East and Southern Africa general manager, Sharbel Kordahi, who is overseeing the training.
He says that today’s group features a mixture of technical and commercial expertise.
“Some of them come from a technical background, others have experience of other brands. So they are well familiar with what a telehandler is.”
Before being let loose on the machine, de Boon says that the group spent the previous day in the classroom. Today may be about taking the GTH-4017 for a spin but yesterday was where the knowledge they will need when they return to their dealership was built up. During the theory training, the group waded through the technical information, taking the machine apart on paper.
“We spent a day going through the theory,” he explains. “We went through the reason why we do things, the strengths of the machine. It’s about giving them good information that they can do something with in the market.”
The theory part of the course is done on paper, as exercises and also on video, he explains.
“For instance, I have a movie that I showed them yesterday that this machine with a hydrostatic transmission means that when you put 4 tonnes on your forks it can drive up a sharp slope like that (makes 45-degree angle with his hand). If you show what a machine can do, then people are convinced. Our main thing is the simplicity about our machines if you have powershift then you more components.
“It’s detail like that I want them to know and understand.”
From the outside it would appear that the kinds of information an operator would need to use a machine is a long way removed from what people appointed as salespeople need to sell it. De Boon argues that actually the two are much closer than you may realise.
“If you want to use or sell a telehandler, then you need to know what it can do and how it works. That’s the basics otherwise you don’t have the product knowledge you need.”
He continues: “Otherwise how can I hope to sell it. For instance I cannot sell a crane because I think I know how it works. Product knowledge that is what this training is all about.”
At a time where dealers are frequently extolling their virtues of being able to understand the demands of the customer, it is interesting to see what feedback they give back to a manufacturer like Genie at an event like this. Whether its stability, reliability or speed on the ground or to height, de Boon says there is a difference between those that are knowledgeable about the machines – and those that aren’t.
“Let me put it this way, everybody has their own level of knowledge or experience with machines,” he remarks. “Everything usually comes from an operator performance point of view, but that’s not always the only thing from a manufacturer’s perspective that you want to say.
“There are always more things behind a machine in terms of why you develop a model in a certain way. We all (the manufacturers) go 17m here but there are other things that are more important like how you service, the reliability, etc.
“That’s why you need to bring people to an event like this.”
Benchmarking is a critical component of the course, and as part of the theory element of the course, the product manager took the group through the specifications of not only Genie’s machines but others that are competition in the market.
His role at the training session includes making the dealers understand those differences and the virtues of say, a Genie machine versus a JCB or Merlo telehandler, say.
Only then can they distinguish themselves in an increasingly competitive environment, he argues.
“They (the competing machines) can all lift 4 tonnes or lift to 17m or 3 tonnes to 14m, that’s always the same,” he comments. “When you look at our telehandler range, you have to show where you are different and be able to know where it is beneficial for customers.”
This is our second meeting and I’m beginning to get the impression that de Boon is a bit of stickler for detail. The course is carefully laid out and scheduled, for instance. The hosts Al Laith Scaffolding (a Genie customer since 2006) even draws special praise from him.
“What I notice about this company is that everything is so organised, when we arrived this morning they were painting the (scaffolding) tubes and everything was exact.”
He breaks off as we talk when he notices one of the trainee operators starting to veer off course.
“Watch it,” comes the call as he moves out to stop a minor accident.
With de Boon required, Sharbel mentions that in his opinion the telehandler is “one of the most dealer-friendly machines we have here. You don’t sell a lot to rental companies but direct to construction companies.”
According to Genie’s regional general manager there are 1,500 telehandlers sold in the Middle East. He explains the company is attempting to be realistic in its ambitions.
“We are not saying that we can grab 50% of the market but we do think that 10-15% (150-200 machines per year) is realistic. If we do we can grow it from there. These guys need a lot of support and our sales strategy depends a lot on the dealers’ capacity to service and to sell. The training is an important part of it.”
While sitting in the operator’s seat is undoubtedly the fun highlight of a thorough couple of days there is serious work ahead for those attending the course. Especially if they are going to realise Genie’s dream of taking a 10% or more share of the region’s sales. The second day concludes with each dealer submitting their estimation of how much they can sell in 2012 (unsurprisingly Saudi was the biggest estimate) and the total is close to Genie’s expectations. The participants are then given certifications marking their participation on the course.
He may have had to endure a searing hot sun in Al Quoz but De Boon is convinced Genie needs to more of these styled events, to get the message across about a machine that he has worked hard to help develop.
“I want to do it more,” he enthuses. “Okay so we had the downturn, right, so we did less, but these sorts of event for operators or sales is a very important thing to do as people can’t know everything.
“I think as a company we would like to it more frequently, because it’s better than just dropping something into the market.
