JC Penney Training Manual - Above & Beyond

Product Knowledge training was a crucial and major responsibility in my role as a National Sales Rep. The window treatment industry is extremely competitive and very demanding in terms of the technical knowledge and requirements of the sales associates in the stores. The manufacturers assist the stores by working with their associates to constantly keep them up to date on existing and new products, as well as helping with basic salesmanship.

These trainings take shape in as simple a form as taking 10 minutes during a store visit to work with an associate or as complex as multi-vendor training sessions with associates from several stores coming together for intense, day-long or multi-day trainings. Some of the most intense of these trainings were the group trainings for the JC Penney associates. Seeing that much of our training consisted of talking to and demonstrating products to the associates, but with little hard copy information, I developed a training manual with a fun "Levolor University" theme. While we had implemented this and other themes in our trainings, there were no formal materials to use.

The associates greatly appreciated having a simple but detailed packet of information to walk away with rather than trying to scribble down note after note. Word quickly spread about this training manual and I received calls and compliments from my manager as well as the other district managers, and then was greatly surprised when I was awarded a Talon Award from Levolor's National Sales Manager and President.