What’s Happening
The Evolution of Industry Training As training evolves due to ever-changing product technology, the COVID-19 pandemic makes its own impact on how professionals stay educated. Here’s how businesses are adjusting by shifting perspective. WORDS BY ROSA SOPHIA
At the tail end of this past year, things had yet to change. Before the Coronavirus pandemic, this feature was intended to look at how training has evolved and how more isolated businesses gain access to education if they can’t make it to a distributor show or an event like KnowledgeFest. When the global pandemic began, Mobile Electronics magazine and MEA shifted focus to offer resources. While MEA has offered weekly webinars,
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as well as manager and owner roundtable discussions online, manufacturers have also shifted perspective to bring online education to retailers everywhere.
The Changing Landscape of Training Jeff Cantrell of Jackson Car Audio in Jackson, Tenn. recalled the last faceto-face training hosted at his facility in November—a class on the Business of DSP with Ken Ward of Educar. The class was sponsored by Audison, AAMP, AVR Distributing, Sony, NAV-TV, K40, Harman
and Scosche. “This class was a mix between teaching the install side of DSP, what happens on the front end and the sales floor, and how to teach staff to work together to make sure we’re selling the customer the right thing,” Cantrell explained. “It was about 25 percent focused on sales, and about 75 percent on installation.” Communication between the front of the store and the back was a main discussion point. “I think people struggle with
