Flagler Construction Equipment’s sales force got to freshen up their knowledge of the Volvo compact equipment line Jan. 23 and 25 at a training session in Tampa, Fla.

Each of the company’s 25 sales associates from eight branches attended one of the day-long sessions.

The salespeople spent part of the day in the classroom learning the features of each machine and the rest of the day outside running the machines.

“The object of the day’s training is to teach the sales representatives the five most important features of each machine, so they can pass that information on to the customer,” said Light Equipment Manager Jeff Evans.

The equipment included each of the Volvo skid steer loaders and track loaders, as well as the EW 55B rubber tired excavator with a rotating bucket, which Flagler began selling at the end of 2005. They also reviewed Volvo’s compact wheel loaders and the BL60 and BL70 backhoes.

Leading the session were Flagler’s Volvo factory rep, as well as one of Volvo’s compact equipment specialists. This was the second year in a row Flagler hosted a company-wide training session. It periodically hosts smaller training sessions at each branch.

At the end of the day, the salespeople took part in a role-playing session to sell the Volvo machines using the information they had learned.

“They were able to hone their closing skills,” Evans said. CEG