PPG Automotive Refinish announced that 10,000 distributor partners have now participated in PPG’s Distributor Business Development Program courses. The milestone was reached on December 4, 2012 at PPG’s Excellence in Distribution Management (EDM) class held in Orlando, Florida, at the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel.
The EDM class is one element of a comprehensive curriculum PPG has created to support its independent paint, body and equipment distributors by providing them with the practical and professional skills required to successfully operate a productive and profitable business.
“We spend a lot of time and effort on distributor training at PPG Automotive Refinish; it’s a critical component of our offerings,” said Bob Wenzinger, PPG distributor program director. “We want every one of our distributors to have healthy, successful businesses. Obviously that means providing them with great PPG products to sell—and we do that, but it also means giving them industry-leading training so they can outpace the competition and build and operate a thriving business.”
The “student” enrollment of the distributor training program includes distributorship owners, managers, sales staff and the other key personnel involved in running a business.
“I’m proud of the fact that we’ve trained 10,000 people so far,” added Wenzinger. “There’s tremendous demand for these courses. Our distributors find them very valuable.”
Courses are conducted by PPG Automotive Refinish leadership and leading consultants in the automotive refinish industry and cover a variety of critical topics for the paint body and equipment distributor including finance, marketing, operations, selling skills, counter person development, commercial product business development and more.
In 2013, PPG will offer more than 30 distributor-specific courses throughout the United States and Canada. Titles of courses being offered include
Accelerated Distributor Development Series
Distributor Technical Rep Certification
Excellence in Distribution Management
Financial Fundamentals for Distributors
Guide to Collision Center Profitability
Leading Change for Distributors
Mastering Outside Selling Skills
Professional Counter Person Workshop
Solution-Based Commercial Selling Process
Successful Distributor Business Practices.