One of the most buzz-generating announcements made at the 2020 LPG Conference and Expo last year was the launch of xTEACH, an interactive training portal exclusively available to LPG showrooms. This industry-leading initiative was designed to elevate the performance of LPG member showrooms by providing an extensive range of soft skills training courses for showroom leadership and staff.

This exciting training program will be available to all IMARK Plumbing members in the summer of 2022. xTEACH has been redesigned to meet the needs of independent supply houses.

The xTEACH training program goes far beyond the training that manufacturers typically provide, and the product knowledge tutoring offered on IMARK University. With courses on topics like upselling at the supply counter, B2B customer service, merchandizing the supply counter and hiring, members will have access to training not readily available.

“xTEACH has been widely successful and proven to be a valuable tool for LPG member employees. For these reasons we are excited about expanding xTEACH to the IMARK Plumbing membership,” said John Aykroyd, president of IMARK Plumbing. “xTEACH is one more example of how we continue to leverage the scale of IMARK Group by sharing best practices among all IMARK Group verticals.”

xTEACH is comprised of a series of Learning Paths that include courses suitable for every level and position within the supply house—from owners to management to sales to warehouse. Users can pursue clear paths to enhance their own career capabilities while attaining skills that will drive sales and margins for their supply house.

IMARK Plumbing Vice President of Sales and Marketing Ted Havel expressed his excitement about the new training tool. “xTEACH offers IMARK Plumbing member employees an additional resource to help sharpen their sales and marketing skills,” Havel said. “In the increasingly competitive landscape, xTEACH provides IMARK member companies with another competitive advantage.”

Once logged into the portal, learners can view the full library of xTEACH training courses available, as well as role-based training for various functions. Mangers can choose to customize the course library that each of their employees are able to view, based on their position, skills and learning goals. Leaders can use a real-time dashboard to track employees’ activity, create teams that will progress through certain courses or paths together and even manage any incentives they may wish to offer.

Time is money in the supply house environment. Many training segments are less than five minutes and address just a few specific points. There is also a series of “One-Minute Manager” courses that spotlight specific skills managers need to be successful. The training courses are being developed by IMARK Plumbing staff with the support of vendors and the training subcommittee. This new tool will allow independent supply houses the ability to sharpen their skills to provide the trade unparalleled service.

For more information on xTEACH, contact Stephanie Palmer at spalmer@imarkgroup.com.