Friedman U

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a training & development manager at a retail company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Friedman U?

We hired them to host our platform and create content.  

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Along with hosting our sales training platform, the team creates content for it. The topics are related to our industry’s best practices and sales management.

What is the team composition?

We worked with around 5–6 people.

How did you come to work with Friedman U?

They were already working together because I started at the company. I’m aware that they did evaluate different companies and chose the best fit.

What is the status of this engagement?

Friedman U began working with us about four years ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We have client satisfaction surveys. By analyzing them, we can see that the results have been good.

Our clients have a better experience. The virtual content we provided through the platform is one of the reasons why.

How did Friedman U perform from a project management standpoint?

They have a project manager, and we also have our own project management tools. According to international standards, they have good practices and well-organized methodologies.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team is always willing to offer solutions. The managers are in constant communication to make sure of this.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve had different project managers that had different skills in terms of following up and attention to detail. When we had that happen, we’ve talked to them, and they’ve taken care of it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the general manager of Ocean Enterprises, a scuba-diving retail store with two locations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Friedman U?

We needed to train the sales staff about how to have engaging conversations with our customers. With the high turnover rate in retail, it was tough spending hours and hours training each new employee, so we hired Friedman U to streamline that process.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Along with the training program they provide, they also offer a lot of resources. They supply store forms, operational safety, human resources, and hiring and development resources. We utilize all of these forms in-house and put our own twist on it. 

What is the team composition?

Justin (Director of Sales Operations) works with us. 

How did you come to work with Friedman U?

We were referred to them. After seeing great results, we didn’t need to look elsewhere. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spend around $1,500 per year on their services. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since 2008. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Firstly, my employees enjoy the training, ranging from sales associates to managers. People can now do the training on their own time before they learn operational things here. I like that I can track their work from start to finish now and that people can go at their own pace. 

As a company, it helps a lot that we don't need to spend a full day training staff. Instead, they can do it on their own, I can fine-tune anything, and they can spend time working. I’ve definitely noticed an increase in sales from my employees who have taken their program. 

How did Friedman U perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re always very good at communicating. We’ve never had any deadlines, but they completed everything in a quick manner. Their team is very professional and easy to work with. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I really like their style of selling because they break down the barrier between customers and my employees. I like the way they teach our employees to sell and probe.