Program Certifies 1,000 Furniture Sales Associates

July 25, 2007  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on July 2007 More than 1,000 furniture sales associates have been certified as “Furniture Fundamentals Specialists” over the past nine months after completing an online training program by The Furniture Training Company, North Logan, Utah.

The training program is being used by more than 100 furniture retailers, including Wickes Furniture, Wheeling, Ill.

“We chose the Furniture Training Company’s online Fundamentals of Furniture Product Knowledge program because it would instantly allow us to provide consistent and comprehensive coursework to each store location,” said Glen Barklow, director of training, Wickes. “The combination of the self-paced online format, the review activities, and the showroom exercises provide a total learning experience that our sales consultants will be able apply directly on the sales floor.”

The online training course includes 36 self-paced, interactive lessons with multimedia presentations, quizzes, tests, and in-store learning activities. The training program lessons cover the following areas: case goods, upholstered furniture, beds, bedding, fibers, fabric, leather furniture and rugs. The program includes real-time status reports that let owners and managers know each employee’s progress toward certification.

Retailers using the program include RoomStore, Kacey’s Fine Furniture, Cort, Dearden’s and several Ashley HomeStore operators.