PERC to reformat Marketer Technology and Sales Training program

The Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) approved a $258,700 change order for the 2017 Marketer Technology and Sales Training (MTST) program during the council’s April meeting in Atlanta.

The increased funding of $228,700 will allow PERC staff to work with GP Strategies and the project team to develop an interim program for sales training and to pilot the program before making a full funding request in July. An additional allocation of $30,000 represents funds needed for PERC’s new Can-Do Conference, scheduled for July in Chicago.

PERC stopped MTST in its current form at the end of last year to reevaluate the program. MTST had allowed propane marketers to attend facilitator-led classroom training where they would learn about propane applications and sales techniques. After five years of training more than 4,200 industry professionals, PERC found it had saturated the market of individuals who were able to attend day-long classroom sessions. The new format will extend the program’s reach to a wider audience and provide follow-up training to past attendees.

Through the current project, PERC plans to broaden its sales structure in MTST by offering digestible, shareable content online and across markets, says Bridget Kidd, senior vice president of industry relations at PERC. This includes videos, PDFs, e-books and webinars.

“What I like about this format is whether it’s an in-person session or done completely online, there’s an opportunity for somebody to do this at their own pace or for a company to tailor program content with their priorities,” Kidd says.

Much of the project funding will go toward setting up the new platform and forming the pilot.

“This brings us to the next level – integrating a digital platform,” Kidd says.

Also at the Atlanta meeting, PERC approved a $28,200 smart-hose safety system incentive program for the Pacific Propane Education & Research Foundation. The program is designed to encourage marketers to install and implement smart-hose safety systems. In the event of a hose separation, the system will shut off the flow of product in both directions.