Canon launches online training for resellers

Mark Wood, general manager business partner sales for Canon’s Business Imaging Solutions Group said the company wanted to avoid the traditional Australia-wide face-to-face approach of introducing new models into the market. According to Wood, issues around the timeliness and economics of this approach led Canon to investigate an online solution.

Canon's new e-learning module offers product and software information to its partners across Australia. Each sales representative in Canon’s regional partner channel will have access to a personal e-learning account. The account contains a variety of training sessions around product value propositions, how to sell guides as well as technical training.

Resellers will be able to study at their own time and pace, with each session lasting from 20 to 60 minutes, depending on complexity.

Wood said that resellers in rural Australia will now be able to provide their customers with the same level of service and advice as their city-based peers.

“Our regional partners are somewhat disadvantaged in relation to their access to our corporate headquarters or our state based offices, but this is far more practicable approach,” he said.

“We’ve had some excellent feedback, particularly around the fact that it’s helped with productivity out in regional Australia. It’s helped partners and their sales staff be able to come up to speed far quicker and at less cost than ordinarily would have been the case the way that other traditional vendors roll out their learning initiatives.”