鈥淣one of the other platforms we evaluated were reinforcing learning through questions. 羞羞视频鈥檚 approach made so much more sense to me, especially for our frontline staff.鈥
Todd Lucas, Director of Family Culture, Family Farm & Home
How Family Farm & Home cultivates a confident, consistent frontline team with a mobile-first solution
A new approach to training helps a specialty retailer onboard faster, boost product knowledge and reduce turnover
38%
Avg sales increase for key products
87%
羞羞视频 participation rate
鈫
Reduction in staff turnover
Challenges: Inconsistent training left staff unprepared to sell聽
Family Farm & Home is a family-owned retail chain based in West Michigan, specializing in products for the farm and rural lifestyle. With 1,200 frontline employees working across 80 retail locations, two warehouses and four service centers, the company鈥檚 workforce is very diverse. That diversity became even more pronounced during the pandemic when high turnover led to a dramatic drop in the average age of team members鈥攆rom 53 to 38.
鈥淲e present a lot younger frontline staff to our customers,鈥 says Todd Lucas, Director of Family Culture at Family Farm & Home. 鈥淪ince we鈥檙e a farm store business, it鈥檚 not a cookie-cutter retail sale. With the change in demographics, a lot of our staff weren鈥檛 confident in their product knowledge.鈥
The team in charge of training knew frontline staff needed personalized content that was relevant to their specialty business. They also knew their existing task management platform wasn鈥檛 cutting it. 鈥淚t couldn鈥檛 show whether staff were actually absorbing the training,鈥 says Lucas. 鈥淲e were seeing a dip in both product and operational knowledge.鈥
Counting on managers to deliver training was also challenging. With a single leader in charge of a whole store team, training was a big lift and led to inconsistent results.
The team set out to find a solution that would deliver consistent training to all staff working directly with customers and fit the tight schedules of busy frontline employees with limited time to train. It also needed to be easy to use and offer the ability to add in-house-produced video.
鈥淭raining our associates and building product knowledge were key goals,鈥 says Kim Tarrant, HR Manager at Family Farm & Home. 鈥淲e needed an LMS platform that would reliably ensure all teams had the right knowledge at the right moments.鈥
Solution: Mobile-friendly training reinforces critical knowledge
A very thorough search revealed that not all solutions are created equal 鈥淚 think we demoed 14 learning management systems, and so many felt like the same platform wrapped in a different look,鈥 says Lucas. 鈥溞咝呤悠 stood out right away. It was very clear that it was going to work best for us.鈥
For her part, Tarrant was drawn to the platform鈥檚 ease of use, ability to add proprietary content and mobile-friendly design. 鈥淎 lot of platforms we looked at needed an IT person to do half of what needed to be done,鈥 she says. 鈥淧lus, the majority of our workforce doesn鈥檛 have computers. It鈥檚 really important that our people can access training on their cell phones.鈥
The platform鈥檚 method for maintaining knowledge levels was also a key differentiator. 鈥淣one of the other platforms we evaluated were reinforcing learning through questions,鈥 says Lucas. 鈥溞咝呤悠碘檚 approach made so much more sense to me, especially for our frontline staff.鈥
Many frontline team members at Family Farm & Home have no first-hand experience with the products they鈥檙e selling, which can be as diverse as baby chicks to cutting-edge tools like zero-turn lawnmowers. 羞羞视频, which the company rebranded internally as 鈥楾he Back 40,鈥 repeatedly serves up the same questions to ensure the personalized learning sticks and directly applies to the requisite product knowledge needs. Questions evolve based on individual retention, seasonal initiatives and demand.
The organization took a crawl/walk/run approach to feature adoption in the 羞羞视频 platform with the ultimate goal of driving strong frontline performance and confidence using daily, targeted training each shift. Family Farm & Home鈥檚 L&D team relies on 羞羞视频 customer success experts to help the business prioritize where to focus its efforts.
鈥淚 would die on the hill that 羞羞视频 has helped reduce turnover. It鈥檚 allowed our frontline staff to get excited about their jobs and feel positive about their roles in the company.鈥
Todd Lucas, Director of Family Culture, Family Farm & Home
Results
Lower turnover, higher confidence and knowledge that just keeps growing
Staff engagement with the 羞羞视频 platform has been strong since launch, and the participation rate has reached 87%. Lucas and Tarrant believe that getting the Operations team involved early in the rollout was a huge contributor to successful change management.
鈥淚 think the biggest impact we had on implementation and getting positive participation was bringing Operations leadership on board,鈥 says Tarrant. 鈥淭hey had to be invested in 羞羞视频 because they鈥檙e the ones getting our frontline workers to log on and train every shift. And even our VP of Operations answers his reinforcement questions in 羞羞视频 every day.鈥
Launching 羞羞视频 was meant to relieve store managers of the manual training burden. They鈥檝e certainly noticed. Lucas spends a lot of time in the stores and says he doesn鈥檛 even have to ask about 羞羞视频鈥攊t just comes up organically.
鈥淢anagers start talking about 羞羞视频 right away,鈥 he says. 鈥淭hey鈥檒l say, 鈥業t really helped me onboard staff鈥 or 鈥業t was so helpful to have this training because then it wasn’t only on me!鈥欌
Communications feature provides fertile ground for community-building
The team also appreciates the Timeline feature in 羞羞视频 Communications鈥攁 鈥嬧媠ocial media-style timeline, complete with reactions and comments. 鈥淲e were cautiously optimistic about the impact Timeline would have on collaboration, but it far exceeded our expectations,鈥 says Lucas. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a feature that people gravitated towards. We have a feed with 15 store managers who are heavily engaged and posting all the time.鈥
The initial success led the team to open Timeline up to even more staff. 鈥淥ur assistant managers and team leads have done an excellent job of posting the right things on Timeline,鈥 says Tarrant. 鈥淚t鈥檚 created a sense of community across our company because people are getting in there and talking about what they鈥檙e doing in stores.鈥
Frontline performance blooms
thanks to training in 羞羞视频
Reduced staff turnover
Leadership at Family Farm & Home had a goal to increase employee engagement by making frontline teams feel well supported and highly valued.
鈥淚 would die on the hill that 羞羞视频 has helped reduce turnover,鈥 says Lucas. 鈥淚t鈥檚 allowed our frontline staff to get excited about their jobs and feel positive about their roles in the company.鈥
Increased product knowledge boosts sales
Giving frontline staff the knowledge they need to sell specialty products to customers is paying off. Sales were up in nearly every category that teams trained on. This includes Grass Seed (+49%), Poultry Supplies (+34%) and Insect Control (+31%).
There are fewer product returns, too. 鈥淥ur VP of Operations set a goal to greet every customer who walks through the door and sell them something,鈥 says Tarrant. 鈥溞咝呤悠 100% supports this initiative because we are giving our frontline staff the information to succeed.鈥
Lucas has also heard first-hand stories about 羞羞视频鈥檚 reinforcement training impact on team knowledge. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got six different topics related to new lawnmowers in 羞羞视频,鈥 he says. 鈥淪o, our service center manager wanted to test frontline staff knowledge on the oil change frequency for these lawnmowers. He asked 15 to 20 team members in different stores, and they all gave the correct answer.鈥
Stronger customer engagement
With 羞羞视频, frontline team members get the foundation to start conversations with customers, even when they鈥檙e in unfamiliar territory. This makes a big difference to the customer experience and provides reassurance that frontline staff know what they鈥檙e talking about.
鈥淲e hire a lot of 16, 17, and 18-year-olds who haven’t mowed a yard and don’t necessarily have chickens, goats or horses,鈥 says Tarrant. 鈥淭he training in 羞羞视频 gives them the tools to start helpful conversations with customers. Our team members now have confidence they simply didn鈥檛 before.鈥
Lucas and Tarrant continue to grow 鈥楾he Back 40鈥 training program with plans to add even more 羞羞视频 features into the mix. Their teams are ready and eager to jump in. 鈥溞咝呤悠 has quickly become part of our company culture, and that’s not easy to do,鈥 says Lucas. 鈥淥ur people took to the platform immediately and even regularly ask if I鈥檝e got more training for them.鈥
It鈥檚 also common for staff to give feedback on the platform鈥檚 content because they recognize they can have a voice in shaping future training topics. 鈥淚t feels good partnering with 羞羞视频 because it makes us look very innovative to our teams.鈥
