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Timberland’s Success Story
Yellow boot meets MobieTrain
Sure, you know Timberland. We all do. Most of us have even owned one of their iconic yellow boots at one point or another. From professional hikers to early 2000 hip hop icons, everyone knows the iconic yellow boot.
But Timberland is more than just that. It’s a global lifestyle brand with a heritage of over 45 years, producing not only footwear but also apparel and accessories for men, women and kids. The products are designed to inspire outdoor adventure, combining style and function. And all that comes with a commitment to sustainability.
Enter MobieTrain
Great story, right? One almost anyone could get behind. So why do they need MobieTrain?
Strong brand recognition? Check.
Loyal customer base? Check.
But the question remains how can they grow?
In order to keep growing, they figured they had to put more focus on delivering the best customer experience.
And to do that, they must turn their sales associates into real brand ambassadors.
Building the program
The sales associates needed to become real brand ambassadors. Their job was not just transactional, they also needed to communicate the brand’s values, story and product range. Through continuous training and development initiatives, Timberland equipped their employees with the necessary skills and knowledge to become brand ambassadors.
The only way the learning program can be successful and have the desired impact on the business, is to keep the program relevant and the employees engaged. So, the program aimed to focus on conversion and profitability, ensuring that employees can effectively communicate the brand’s values and product offerings to customers. Through that elevated customer experience, Timberland built more lasting relationships with customers. And we don’t have to tell you that that led to better conversion rates.
Implementing the program
Basically, Timberland and MobieTrain built a comprehensive training program called ‘The Academy’. This program contained all the necessary knowledge, skills, and tools their employees needed to deliver the best customer experience possible.
The courses also took into account the essence of microlearning. All courses should be short and sweet filled with valuable content. The average completion rate of courses in microlearning is 15%, while Timberland has a 64% completion rate.
The Academy was built around three core pillars, three topics all customer-facing, frontline employees should master to be great at their job. Product knowledge, sustainability and customer service.
PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE
Leading brands in any sector determine product knowledge as a priority. Employees need to have a deep understanding of the brand's products, including their features, benefits, and how they can be used by customers. Providing customers with the right recommendations and advice to help them make the right purchase is only logical, but for a brand like Timberland an absolute necessity to make customers believe in your brand.
SUSTAINABILITY
The brand has a strong commitment to sustainability and in order to pass that message on to clients, all employees should believe in this. To get them to believe, they need to be educated on the why, how and what. From initiatives like the use of eco-friendly materials, sustainable manufacturing processes and environmental stewardship, all employees should be up to date to help make clients eco-conscious choices.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
It’s a given, but you can’t overestimate the importance of customer service. It’s a critical pillar in any retail program, but it’s one you also need to invest in. The goal is to equip your employees with all the knowledge but also the skills to provide an excellent customer experience. From active listening to problem solving or conflict resolution, these are skills that can be taught, and you can’t expect your employees to have mastered them all before joining you. These skills are what separates good from excellent customer experience and ultimately drives customer loyalty.
64%
While the global average completion rate of microlearning courses is 15%, Timberland's achieved a 64% average completion rate.
2H47
That’s the average time a Timberland employee spent on MobieTrain in 2022.
And we see an increase in revenue of 17,8% in that timeperiod.
Conclusion
Creating a learning academy, and a learning culture, for Timberland was critical to the brand's success in creating ambassadors among its staff. The company recognized that storytelling, microlearning, living and breathing the brand, and inspiring and educating employees were essential components of building a strong brand.
By investing in ongoing training and development, Timberland was able to create a culture of brand ambassadors who could effectively communicate the brand's story to the end consumer.
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