Mobile phone retailer Phones 4u is spending £10m on sending its 3,500 workers on a week-long training course, in its latest move to try to topple number one rival Carphone Warehouse.
Phones 4u owner John Caudwell admitted the investment will cost his business 50,000 man-days while up to 100 staff-a-day are training. But he said training was the main factor which would set him apart from competitors.
“In the market we are in we all have the same products, the same tariffs,” Caudwell said. “The one thing we can differentiate ourselves on is on quality of service. It is a drain on resources, but it is about what we are trying to achieve. It is about building a business which has something to differentiate us from the rest.”
All staff, existing and new, will be put on the expenses-paid course at his training academy in Yarnfield, Staffordshire. The course aims to ensure staff understand what customers are looking for when they buy a phone.
Classes of 20 staff will be taught at a time with up to five classrooms of staff being taught on any training day.
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