NEW BERLIN, Wis. - Twenty distributors from across the nation attended an HVAC sales training school in the ABB Inc. low voltage drives multipurpose room. There, distributors were given a solid base of product knowledge via a prepared curriculum to help foster better understanding of drive capabilities and applications, pricing sheets, and product manuals.

The training sessions were coordinated by Mike Olsen, HVAC sales engineer, and David Polka, a sales training instructor who also taught the class. "The sessions are important in helping distributors familiarize themselves with their products and their audience," said Polka. "The distributors take the class to become more at ease and informed about their products." As a result, the distributors are able to pass along their newly acquired information to their customers who install HVAC drives in a wide range of applications including exhaust fans, fume hoods, recirculation pumps, and condenser fans.

The tools utilized during the sessions, including the demo cases and software, not only "allow the salesperson to be comfortable with the product," said Peter Walter, product marketing manager for HVAC Drives, but they also provide a "visual and tactile means to introduce the product to customers."