The nearly one-year-old Association of Wireless Professionals is offering the industry a new way to better reach its ever-valuable consumer base-through educated wireless retail professionals working on the front lines of wireless sales.
“I have a passion for the industry. I believe in the industry. It’s got many places yet to go,” said Conrad Melancon, executive director of the AOWP.
During his tenure as owner of a chain of wireless retail stores, Melancon became frustrated with the insufficient education, lack of training and high level of employee turnover in the retail sector. Although some wireless carriers offer training to retail employees, Melancon said there is no single comprehensive, national, long-term training program that educates retail wireless employees on the technologies and on the industry they are pushing to the consumer.
AOWP seeks to fill that void by providing standardized education, information, training and certification to retail employees in the wireless industry through a national program.
AOWP offers its members information on the wireless industry through a quarterly newsletter, industry news posted on its Web site and special industry reports. It also offers members networking opportunities via its educational programs, like the Wireless Professional Summit it held during the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association’s conference in October. The group plans to begin offering a certification examination that Melancon calls “mappable, stackable and portable,” meaning it is applicable to a national standard, it tests skills that build on each other, and it can be taken anywhere.
AOWP counts more than 1,500 members. Including sales representatives and customer service representatives in the wireless industry, Melancon believes AOWP has a potential customer base of about 150,000 people. The group recently announced the appointment of Harry Brix, chairman of the Brix Group and founder of wireless retail giant American Wireless, to serve on its advisory board.
The organization is circulating sample curriculums, test surveys and questions to its members in preparation of its sales and certification programs, to be rolled out in the second quarter of 2003. Melancon’s group also will attend the Consumer Electronics Show in January, kicking off a string of marketing campaigns it has planned for 2003.
“We want to raise the bar for educational professional development within the industry,” emphasizes Melancon, adding that in the future he hopes wireless consumers will seek knowledgeable retailers with AOWP certification before embarking on the journey to wireless ownership.
