How Keen Footwear Used Digital Training to Create a More Engaged, Loyal Sales Force
54%
sales increase through engaging training content
65%
of sales associates engaged with training content
9.5/10
score for content quality
Introduction
When Keen went on the search for a sales enablement and staff engagement platform before the pandemic of 2020, their prevailing need was for digitalization. At the time, this major footwear brand–family-owned and based in Portland, Oregon; founded in California and now distributed globally–still trained associates on their products in the “old-fashioned” physical way. They were using in-person, in-store clinics at a time when the retail industry was shifting toward a more targeted, flexible, digital approach, which risked their falling out of step with competitors.
They initially resisted this transformation, says Alexandra Kim, Keen’s Retail Marketing Specialist for EMEA, in large part because so much of Keen’s brand power came from personal connections with associates. So, they needed a sales enablement platform that would help them train in a personalized, engaging manner that would go some way toward harnessing the connection of physical L&D, with the convenience, engagement, and efficiency factors of digital technology baked in.
Digital Training: Transforming the Store Experience
Upon selecting and implementing Myagi by Rallyware, Keen discovered that it was an extremely useful tool not only for digital training, but for developing and deepening relationships with retailers. They found that with this sales enablement platform, they could build these relationships and maintain their presence in stores, not with individual brand reps but rather with digital technology, available directly to associates on their phones – a huge boon at a time of budget cuts.
The COVID years turned out to be very beneficial for Keen in terms of sales. With double digit growth during those two years, Keen saw that their digital and eCommerce channels were overrepresented in this growth; retail was down, especially with challenges in warehouse supply chains affecting inventory predictability. Yet with factories and warehouses across the globe, and through early investments in digital strategy, Keen were prepared for the obstacles COVID presented – and their digital business grew.
Rethinking Retail: Confronting a Changing Industry with Technology
However, several years down the line, Keen’s leadership has seen that the industry is changing again, rapidly. The growth through the pandemic was not particularly healthy, with a lot of digital-only players struggling and consumers returning to brick-and-mortar retail. In this environment, Keen needs a kind of flexibility, an omnichannel experience that connects the digital and physical stores. Myagi by Rallyware, for them, is essential in creating that experience.
Myagi by Rallyware helps Alexandra and Keen’s enablement team create new content on a regular basis and distribute that content in an engaging way to associates across the countries they operate in the EMEA region. As a matter of fact, Rallyware’s internal data shows that Keen has an overall 9.5/10 score on their content quality, showing that associates truly appreciate the company’s engaging training modules, which drives brand loyalty. This can be critical when it comes to concrete business results like sell-through.
Keen’s content helps them emphasize technologies in their footwear that are not visible at first sight. From lessons to quizzes, Myagi by Rallyware allows associates from any retail store implementing the platform to return at any moment to “reup” on knowledge. If they’ve forgotten something, or the consumer is asking about a particular product, they can simply pull up the relevant lesson in the flow of work. In an initiative soon to be launched, Myagi by Rallyware will also help Keen show associates how to install POP material – in-store displays – reflecting a diverse set of objectives with regard to content, plus incentives for retailers, such as raffles and discounts for pairs of shoes. After all, it’s important that associates wear the product and know it intimately.
Corporate Confidence: Intelligent Inventorying
Myagi by Rallyware helps Keen keep their products and brand top-of-mind for retail staff supporting KEEN’s brick-and-mortar business. The results show that this works: internal data shows that over 65% of associates across Keen’s dealer network are actively engaged in their content, demonstrating how scalable and far-reaching the platform is.
Myagi by Rallyware also helps the company feel assured as they make eco-conscious decisions about their production line. Via the platform, they make sure that store employees are aware of the materials and sustainable technologies Keen is using, their efforts to decrease their carbon footprint, use better leather, and stay PFAS-free – all elements not visible when simply looking at a shoe.
Everything Flows Together: Toward an Omnichannel Future
Myagi by Rallyware helps Keen fine-tune their content: they can receive feedback from associates on lesson quality using the platform. As an example, if a video is too long, that will be reflected in negative feedback – comments and ratings – which helps Keen trim lessons where needed and keep them as engaging as possible.
Myagi by Rallyware also enables the further integration of the digital and physical realms with interactive brick-and-mortar elements. Keen can place a printout with a QR code in the retailer’s break room announcing new incentives, such as raffles, which prompts associates to scan the code and complete the training. When the associates come into the break room and see the QR code flier, they can do the training right then and there, or in-between customers.
Myagi by Rallyware has helped Keen improve their relationships with retailers across Europe. Keen even integrates the platform into their sales deck when they’re pitching their products to retailers, showing these retailers how Myagi by Rallyware helps keep associates engaged and drives sell-through.
