How Daniel Defense Uses SDI For Their Firearms Training
“We were having conversations like ‘this is getting to be a lot.’ A lot of people need to get recertified, do we teach a 1-day class? Do we travel to them? SDI helps us keep up with training when we can’t be there face-to-face.”
– Joe Marler, Law Enforcement Sales Manager, Daniel DefenseBackground
Daniel Defense is among the largest privately held manufacturers of firearms and firearm accessories in the US.
Joe Marler is Law Enforcement Sales Manager at Daniel Defense (DD). He manages sales for state and local law enforcement agencies and he also handles customer questions and concerns. With more than 17 years under his belt, the DD team leans on Joe for his knowledge and advice. Joe’s role is unique because he’s also involved in teaching re-certification armorer courses to DD customers.
Joe’s Top Goals
- Sales: This goes without saying.
- Customer happiness: Sales won’t happen unless DD’s customers are happy.
- Training: Customers should be confident in understanding how to use DD’s products.
Challenges
With varied responsibilities including sales, customer success and training, Joe has felt the pressure to deliver. “I have a big workload, so I never feel caught up,” explained Joe.
Joe’s team runs lean and that’s a challenge when it comes to training. Salespeople serve as training instructors and need to travel to teach re-certification armorer courses to DD customers in-person. DD partners with 1000+ agencies that buy their guns, and every customer needs to get trained on using the products correctly. This puts both a travel and cost burden on the salespeople plus on the trainees that are taking the courses.
“We were having conversations like ‘this is getting to be a lot.’ A lot of people need to get recertified, do we teach a 1-day class? Do we travel to them?” Joe and his team had two options: continue to do the training themselves, or find someone else to help. Joe was looking for a better approach.
Solution
DD decided to partner with SDI to build out their online training program. Joe shared a business plan with leadership that included the ROI of switching the training to an online format – $30,000 saved each year from not having to travel – and the decision from there was pretty straightforward.
“It’s going to allow me to not have to travel so much. I have two young kids and a very busy wife and home is where I need to be right now,” explained Joe
In addition, DD was using antiquated, 2D animation as part of their training practices. “It didn’t have any modern features,” mentioned Joe. SDI uses current digital content methods which provides students with a professional and modern online learning experience. “SDI is helping us elevate the quality of courses that we teach,” said Joe.
Outcomes
Training DD’s customers was becoming a huge burden, especially as their company grew. DD was able to keep up with their firearms training and avoid training team burnout.
Professional and modern online learning experienceLearning from home shouldn’t change the quality of the curriculum. SDI uses current digital content methods to help DD’s customers quickly get up to speed on their firearms products.
Cost savingsDD saves thousands of dollars each year from not having to travel for in-person training, and that benefit also extends to trainees.