Monthly spotlight

Juan Carlos Spano

Who are you Juan Carlos?

A 50 year old member of a family of four, including the dog, I started my career at Schneider Electric at the opening of the training centre, which I now manage. An interesting career for me who graduated as an Electrical Engineer from the National University of Technology and got a post-grad as a Railroad Engineer, before taking a one-year course in Neuro-Linguistic Programming with specialization in communication and completing a basic course in marketing.

What attracted you to training?

I didn’t start in training straightaway! Before, I had been in charge of the budget, the purchase of electric material and the follow up of the construction of low-tension switchboards for an Italian company. That was when I first learnt about Merlin Gerin products. I then joined Schneider Electric Argentina on the proposal of a colleague, who was a University classmate. He invited me to participate in the huge challenge of developing Schneider Electric's Technical Training Centre . It was something new for the Argentinean market, where training is not usually a corporate affair.

Why did you accept the challenge?

I thought it exciting to develop a TTC on the basis of my technical and commercial expertise and of my experience of teaching as a university professor in technical subjects. My interest grew when I learnt I would work for a multinational and renowned company that had arrived in Argentina to settle.

In what capacity did you join the company and what has been the logic of your career at Schneider Electric?

I started as a trainer of strategic courses for the Electrical Distribution Department and Industrial Automation, with the additional responsibility of supervising trainers in charge of other branches of the TTC in the country.
The progressive growth of course demands meant I had more and more managerial responsibilities. Nowadays, one of my main tasks is to keep up the quality and diversity of our offer and to update the equipment and the instructional material, in line with mandatory and technical changes. At the same time, I visit my customers to their workplace in order to monitor their needs: clients′ requests foster a work dynamic, which allows us to meet their enough and meet the demands of a diversity of professions: industry, building, energy, infrastructures, etc

Can you assess the contribution of training to the growth of sales and to customer satisfaction?

In general, the average level of satisfaction is good enough, although we still have to go on working to obtain better results. We do our best to meet our clients’ demands and provide high quality training service to help them be more competitive. Our success shows, for instance, in customer satisfaction as when we teach a course in situ and the supervisor at the company notices employees need far less time to solve maintenance problems after taking the course. It also shows in sales volumes : after teaching entrepreneurialclients a basic course on how to best use Programmable Automation products, we can observe that they go to the nearby Schneider Electric distribution branch and buy such products. All this also generates customer loyalty.

How do you see the future?

I think the TTC can strengthen its position as a national reference in Argentina for specific trainings and, consequently, with our experience in sales, be a sound platform for business development and give us opportunities to export.