Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
When you send employees to NHPA for training, you can rest assured they are getting reliable and current information. To ensure what students are learning reflects what’s happening in the industry, NHPA recently finished updating its popular Basic Training in Building Materials Retailing series of courses. The updates are part of the association’s ongoing schedule of reviewing its online courses.
NHPA worked with retailers and wholesalers to review the course material and make recommendations for updates that reflect category changes impacting most home improvement retailers, such as new product developments. Updated courses include Lumber, Engineered Wood, Millwork, Siding and Roofing, Interior Surfaces, Insulation, Windows and Doors and Cabinets.
In 2025, NHPA will be reviewing and updating the Basic Training in Hardware Retailing series of courses. Updates will be available mid-year.
NHPA’s building materials course is one of the association’s oldest training programs. It began as the Building Materials Product Knowledge course in a paper binder. In the early 2000s, the association reworked the course, brought it online and renamed it the Basic Training Course in Building Materials Retailing. It was redesigned to its current form in 2015. The courses today include information about product features and benefits, suggested add-on sales, customers’ frequently asked questions and knowledge checks to reinforce the learning, all in an interactive format.
Thousands of retail employees have used the courses to gain a foundational understanding of the building materials products they sell. The courses are designed not only for product knowledge, but also to encourage sales techniques, such as suggestive selling.
Retailers who are NHPA Premier Members can access the updated Building Materials in Hardware Retailing courses on NHPA’s training site. Retailers who access NHPA’s training through their wholesaler or co-op, or who license NHPA’s courses, also have access to the updated content. To learn more about becoming a NHPA Premier Member, visit YourNHPA.org/membership.
