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Letter from the Editor
Dear Readers,
As we approach the end of 2005, many businesses are reviewing their progress towards their yearly goals. Cost centers are examining their budgets and figuring out how they’re going to accomplish the things they want with the budget they have left.
As trainers, it is important that we review progress towards our goals. Some of our goals may be internally focused – increasing staff or adding training courses to our portfolio of offerings. However, our IMPORTANT goals should relate to the company’s goals. How has our department (or how have I) helped increase sales, reduce errors, increase efficiency, reduce turnover, increase profits, increase productivity, increase customer satisfaction ratings, reduce complaints, reduce call escalations, increase the number of retained customers, shorten time to sales, increase adherence to safety or legal policies (reducing legal entanglements), increase quality, increase accuracy, …???
If you’re not directly and immediately impacting business results, reassess exactly what you ARE contributing to the organization. Training is viewed – in good times and in bad – as either an asset or a drain on corporate resources. How are YOU viewed?
Terry
Customer Service Experience – The Vote is In
 Wow! Few articles generate the passion that Michelle’s did last month (okay, maybe I poked the hornet’s nest with my editorial). As you recall, Michelle talked about her customer experience at a grocery store where she was asked by the clerk if she wanted to buy the featured product that was sitting on the checkout counter. As a result of the pitch in the checkout line, many customers were confused, which resulted in longer lines and frustration – and in Michelle meeting with the store’s manager.
A number of you wrote in to agree with Michelle. A typical response comes from
Uma:
Thanks for that customer service story. It hit the spot. I am an HR [representative] for a retail organisation in India and this was exactly what we were trying to tell our merchandisers. Your site is the best in training and I value the inputs provided.
(I unabashedly admit, I selected Uma’s response not only because hers represented the sentiment of others we received, because of her obvious high standards when it comes to training providers!)
However, we also heard “the other side” of the story. Excerpts of one person’s response include:
What seems on the surface to be a simple customer transaction that didn’t go well is actually symptomatic of a much bigger issue facing the consumer product goods industry. Hundreds of new items are introduced every year, 90% of which fail. That means all the time, money, resources (people, machinery, raw goods, packaging, marketing, selling, stocking, etc., etc.) are wasted because either the product idea didn’t hit a chord with the consumer or because the consumer never knew the product existed.
And while Michelle knows what she wants prior to going to the store, more items are bought on impulse than from a list. It’s the store’s way of increasing its sales and margin.
The store probably could have done a better job of how the promotion was handled. Perhaps the cashiers weren’t properly trained on how to effectively and efficiently offer the free products which lead to the confusion at the check-out. However, to me, it’s a matter of preference. There are people who will like some products and promotional efforts, and some who won’t. To harangue about the lack of customer service or think the people who put this promotion together are bone-heads, is just not seeing the entire picture.
I don’t have this person’s background in Consumer Product Goods and sincerely appreciate an insider’s perspective.
And I understand that manufacturers are vying for shelf space and consumer mindshare. What I disagree with – and find offensive – is the tactic. This wasn’t a “freebie” – something that everyone got. If it was, I wouldn’t have an issue since it would be up to each customer to do with the gift what they wanted and there would be no wasted time and no additional explanation required. No, you were asked it you wanted to buy the energy bar (sure, you’d get 10 free if you bought one, but that’s not really the point).
Speaking strictly as a consumer, I feel for the manufacturers, but if 90% of products fail, they fail. I don’t want to be confronted at the checkout line with some product that no one will buy at a regular price. When I check out, I want to check out. (And when I get into the checkout line, I don’t expect people in front of me to still continue “shopping!”)
And while Michelle’s point about the article WAS about customer service, my point in the editorial WASN’T about promotions or checkouts (REALLY!). It’s that we – like the manager of the store – make decisions all the time that either positively or negatively impact the customer experience. And most of the time we never know what the impact is. It’s critical that we test our decisions and check with the customer on the impact of those decisions. If we don’t actively seek customer input and feedback, most customers – of course not Michelle! – will vote with their feet.
After all is said and done, I still find the tactic (not the people) incredulously bone-headed! I know, because I’ve made a few like this and can speak as somewhat of an expert!!
Updating Your Training for the New Year
 In the spirit of winding down 2005 and the fast approaching New Year, many of us are gearing up to review and update our existing training materials. As developers, we know this can be quite a challenge! Our training materials need to convey what students need to know, align with company goals, and be interesting and exciting all at once! As you go through your materials review, use the following tips and checklist to help keep you on track.
Generate Instructional Strategies
- Sequence training based on some logical structure such as:
- Proceeding from what students know to what they do not know.
- Proceeding from concrete experiences to abstract reasoning.
- The logical or historical development of a subject.
- Important themes or concepts.
- Starting from unusual, novel or complex situations and working backwards towards understanding.
- Use the ARCS model as a framework for incorporating motivational techniques throughout a lesson.
- Attention: Capture learners’ interest and stimulate an attitude of inquiry. For example: ask questions; use emotional or personal information; create a mental challenge; use human interest examples.
- Relevance: Make the instruction relevant to the learners’ needs and goals. Match the instruction to the learning styles and personal interests of the learners. Tie in the instruction to the learners’ experience and help them to see the relevance.
- Confidence: Set the stage for learner’s positive expectation of success. Make sure that the learning experience helps learners to display competence and success as a result of their efforts and abilities. It should be an achievable rather than an overwhelming learning experience.
- Satisfaction: Encourage and support their intrinsic enjoyment of the learning experience, as well as providing extrinsic rewarding consequences for their successes. Also build a perception of fair treatment. Reinforce the learning by providing useful and fair feedback.
- I create a storyboard of the major topics using post-it notes. This helps me visualize the whole course and I can move them around easily until the flow is the way I want it. Then I do the same thing for each major topic i.e., the sub-topics to support that topic. At the end I have the whole course laid out in the flow I want it and can ‘see’ it. Then I put it on paper. (George Cann, Oxford Health Plans)
- Be aware of ‘what’s in it for me’ – what is a student going to get out of the course, not just what do I want to tell them. (Nicole Davis, Nielsen Media Research)
- Pull in structure, exercises, or ideas from other trainings you have developed and then apply them to the new training. (Donna
Iacopucci, Independent)
- Look for excellent examples that may relate to what you are doing in a parallel field (for example, if you are the ABC product instructional designer, look to the XYZ product curriculum for ideas, etc.) (Lynne Hayden,
Salescape)
- Create games. Use formats that you’re familiar with: Jeopardy and Bingo are great for information recall; Family Feud is great for opinions or ranking information (e.g., “What are the top four reasons employees leave the job?”); board games like Chutes and Ladders are good templates for following process and for decision-making.
This material comes from Entelechy’s Practical Design and Development Tips eGuide. To learn more about this guide check out:
http://unlockit.com/eGuide-HPT-PDD-EG.htm. For more information about other Entelechy eGuides, check out:
http://unlockit.com/eGuide-Intro.htm.
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