A VIEW OF THE FUTURE 

Dr Michael A Kearsley

My own research with professional firms suggested that personal skills training was often neglected or even ignored. The average was less than two days a year, with many senior people receiving little or no training for long periods. The main reasons were those of time and cost.

To overcome these difficulties, many firms have been attracted to the concept of distance learning where trainees undertake their studies in their own homes or offices and at their own times. The first attraction is that staff are not absent from the workplace for a prolonged period of time. Additional to the loss of fees that this may entail, is the additional cost of travel and accommodation. Where external courses are essential, the training organisations have found themselves increasingly pressured by firms to reduce the length of training courses.

Unfortunately, this pressure has not pleased the training organisations (who often feel a decline in quality and commitment) – nor has it pleased the participants (who feel that they are being given a cheap option).

One of the difficulties with training courses, especially those that might run over a prolonged period of time, is their variability. It is difficult to maintain consistency when numbers of tutors may be involved, each using their own materials.

There is a further difficulty that only limited numbers of participants can be accommodated comfortably. Participants are also required to learn in a group interactive setting. Professionals, however, are often independent workers and many do not like group centered, prescriptive training courses; particularly where role playing and group presentation may be involved. Furthermore, many professionals are sceptical of personal development training and therefore avoid it.

Technical training, however, has often been seen in a different light. It is seen as practical, indeed essential, largely unchanging, and directly applicable. Nevertheless, as well as formal courses and on the job instructions, much technical training is also conducted via distance learning through a comprehensive system of manuals and texts.

Computer Based Training

Over time, there have been many efforts to move distance learning into the electronic age. The earliest attempts were via computer disks and later through CDs. This approach is best described as “computer based training”. It was good in so far as there was a consistency of message and of presentation, and hundreds if not thousands of participants could study in their own time and at their own pace. There were, however, a number of downsides.

The first was that not everyone had access to a personal computer. These were often expensive, bulky and slow. Early disks held a limited amount of information and could be easily damaged. The material was often simple text with limited diagrams, no graphics and no colour. Training courses were often programmed in such a way that it was impossible to move freely in them. The participants had to follow the flow of the course and could find themselves literally stopped at certain points because they had failed to provide exactly the right answer. With this method, there was no check on learning, no check on attitude to learning, no control of cheating and no relief from the boredom factor. Worse than this, the material was so difficult and expensive to prepare that it frequently went out of date or was lacking in up to the minute case studies and examples. The training was often limited, therefore, to lower level, repetitive tasks.

Essentially, what was missing, was the tutor who added their knowledge, expertise and enthusiasm to the training materials.

Today, computer based training can incorporate pictures, videos, and full colour interactive material. PCs are cheaper to purchase and provide a very fast and powerful tool. But the medium of the CD means that the participant is still limited to the content of the disk. There are, however, massive changes underway – it is the subject of this paper – the predicted revolution known as

Web Based Training

Web Based Training This concept is still very much in its infancy but it may come to revolutionise the entire training industry – not just for personal skills but for all aspects of learning and development.

My personal area of interest is in business development and so a case study from that area might be appropriate. The case study is WinWin Selling – a web based sales training offering created by Pat Weymes, an internationally recognised sales trainer and author based in Dublin. The package is currently being evaluated by a major commercial organisation. The basic approach is that participants conduct their training online through their own Internet connection. After registering, the participant is addressed personally and all messages and communications are transmitted through the personal email system.

The participant is provided with high quality, highly interactive material, which requires the submitting of exercises and comments. Each participant group will have a facilitator or tutor who is online. After submitting exercises, there is an automatic process of return but also the opportunity for the facilitator to add comments and suggest alternative approaches. The participant can contact the facilitator at any time during the program. Responses will often be in minutes.

Materials for the course can be modified and changed very quickly. Case studies and examples can be taken from the participants’ own work area. Areas of learning which are not relevant to the participants can be omitted whereas areas, which are particularly relevant, can be included. The entire program can thus be personalised to the group. There is little limitation on the numbers of people within a group and, unlike the classroom situation; every participant can have their questions or concerns answered personally.

The material is not only up to date it is also colourful and attractive and because the participant has the whole course online at any moment, they are able to move to any areas they wish. The facilitator can monitor the areas the student is accessing and determine whether there have been periods of inactivity. The speed of modern computer and modem systems is such that the programs run quickly, almost seamlessly.

Contributions from participants and from any others can be stored in a library and easily accessed. For example, a participant may have submitted their ideas with regard to the format and content of a successful proposal; they may then compare this with the contribution of all others who have ever taken the program.

Built into the program is the idea of the coffee room. This is a forum where participants may chat together asking questions, seeking clarification or simply presenting their views and approaches. An organisation may set up the coffee room so that past participants can contribute and potentially, others from management.

Currently the program provides details of further areas of research, which participants might like to access. A participant may be presented with the work of say Mehrabian, in the area of Influencing Skills, and be linked automatically to the Mehrabian website where complete descriptions and texts can be found..

Although currently the program does not provide sound or video, one can see that these will quickly become standard. This would allow participants to see and hear actual presentations, and perhaps observe colleagues in simulated client discussions (or even real client meetings).

The PC based camera is already available and people have been having telephone conversations through the Internet for some considerable time. In short, all the technology is here to make web based training a truly interactive experience. Better still, the online tutor or facilitator brings the final element from the classroom situation.

Even more importantly, the individual contribution and performance of every participant can be monitored. Participants must take part and must contribute in order to move through the program – they cannot remain passive and idle as may be the case with classroom training. They cannot rely on other people to dominate the conversation, thus letting them off the hook. They cannot wait for others to make contributions and then simply agree with has been proposed.

Individuals are tested and evaluated at various stages throughout the program and in the case of WinWin Selling, they are required to take a final test of all the material that has been covered. This requires opinion and thought. There is no pass or fail – rather, the tutor may suggest that they review certain sections again before resubmitting the exercise. There is no reason why these final exercises could not be linked to real issues or some real research, which would be of benefit to the organisation.

In short, the process can become as exciting and meaningful as the organisation wants it to be.

The Way Ahead

Having come this far, you might like to consider what else could possibly be developed. Without a doubt, new technology will mean even quicker response and faster links. The numbers and sophistication of these links grows enormously each day. Links to sites throughout the world, with full sound and colour, will become increasingly commonplace. Materials, once created, can be archived for all time. For example, one could have access to all presentations, role-plays, activities, tests and training records to the individual for entire groups throughout extended time.

Camera systems will link us immediately with whomever we wish. As monitor sizes improve, it will be possible to have very large split screen, multiple image monitors. Voice recognition systems will ensure that participants control all programs simply through voice commands. My present word processing package suggests that some things may be ungrammatical or may be misspelled. A step beyond this is for the system to suggest (probably verbally) that our writing style sounds rather negative or that certain phrases could be reinterpreted in a different way.

A final exciting step is when all PCs have access online to all archived public material – all libraries, all films and television programs and so on.

Final Thoughts

If the picture I am presenting comes into being; it will raise many interesting questions – What will happen to all the management development colleges? What will happen to all of the stand up trainers? What effect will it have on business travel and business accommodation? Will people still buy training books? What even of schools and universities and their teachers and lecturers?

The truth is, I don’t know. My purpose in writing this article was to present to you a trend which I see developing. I have presented one case study – you may find others. I would be interested if you do – as a long time antagonist of computer based training, I have found myself stimulated and excited by the prospect of Web based training. Are you?

About WinWin Selling

WinWin Selling® was set up in 1998 to provide quality sales training through the Internet. WWS rapidly achieved a world-wide reputation for delivering the highest standards of mentored online sales and customer care training.

We are a global team of professionals dedicated to providing the highest standards of mentored online learning to our international clients. We pride ourselves on being the first e-learning company to bring personalised coaching from subject matter experts to students across the globe.

We are currently building new courses to cope with the ever-increasing demand for our own special brand of soft skills learning through the Internet.

www.winwinselling.com

A Colonel issued the following instructions to the Executive Officer:

Tomorrow evening at approximately 2000 hours Halley’s Comet will be visible in this area, an event which occurs only once every 76 years.  Have the men to fall out in the battalion areas in fatigues, and I will explain this rare phenomenon to them.  In case of rain, we will not be able to see anything so assemble the men in the theatre and I will show films of it.

Executive Officer to the Company Commander:

By order of the Colonel, tomorrow at 2000 hours, Halley’s Comet will appear above the battalion area. If it rains, fall the men out in fatigues: then march to the theatre where this rare phenomenon will take place, something which occurs once every 76 years. 

Company Commander to Lieutenant:

By order of the Colonel in Fatigues at 2000 hours tomorrow evening, The Phenomenal Halley’s Comet will appear in the theatre. In case of rain in the battalion area, the Colonel will give another order, something which occurs only once every 76 years. 

Lieutenant to Sergeant:

Tomorrow at 2000 hours, the Colonel will appear in the theatre with Halley’s Comet, something which occurs only once every 76 years.  If it rains the Colonel will order the comet into the battalion area.

Sergeant To Squad:

When it rains tomorrow at 2000 hours the phenomenal 76-year-old General Hally, accompanied by the Colonel, will drive his Comet through the battalion area in his fatigues! 

Contact us at www.winwinselling.com

WinWin Selling® was set up in 1998 to provide quality sales training through the Internet. WWS rapidly achieved a world-wide reputation for delivering the highest standards of mentored online sales and customer care training.

Both parties must benefit from the transaction, your company and the customer. Think act and communicate on the basis of WinWin.

Be enthusiastic
  

Enthusiasm transforms being into living and is the magic spark, which gets people’s support without your ever having to ask for it.

Be positively different
  

Your company competes in competitive markets and this gives us many opportunities to be different. So often the order goes to the salesperson who goes that extra bit further. It can often be as simple as:

·         Spelling the customer’s name right

·         Showing genuine interest in his or her needs

·         Giving a little extra.

To put it in a nutshell: give customers a little more than they pay for.

Be stimulating to talk to
    

Customers only buy from salespeople when they are motivated to do so. Salespeople who recognise the importance of phrasing their discussion in the buyer’s interest and responding in a cheerful, positive manner will succeed where many others will fail.

Show you really care

The ability to communicate a genuine “I care” attitude will never be forgotten by customers – provided they see it as sincere and not an underhanded sales technique. 

Demonstrate integrity

More than any other quality, the one most appreciated by customers is integrity. If your solution will not satisfy the buyer’s need – don’t sell it. If you do, you won’t get the chance to repeat the experience.

Be an achiever

Develop a sincere desire for the things you want out of life, set your goals for today, tomorrow and the future. If you are ever lacking in enthusiasm or drive, have a look at your goals – therein lies the solution. In selling terms this means planning your work and working your plan.

Have plenty of deals operating at once

Too many salespeople depend too much on the big kill, only to be sorely disappointed when it fails to materialise. Separate the “suspects” from the “prospects” and meet as many new buyers as possible. 

Use your imagination

The most influential element of success or failure is what you tell yourself. If you think you are beaten, you are. You will never succeed if you are constantly saying to yourself, “I’ll try” or “I can’t”. Train your imagination to constantly think in terms of “I will” and “I can”.

Don’t be afraid to fail

If you are afraid to fail then inevitably you will avoid success. Every failure is a learning experience and an opportunity to capitalise on your mistakes – by not repeating them.

_________

Contact Us at www.winwinselling.com

WinWin Selling® was set up in 1998 to provide quality sales training through the Internet. WWS rapidly achieved a world-wide reputation for delivering the highest standards of mentored online sales and customer care training.

A Powerful New Approach For Increasing Sales From Your Team.

Customers are suspicious of salesmen. The image of the oily bloke using well-worn but effective techniques to part the public from their cash for something they didn’t want is as old as the second-hand car industry.

The telephone call in the middle of your favourite programme, the anxious young man doing a survey that needs one more participant and the mound of junk mail on your hall floor or your email after a holiday are irritants which give selling a bad name.

But, according to Pat Weymes, it shouldn’t be this way. He maintains that the “tired old techniques of manipulation and forced selling” are redundant.

Weymes’s central philosophy is based on establishing a “mutually beneficial” relationship between the seller and the buyer. How to get there is what the book is all about.

Step number one is building a content but motivated sales force and this often involves changing the attitude of management as well as the workforce. Problems should not be allowed to fester but should be dealt with fairly and without prejudice. Clear goals and realistic targets should be set.

Step two is recruiting and hanging on to your top sellers once you have established the new environment. This also boils down to being fair from the outset: don’t promise what you can’t deliver and institute periodic reviews of your work as well as that of your staff.

Step three is dealing with the customer, the whole object of the exercise. Weymes advises companies to investigate why customers stopped buying and stresses the need for everybody in the organisation to understand the concept of customer care.

Weymes writes enthusiastically about his chosen field and the book is laid out in an easy-to-read- format, And it does exactly what it says on the cover.

- Conn O’ Midheach. Irish Times. comidheach@irish-times.ie

Contact Us at www.winwinselling.com

WinWin Selling® was set up in 1998 to provide quality sales training through the Internet. WWS rapidly achieved a world-wide reputation for delivering the highest standards of mentored online sales and customer care training.

• Structure and content of the programme – the program is structured to cover the key aspects of selling in a simple and non-threatening way. It focuses on sales behaviors, how to create a “win-win” situation with customers. The content includes segments on negotiations, presenting, communicating with customers and many other key selling behaviors. I’m sure Pat Weymes would be more than happy to take you through the program and illustrate how it works. The professionals who work on WinWin Selling complete the individual program segments and receive tutorial help from live tutors so they are able to ask questions along the way and get help in completing their assignment.
• Unique approach – I think the most unique aspect of the program is that there is a live tutor “behind” the program. Students never seem to feel that they are interacting with a machine! We do so much online training in IBM and most of the time people are interacting with a machine which is not so effective. The comments from our sellers after they complete the course has been highly complimentary about this aspect of the course.
• Marketing positioning – we use it for our new employees in Software Group and for employees who are new to sales – for example, some of our people have moved from technical sales to sales and they appreciate the human approach to selling skills that WinWin offers.
• Measurable tools – There are assignments to be completed throughout the program and the students receive help on those assignments and counseling about ways to improve.

Contact Us at www.winwinselling.com

WinWin Selling® was set up in 1998 to provide quality sales training through the Internet. WWS rapidly achieved a world-wide reputation for delivering the highest standards of mentored online sales and customer care training.