Super-Charging Your Sales Team’s Performance

How to make a difference by delivering the right training and information – at the right time

Caleb Johnson, Director of Strategic Accounts, Expertus

By Caleb Johnson, Director of Strategic Accounts, Expertus

In today’s tight economy, pressure in the marketplace is stronger than ever and hitting from many directions – turbulent business cycles, fewer buyers, decreased spending power, increased competition and dwindling returns. To succeed, you need a smarter, faster sales team – a team that’s armed with just-in-time knowledge, training and market insight that provides a real competitive edge.

Leveraging the expertise of your top performers has become a business imperative. So how do you deliver the critical information your sales force needs, precisely when it’s needed? It starts with next-generation cloud learning platforms that fit-in seamlessly with your existing infrastructure to integrate high-impact sales training, information access and knowledge sharing, precisely at the moment of need.

Tip #1 – Shift informal learning into high gear

Fact: Today, only 20% of learning is packaged in formal training courses. That means the lion’s share of your team’s expertise is gained through informal learning – for example, reading articles, sharing “war” stories with mentors and peers, sharing online video and audio how-tos, exchanging unstructured email and text messages to seek advice and support, or using Google and other search engines to find market news, competitive information, and other intelligence.

It’s what your salespeople must constantly do “outside of the LMS box” to learn what traditional classroom training can’t teach them. But now, there’s a better way.

A cloud-based dynamic learning platform is a breakthrough, because it’s a more flexible, efficient way to support formal classroom training and e-learning. But more importantly, a dynamic cloud LMS extends your learning environment to incorporate and all the relevant, valuable informal learning content and channels in a single unified, dynamic interface.

Tip #2 – Optimize time-to-competency for new hires

With everything your sales team needs to learn available under one web “roof,” you can speed on-boarding and time-to-proficiency, and reduce the time your salespeople spend in classrooms. And consider this – a portion of most new-hire curricula focuses on topics that simply aren’t necessary for sales professionals to absorb immediately (for example, general corporate information and methodologies).

Imagine how much more quickly new sales employees could be productive if on-boarding focused first on necessary sales skills and information – followed in subsequent weeks and months by non-critical training and information? A dynamic cloud LMS can make it easy to automate custom learning paths for all new sales employees.

Tip #3 – Keep the best sales guidance top-of-mind

Let’s face it – your sales organization’s most valuable knowledge can’t be found in the training department. It’s actually walking around with your team in the field. Smart new sales reps love spending time with experienced colleagues – listening to their stories and advice. This is truly the most valuable training your business can provide. Mentor guidance can shorten your team’s learning curve help avoid costly pitfalls.

Just imagine if this advice was at every fingertips – including sales call planning tips, follow-up strategies, talking points, differentiators and buyer insights? A dynamic cloud LMS provides a centralized, collaborative forum for on-demand learning and interaction. So your sales force can finally get the info and know-how they need, when they need it, in portions that are easy to digest and understand. And in sales, that’s the key to success!

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Conclusion

Are you ready to facilitate and optimize sales knowledge sharing? Make training more useful and valuable? Leverage the collective expertise of your senior team members? And overcome the demands of today’s marketplace? Your best bet is to add a dynamic cloud learning platform to your arsenal. Don’t be surprised if your sales force rewards you with dramatic performance improvement.

Note from Caleb: Are you facing challenges with sales performance? Need advice about how to make a lasting difference for your business? Contact me anytime at calebj@expertus.com.

Or read about our dynamic cloud LMS designed specifically for sales enablement  – ExpertusONE for Sales Teams.

Image Credit: Pixabay

SAP Partner Education Rides The Perfect Storm

How One Learning Organization Turned Adversity on Its Head

By guest blogger Sue Martin, Global Certification Manager, SAP

Sue Martin, Global Certification Manager, SAP

In 2008, our education organization at SAP faced a perfect storm that forced us to rethink the way we did learning. It’s a challenge that others may still be facing.

The economy hit our customers and channel partners hard, so they had smaller budgets to spend on traditional instructor-led training.

In addition, our business changed overnight, as the result of multiple SAP acquisitions. This transformed our channel partner landscape from a few organizations into a vast ecosystem of partners, consultants, and independents, who worked globally selling, implementing and supporting SAP software. Most of our new partners were small companies with limited resources, time and budget for training.

Our partners demanded more collaborative learning and more peer-to-peer interaction so that they could learn from each other and collaborate on global projects.

For our extended enterprise to successfully sell and support more SAP products, we needed an easy and less obtrusive way to access training.

Very early on, we realized that our learning technology would be a key part of overcoming these challenges. We began by implementing a learning environment that:

• Expanded our learning technologies to provide a global environment for social and collaborative learning.
• Developed a user-friendly “Amazon-like” front end that made self-service possible.
• Focused the technology to support virtual and modular learning, which our customers demanded.

The results have been impressive, with a large increase in virtual training consumption and to our surprise; the evaluation scores have actually been higher than traditional classroom courses.

Feedback from customers and partners has been excellent. Global channel partners with complex training and information needs who need training fast can easily find courses, enroll, cancel, and develop blended learning solutions that are tailored to their unique projects and staff.

Our ultimate goal is to enable the ecosystem to empower partners and employees to maximize the value of the customer’s SAP investment. We are pleased with the results so far, and are happy to be heading in a very positive direction.

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Conclusion

As Sue points out, it takes a highly flexible, user-friendly LMS to engage channel partners, and encourage them to consume the training they need to sell your products successfully. It also takes a solid learning strategy. Your competitors know this, but making it happen is a big challenge. Here are more insights from other partner education leaders:

• Case Study: How Autodesk leveraged the power of its massive reseller network with ExpertusONE cloud LMS.
• Think Tank Summary: What learning executives say is essential for successful channel training programs.
• Webinar On-Demand: How to Build a World-Class Partner Certification Program.

To learn more about how our cloud-based LMS can make channel training more accessible and effective for your company, contact us at Expertus info@expertus.com.

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Editorial Note: Do you have a real-world enterprise learning story to share? Contact our editor anytime at info@expertus.com.

Photo credit: Storm in the Sea by Rodolfo Belloli.

Building a Better Certification Program

A Roadmap for Improving Business Partner Loyalty,  Mind Share and Revenue

By Mohana Radhakrishnan, VP Client Services, Expertus

Mohana Radhakrishnan, VP Client Services, Expertus

Do you struggle to keep your partners engaged?
Are you challenged with providing global channel support?
Do you know which resellers are the most productive – and why?

In today’s tough economic landscape, channel partner sales reps face more pressure and obstacles than ever. There’s no doubt that they’re motivated to drive sales. The question is… are they motivated to drive your product or service sales?

Reseller certification programs still provide value to organizations. But, thanks to new technologies, they can easily be reconfigured and re-energized to keep your partners more supported, engaged and productive than ever before!

Consider these 3 ways that enterprise 2.0 learning innovation can engage partners more deeply:

Tip #1 – Add Dynamic Learning Paths

Web 2.0 technologies like dynamic learning paths and role-based course management make governing your partner learning tracks and curriculum much easier for both users and training administrators:

For Users:

• Only see and search relevant learning content via a personalized view.
• Quickly see next steps needed and current certification timeline.
• Save time and learn more with prescriptive content/course assignment.
• Alerted when new product or service details are available.

For Partner Training Administrators:

• No more rebuilding content lists and curriculum definitions.
• Simplifies curriculum content updates; just tag and publish.
• Zero enrollment headaches – certification paths/curricula are automatically assigned.
• Push new content globally and know when it’s received.

Tip #2 – Simplify Partner Reporting and Data Access

Can you see which partners are training, how often and when? Do you know which regions are leveraging your learning programs and assets?

Did you answer “No?” Then it’s time to simplify your reporting process. A next-gen reporting system provides quick and easy access to real-time stats of all your channel training activities:

• View completions and scores on-demand.
• See current status.
• Receive up-to-date channel, regional and individual-level insights.

Tip #3 – Integrate Your Learning and Certification Systems

Are partners frustrated with the time it takes for your certification status updates? Do you struggle with gathering this data? Are your certification programs aligned with your curricula?

There are new, dynamic learning platforms like ExpertusONE that seamlessly integrate all of your learning assets and programs with your partner management systems. This means you actually get real-time data sync and alignment.

To learn more about how a strong channel education strategy and learning technology can work together to drive partner engagement, we invite you to watch a special “on-demand” webcast, EMC’s head of partner productivity: “How to Build a World-Class Partner Certification Program.”

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Conclusion

With real-time, end-to-end synchronization, all of your systems are automatically updated, as needed. In other words, the most recent data is available simultaneously, across your entire program network, when a partner completes a new certification level, when you modify training program content, or when other changes occur.

This frees you to focus on building partner relationships, rather than focusing on verifying information that supports those relationships.

Note from Mohana: Would you like to discuss how your organization can apply any of these partner certification tips? I’m happy to help. Please contact me at mohanar@expertus.com.

Bridge the Channel Partner Gap with Cloud Learning

How to align, empower and reenergize your global partners with dynamic cloud learning

By John Schneble, Product Director, Technology Solutions, Expertus

John Schneble, Product Director, Technology Solutions, Expertus

In today’s fluid, tight-margin marketplace, companies are relying more heavily on their channel partner networks to sell more at lower cost. The problem is – these partners are often both physically and functionally disconnected from the companies they serve.

So how do you:

• Create stronger ties with your channel partners?
• Arm them with better, more comprehensive product, sales and marketing content?
• Add tangible value and improve their ability to generate revenue from your products?

Many top enterprise organizations are turning to dynamic cloud-based LMS platforms as an efficient, effective foundation. Here are some reasons why:

#1 – Forge stronger connections by aligning formal, informal and social learning

This new breed of learning platform integrates formal and informal learning with social learning tools, all in a unified enterprise-class web portal. This links business partners, employees and customers with each other and with key information and training resources – for better real-time collaboration and a lasting competitive advantage.

#2 – Create a virtual learning ecosystem for richer, more robust product knowledge

A cloud-based dynamic LMS can give your entire channel audience instant access to the business-critical info they need to grow sales:

• On-demand courses and webinars
• Product research materials, such as data sheets, marketing collateral, positioning statements, pricing structures, merchandising descriptions and more
• Live digital feedback, support and guidance (via chat discussions, expert networks and community-of-practice forums)

These “virtual learning ecosystems” also enable you to leverage your partners’ collective knowledge and experience. And with integrated analytics, you can better monitor individual and aggregate partner engagement and performance – for better-informed business decisions.

#3 – Strengthen relationships and loyalty with more responsive channel support

Cloud-based architecture makes it easy to tailor and scale programs with changing needs. Furthermore, with   anytime/anywhere web portal access, your channel partners are more likely to use your learning resources. This  improves their potential for business success – and along with it, their satisfaction with selling your products.

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Conclusion

Ultimately, implementing partner programs with a dynamic cloud learning platform:

• Enhances communication with your channel
• Strengthens working relationships
• Provides ongoing, actionable insight into channel performance
• Creates potential for increased channel revenue streams – at lower cost to you organization.

Note from John: World-class companies such as Autodesk and EMC are seeing business impact from channel programs built on the ExpertusONE dynamic learning platform. To learn more about those solutions, visit the ExpertusONE for Partner Channels area of our website. Or contact me anytime at johns@expertus.com.

Connecting Employees with User-Generated Content

How Zions Bancorporation’s Learning Strategy Eliminates Knowledge Silos

By guest blogger Brent Godfrey, Chief Learning Officer, Zions Bancorporation

Brent Godfrey, Chief Learning Officer, Zions Bancorporation

What do you get when you combine eight different banks, numerous departments, hundreds of products and 12,000 learners?  You get SILOS! And they once were an expected occurrence at Zions Bancorporation.

Our business strategy is for Zions’ local banks to remain local and relatively autonomous in name and in spirit. So, we don’t rebrand them with a common name and we don’t force centralization. This is a great thing for continuity of customer service, but it can be a challenge internally to navigate our company and cross-sell – or to simply to find out who does what.

This is why our learning organization developed a solution that engages employees from across functional areas and business units, and helps them share useful operations information with others in the corporation.

It is a user-generated content program that we call i-connect. Employees are encouraged to create and post a short video narrated by their department head, along with a slide presentation that explains in a snapshot how their department fits into our company. Each i-connect submission is a quick hit – only a few minutes long. It contains:

• A video (60 seconds or less) introducing the department;
• A few slides about the services they provide, how they can help meet the goals of others, what kind of help they need from others in the organization, and how they can be contacted.

Online access to i-connect content makes it really fast and easy for employees across Zions to understand what other departments do, and how they can help each other operate more efficiently and effectively.

Within only a few months, this program has become a major success. We received many more submissions than we expected, the cost has been next to nothing, and our people love it. It’s too early to tell how much i-connect will increase sales, but we noticed right away that our silos are finally breaking down.

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Conclusion

As Brent’s organization is proving, it pays to involve your workforce in enterprise knowledge sharing initiatives. But even the best learning content is useless if it isn’t easy to find and use. That’s why many companies are turning to next-generation learning platforms that support continuous learning in all of its modes – formal, informal, collaboorative and social.

As Josh Bersin, and other enterprise learning experts say, “Your LMS matters more now, than ever.” For more information about how Bersin’s organization views the connection between continuous learning and platforms like the ExpertusONE dynamic cloud LMS, download the research bulletin “ExpertusONE and the Dawn of the Continuous Learning Management System.”

Or to learn more specifically how your company can make learning content more accessible and actionable for your workforce, contact us at Expertus info@expertus.com.

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Editorial Note: Do you have a real-world enterprise learning story to share? Contact our editor anytime at info@expertus.com.

Photo credit: Country Skyscrapers by Charles Thompson

Autodesk Builds Reseller Performance Through Learning

13 Regions, 10 Languages, ONE Global Learning Solution

By guest blogger Paul Mailhot, Sr. Director WW Sales & Services Training, Autodesk

Paul Mailhot, Sr. Director WW Sales & Services Training, Autodesk

As a global leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software, Autodesk is a pioneer in the software industry – especially when it comes to connecting our network of partners to sell Autodesk products. We have 3,000+ distributors and resellers on every continent and in almost every country in the world. And they account for over 90% of our software sales!

Autodesk revenues and profits depend on our resellers’ collective product knowledge and sales skills, so it’s crucial that partner learning is current and consistent. That’s why we sought a smarter, global approach to educating our partners − many of whom are dedicated exclusively to selling Autodesk products. Our search led us to Expertus and their dynamic cloud-based learning platform called ExpertusONE.

Our teams worked together to create a single, engaging user experience for all of our worldwide channel partners that automatically adapts to their own language, product-focus, region and industry.

With this one global partner solution, we now:

• Support partners in Europe, Asia and Africa with the same content, at the same time, in 10 localized languages;
• Integrate training through four unrelated enterprise systems into one centralized learning environment;
• Provide 24/7, on-demand, worldwide access to virtual training and eLearning, regardless of bandwidth constraints;
• Enable resellers to share opinions and collaborate with other channel partners through social learning tools.

For the first time, we globally share business-critical product info, personalized training plans and content on one learning platform. And because our global reseller community has total access to our latest learning content and forums, they know our products better and are selling more software to more customers.

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Conclusion

As Paul indicates, reseller education requirements can be very complex. Successful channel training requires a highly flexible, adaptive learning infrastructure to support fluid global business realities. Here are additional insights for those who manage partner learning programs:

• Full Case Study: Autodesk Empowers Worldwide Business Partners.
• Think Tank Highlights: Learning executives discuss what’s essential for successful channel training programs.
• Webinar On-Demand: How to Build a World-Class Partner Certification Program.

To learn more about how our cloud-based LMS can make channel training more accessible and effective for your company, contact us at Expertus info@expertus.com.

Note from Expertus: Want to rally your channel productivity and effectiveness with one global learning platform? Learn how ExpertusONE for Channel Learning can help you reap a larger return.

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Editorial Note: Do you have a real-world enterprise learning story to share? Contact our editor anytime at info@expertus.com.

Photo credit: Autodesk wireframe courtesy Princeton University