Socrategy Archives

October 21, 2015July 25, 2017

The Account Team Multi-Level Mentoring Approach

Business-to-business sales of high tech products are often based upon establishing a long-term relationship and a consultative selling approach. An account team from the vendor company is often assigned to the purchasing company. The account team is responsible for knowing the vendor’s products and the customer’s needs then matching the customer’s needs to the vendor’s products. The account team also provides feedback to the vendor’s product manager. This feedback includes how and if the products are meeting the customer’s current and future needs. A continuous flow of information is needed to address customer’s changing needs and development of enhancements and new products.

This process incorporates factual information and analytical skills. Factual information includes product descriptions, uses, specifications, diagrams, features and benefits. This information is often provided using resources such as web-based training, sales literature and job aids. Analytical skills are needed to analyze the customer’s needs and match them to the vendor’s products. These analytical skills are often reviewed in meetings such as internal sales and customer user groups. Internal sales meetings allow product managers to present how enhanced and new products meet the customers’ needs. Customer user groups provide the opportunity for customers to provide the vendor product feedback and explain long-term needs. The vendor presents enhancement, new products, and status of ongoing product development. While this process has proven to be useful, it also has disadvantages such as:

Accountability – How do you ensure that the online training, webinars and job aids are meeting the needs of the account teams and customers?
Mastery Level of Product Knowledge – How do you ensure the account teams have the appropriate level of product knowledge and analytical skills required to match customer’s needs to vendor’s products?
Frequency and Costs of Meetings – Live meetings are expensive to run, complicated to schedule, and require extensive planning and travel. Due to the high costs and time commitments, it is questionable if they can provide timely information to meet the needs of the vendor and customer?

These potential disadvantages can be addressed by combining the currently available web-based tools and resources presented below.

Online Training & Job Aids can be used to present factual product information. Content is developed in a format so it can be used as both training and job aids. This includes links to sales support resources, such as sales presentations, handouts, pricing guides, policies and procedures. Customer access to such areas can be blocked. For example, the account team can have to access to a competitive analysis section, while it is blocked for customers.

Online Assessments can be used to demonstrate product knowledge mastery by the account team. This information can help to determine if the account team knows the products they are selling. Assessments can also be used by customers to earn product certifications.

Forums can be used to provide community or social learning. Members can post articles for review and post questions. Access to areas of the forum can be limited to customer and vendor.

Live Web Meetings can be used to provide in-depth discussions of customer needs and product solutions. Meetings can be conducted between the product manager and account teams. Account teams conduct the meetings with their customer. Product managers or other Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) can be invited to these live meeting, as needed.

The Account Team Multi-Level Mentoring Model

A blend of web-based tools and services, such as online training and job aids, provide factual product information. Forums and short, but frequent web meetings are used to analyze customer’s needs and recommend product solutions. The product manager serves as a mentor to the account team. The account team serves as a mentor to the customers. This evolves the account team approach to an “Account Team Multi-Level Mentoring” model.

Vendor to Account Team with Product Information

Using online training and job aids product managers ensure the account teams have the needed factual product information at their fingertips. Account team members take online assessments to demonstrate mastery of the factual information.
Using web meetings and forums the product manager reviews feedback to learn how their product is meeting customers’ needs. This can include how the product fits into the product line, why it is being offered, case studies and questions and answers.Account teams may have to meet with multiple product managers
Customer to Account Team to Customer to Identify Needs

Using live meetings web meetings and forums, the account team meets with the customer to identify their current and future needs. The account team may have to meet with multiple customer groups such as end users, technical support and purchasing.
Account Team to Customer with Solutions

Using live meetings, web meetings, and forums the account team presents solutions to the customer. Online training and job aids, modified for customer use, are provided to the customer. These steps are repeated, as needed.
Sales Team Feedback to Product Manager

Using live meetings, web meetings and forums, the account team provides the product manager feedback related to customer sales, objections, requested enhancements and new products.

Continuous Sales Process

Account team and customers continuously meet to discuss current and future needs and requests for enhancements and new products. Account team and product managers continuously meet to discuss ongoing customer needs, overcoming sales objections, product enhancements and new products.
The advantages of this multi-level mentoring include:

Account teams and customers have easy access to the most current product information
Mentoring meetings can be conducted as needed – no need to wait for forma sales or user meetings
Mentoring meetings can be scheduled at times and duration to meet participants’ scheduling constraints
Subject Matter Experts can be included in mentoring meetings as needed
Product managers get constant feedback on customers’ usage and needs
Meeting costs are reduced
Account team is more responsive to the customer and can provider better customer service, which leads to increased sales

For additional information, please visit www.socrategy.com

September 29, 2015July 25, 2017

Mentoring with Online Training – An Evolutionary Step

Businesses weigh the effectiveness of training against costs. Mastery of training is often measured in terms of the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. This taxonomy defines the levels of learning as remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating and creating. The costs associated with corporate training include the development and delivery of training, as well as time off the job.

Instructor-led training is often seen as the best approach to training to meet all the levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Instructor-led training is also the most expensive to deliver, and requires the most amount of time off the job. As companies cut training budgets the use of instructor-led courses usually decline.

Computer based and online training are solutions based upon the principles of program instruction. Content is presented and then every several screens a question is asked and a correct answer is required before the participant can continue. Assessments are provided to show mastery of learning objectives. As the training is delivered on a computer, the delivery and time off the job costs are reduced. Properly developed computer based and online training courses not only reduce costs, but also provide the participant with the ability to master the higher levels Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Community or social learning interactive websites allow members to post articles for review and seek answers to questions. Companies can provide develop interactive websites where a Subject Matter Experts (SME) monitors and answers questions for employees and customers. While these sites allow the ability to address the higher levels on Bloom’s Taxonomy, the informal structure of content and ad hoc learning process provides limited structure, quality control, and accountability.

Webinars allow SME to conduct live online meeting during which in-depth information is dispensed. The SME do not necessarily know the participants or levels of their skills and knowledge. A typical webinar sequence includes an introduction, review of basic information, presentation of new ideas, question and answer session. Webinars are often presented on a limited schedule and for a limited length of time. The session may be recoded and posted online for those that could not attend. A webinar’s ability to consistently increase the levels of learning on the Bloom Taxonomy is questionable. While costs are reduced so is accountability.

Using a combined approach including online training, community or social learning and webinars can provide participants’ with training that is effective as instructor-led training with the reduced delivery costs and time off the job savings. We called this combined approach

STRUCTURED INSTRUCTOR MENTORED BLENDED LEARNING (S.I.M.B.L.)™

Factual information to be mastered at the remembering, understanding, and occasionally applying levels, are covered using online learning. Participants’ mastery is demonstrated using online assessments.

Forums are used for continuing mastery at the applying level and initial levels of analyzing, evaluating and creating.

Live webinars are used to continue the growth process. Assessment results and forum posts are provided to the webinar host. This helps to establish the skills and knowledge level of the participants’ allowing the host to address the high levels of learning. This allows the webinar SME to address the specific needs of participants’ at the higher Bloom’s Taxonomy levels of applying, analyzing, evaluating and creating

As this process is not tied to time off the job and classroom availability, the pacing and scheduling allows for flexibility. The instructor becomes a mentor. The length of the program is determined upon the participants’ needs. A sample program schedule is presented below.

At the beginning of the course, the mentor conducts a live webinar – 5 to 15 minutes
Each week, participants are assigned – 45 to 90 minutes:
- Self-directed learning lesson(s)
- Exercises, which are completed individually and then reviewed using social forums
- End of lesson individual and group exercises, which are reviewed by the mentor
At the end of the week, the mentor conducts a live webinar to review the case studies and answer participants’ questions – 30 to 60 minutes

This process is repeated during the mentoring program. Participants are provided extended support to implement what they have learned in training onto their job. During this process, the role of instructor expands to include mentoring.

Advantages of this methodology include:

Limits time off the job
Balances work and learning time
Longer time to incorporate what is learned on the job
Incorporates real-world experience
Provides high level of learning on Bloom’s Taxonomy

The measurement of success for these programs is based upon the participants’ job performance.
For additional information, please visit www.socrategy.com
Socrategy, Inc. © 2015

July 31, 2015July 25, 2017

How Long Does It Take to Get a New Manager Up To Speed?

Every newly hired or promoted manager takes time to get up to speed. The manager needs to learn what is expected, measurements of success, team member roles, and responsibilities. The manager needs to understand the impact of the group’s performance on the company and other groups. How long to do you allow for a manager to get up to speed? A structured mentoring program can help shorten this period and improve the performance of the group and company. Socrategy’s Management Mentoring Program is such a program. We are piloting this program starting in September. There are two different groups appropriate for this program. In the open enrollment program, people from a variety of companies can enroll. We are scheduling an open enrollment program to start August 17, 2015.

Our company specific program allows us to customize the content to include company policies, procedures and reports. We can schedule the sessions to meet the company’s needs. To learn more about the pilot, or to sign up, visit Socrategy Pilot.

July 21, 2015July 25, 2017

Management Mentoring Program Pilot

Because learning general theories isn’t a guarantee of real-world success, Socrategy, Inc. provides an innovative approach that combines training and mentoring. We are proud to announce our new Management Mentoring program. The Management Mentoring program has a hands on approach along with focused mentoring.

Program components include the instructional materials, instructors/mentors, forums, online assessments and interactive webinars. The Management Mentoring program is based upon our, highly successful management training, for corporate clients. The program is delivered using Socrategy OnTrack our mentoring/blended learn platform.

Two different groups are appropriate for this program. In the open enrollment program, people from a variety of companies can enroll. We are scheduling an open enrollment program to start August 17, 2015.

Company specific allows us to customize the content to include company policies, procedures and reports. We can schedule the sessions to meet the company’s needs. To learn more about the pilot, or to sign up, visit Socrategy Pilot.