How online learning (elearning) skilled a global sales team – a great case study

Here’s an interesting case study about how an organisation managed to train its sales force of 180 team members, located in different countries and who spoke different languages.

Johnson Health (JHT) is a Taiwan-based manufacturer of commercial and residential fitness equipment. The company consists of a network of roughly 180 sales representatives in more than 18 countries, with employees speaking several languages worldwide.

Situation:

JHT used to conduct 100% of its training in-person, but lacked a centralized director of training to manage the company’s needs. Without company-wide oversight over training, content and effectiveness were highly varied between countries, and JHT employees received a different standard of training in each office. Beyond problems of inconsistency, this system also resulted in duplicated efforts throughout offices, wasted time and unnecessarily high internal training costs.

Realizing the lack of inconsistency across the company and the need for a revamped training program, JHT hired a Director of Education and Sales Training, who determined online training was the most efficient solution and finding the right technology became a top priority. JHT then set about searching for an online training provider to fit JHT’s needs – a tool to train outside sales reps, employees and in-store personnel in Asia, Europe, South America and North America. Having identified a preferred supplier, they developed 71 different courses that have been taken by more than 730 employees to date, with more than 3,500 total courses completed. Courses were delivered in five languages and employees completed them in their own schedule, wherever they have a computer and Internet access. Best of all they saved over $200 000 in the first year.

How effective has the elearning strategy been in your business? What lessons have you learnt in introducing an elearning solution. I welcome hearing about your experiences and ideas.