Industrial Location Academy

The problem

As our products became more complex, I realized that things that are easy for me are not always easy for others. At a sales meeting I saw that the reps did not know the unique selling points of my product. The information existed. The problem was attention, easy access to the information, and a clear structure for the materials.

What I built

A blended learning program with one clear goal: make it easier for our busy sales force to bring opportunities home. Self-paced content on the company’s LMS, plus live sessions in person and remote to drive adoption. I was the LMS administrator from day one and built the program from scratch, with direct mentorship from the Head of Learning & Development.

Together with the L&D team I also ran a Train-the-Trainer program, so the knowledge does not depend on me and the customer centers can re-run the Academy at their own pace.

The Academy consists of a Product module and a Customer module, spread over 3–4 weeks. The content is a mix of written materials, product videos and interactive learning. Each participant finishes with a real customer case, presented to their local management. So the program ends with applied work, not a quiz.

How I measured it

I measure the program on four levels:

• Reaction: participant feedback: “More confident sales force and deeper ecosystem understanding.”
• Learning: completion rates and thresholds in the LMS.
• Behavior: sales handle difficult applications with customers on their own and drive customer discussions without a product manager present.
• Results: lead generation per region and product-based activities.

Results

Over 100 salespeople onboarded globally. Regional lead generation for trained products went up by around 30% on average, from 12% in Turkey to 43% in Mexico.

The results differed because the starting points did.

What I would do differently

• With what I know now, I would start the Academy as a program for local trainers from day one, driven locally. This gives local ownership of driving and delivering sales, the flexibility to run the program in the way that works best for each customer center, and the agility to re-run the Academy when needed.
• I would also run the project in a more agile way, with several parallel development tracks.

Next: Academy 2.0

In 2.0 the online content went from two modules to one product module, and the customer module became a complete on-site workshop.

Local trainers get everything they need: a kick-off presentation, a training checklist, a workshop presentation with detailed trainer notes, and most important, a training exercise with guidelines.

We invited 25 trainers from 15 countries to a global Train-the-Trainer workshop in Stockholm. They experienced parts of the training themselves and were mentored by master trainers.