Change abounds in the field of technology-based training. If your organization is just beginning the journey to self-paced instruction, you will find that there is significant cultural change and technology investment involved in moving out of the classroom environment. If your organization has already been using TBT, you may be transitioning from traditional multimedia CD-ROMs to Web-based training. This shift, too, comes with new investments in equipment, and new expenditures for redesigning curricula. While change is necessary, not everyone will support it. Some may be personally threatened by the impact TBT will have on their own jobs. Others may fear it as a great unknown. Still others will choose to fight for limited budget dollars and a political foothold.

Despite the reasons behind the resistance, you should be prepared to become a champion for TBT and the benefits it brings to any organization. Knowing that there will be opposition to new plans and new programs -- and there always is -- you can prepare a strategy for winning over key decision makers. This chapter will teach you how to position your projects so that senior managers and executives will see the positive value.

WHAT'S IN IT FOR SENIOR EXECUTIVES?

In any industry, the first thing a new sales professional learns is to focus on the benefits of their product or service, not the features. A good car salesman will emphasize how safe your family will be in a new car (the benefit), resulting from the anti-lock brakes and air bags (the features). If you shop for a new mattress, you will likely be told that you will sleep better and experience less back pain (the benefits), resulting from special springs and firm padding (the features).

When gathering support internally for technology-based training efforts, remember this fundamental sales lesson. It is especially easy with technology-based training to fall in love with the features, and mistakenly assume that others in your organization will share your passion. Remember that a CD-ROM's ability to deliver whiz-bang multimedia is a feature not a benefit. The Web's ability to link thousands of people and provide a vast amount of content is also a feature, not a benefit.

So what benefits should you be pitching?

Students mainly want to know that the training will not be a waste of their time, and that it will not be a painful experience to complete. Traditionally, training professionals have focused on job-related competencies and have been evaluated on their ability to make a positive impact on students' knowledge, skills, and attitudes. More recently, there has been a strong shift in the training industry for trainers to become "performance improvement" consultants. This shift more closely aligns their goals with those of business managers, and broadens the range of possible solutions.

Mid-level managers have primary responsibility for the production or performance of the people in their department. Along with performance, excellent customer service and high quality are common objectives. These managers also are likely to have accountability for sales or managing budgets (expenses). Because of this focus on performance, managers may be opposed to training programs that require time away from the job, especially if they view them as having little short-term impact.

Executives at the highest levels are ultimately responsible for one thing -- maximizing profit. The only ways they can increase profits are to increase sales or reduce costs. Senior executives understand that, indirectly, a sustainable and growing revenue stream is dependent on customers who are happy with the service they get and the quality of the products they buy. The production levels or performance of employees most directly impacts costs.

Depending on what level in the organization you are talking to, you should explain how each TBT feature would have a positive impact on their area of accountability. Educating your peers on the benefits an investment in TBT would have for their primary area of interest will quickly garner their support.

Will the program increase sales?

Increasing sales is probably the most powerful benefit a training program can have, but few programs can make a claim to directly impacting revenue. To pitch this benefit to senior executives, the TBT program must obviously be a sales training program. Within the field of sales training, TBT can be used to teach sales professionals general selling skills, product knowledge, competitive knowledge, customer profiles, or objection handling. Other topics could include anything that would increase their efficiency, such as training on how to use their customer contact software.

Will the program reduce expenses?

The ability to save money or reduce costs is also among the highest priorities of senior executives. It was discussed previously in Chapter Six how technology-based training can substantially reduce costs associated with student travel, lodging, and instructor fees. Reducing the number of days spent in a classroom also saves the opportunity costs associated with employees being away from their jobs.

Many training programs impact the expenses of an organization through the new student behaviors, although this type of change is often difficult to measure. Below are some examples of how training programs can ultimately reduce costs through new skills.

Information technology training can potentially reduce calls to the help desk, in turn reducing costs for the service or labor required. Additionally, increasing employees' software skills may reduce the time they spend on certain routine operations.

Quality improvement training can reduce defects in product manufacturing, saving wasted materials and time, while increasing customer satisfaction.

Safety training can reduce accidents, medical bills, and worker's compensation fees.

Orientation training can positively impact new hires' morale and reduce employee turnover. This, in turn, reduces costs associated with recruiting and training new employees.

What are the indirect benefits?

While executives are most interested in increasing sales and reducing costs, efforts with indirect benefits that are assumed to impact either of these items also will be supported. These include anything that impacts quality, service, general performance levels, or employee morale.

Although the impact might be viewed as indirect, it does not mean a certain level of outcome can not be measured. For example, a program that teaches basic phone etiquette could actually have a measurable impact on customer satisfaction. A leadership course for front-line supervisors could have a measurable impact on employee engagement levels.