Making Blended Learning Work

For several years now, Sales Performance International (SPI) has provided “blended learning” solutions to our clients. We have found that using a mix of modalities for training – a combination of on-demand e-Learning, live instructor-led workshops, online web sessions, and new media programs – greatly improves sales best practice adoption and use.

For more than two decades, SPI has delivered high-quality instructor-led (face-to-face) training workshops. But in the last five years, we’ve seen dramatic shifts in what our customers require:

• Less time in the classroom – more selling time in the field
• Reduction or elimination of travel expenses associated with training events
• Measurement of training effectiveness – more metrics for comprehension and application
• Improved post-training reinforcement and support
• Support for informal, “just in time” on-the-job learning approaches

As a result, SPI has been heavily engaged in perfecting a mixed modality approach to sales training and performance improvement.

                                                                      We provide a number of recommendations for making blended learning successful – one is to assess your audience and determine their learning styles. Each of us has their own preferred learning style. We each like to receive information in certain methods and formats. For example, I prefer to learn by doing – I’m a “hands on” learner, so I like practical exercises and application examples. I’m also a “net it out for me” learner – I lose patience with too much detail, so I like a summary of the key points, with the option of going deeper if I want more information. Given these factors, I also recognize that to make learning a work habit, I’ll also need on-the-job tools and a reinforcement plan, to help me retain and apply what I learned.

As a result of my learning preferences, a blended learning program would be more effective than a traditional workshop-only training approach. Every audience will have different preferences, however – and as a result, the design for their blended learning program needs to be adjusted to those preferred learning styles.