Successful Marketing Requires Engaged Learning The E-Arena Good instructional design requires an understanding of how people learn and how to balance text, graphics, audio, and video for an engaging experience. Peter Sandford, Executive VP One of the perennial challenges in the pharmaceutical business is the competition for face time with physicians. A virtual army of sales representatives besiege time-challenged physicians with information about their drugs. May the “best” sales representatives win. Defining “best” in this context means reps who are the most knowledgeable and most skilled at communicating the right marketing messages to physicians; in other words, the best trained. And since the brand strategy changes in response to new clinical information, new competition, and the life cycle of the drug, training is an essential constant in the life of any pharmaceutical sales representative. This makes the quality and flexibility of training critical to the strategic plan of every brand. Just as in academia, these required courses can be either engaging and enjoyable or a great burden. Courses that are more engaging and instructionally sound are more successful, thus producing more successful sales representatives. Blending Modalities Successful learning requires a blend of training modalities, including classroom, workshops, online training, CD-ROM or DVD training programs, audio tapes, video tapes, live Web-based seminars, and collaborative online training sessions. The most cost-effective format should be chosen for the type of information being communicated. Contrary to one well-established metaphor, human brains are not sponges that soak up any information that is presented. Information absorption depends on the connections made to the incoming information by the brain. Simply asking sales representatives to read a workbook or to review material online is not as effective as using dynamic graphics, sound, animation, and video to illustrate and support key concepts and to link those concepts to reps’ daily experiences. This is a critical component of any program. Unless the sales representative, or for that matter any audience, is engaged in the training, the experience will be less than fully successful. Learning programs that are viewed as enjoyable and that are clearly aligned with the goals of the learners produce better results. Putting print-based classroom manuals online does not constitute effective online learning. Yet using rich-media elements simply to make the information “less boring” will fail unless done in way that supports the learning objectives. Good instructional design requires an understanding of how people learn and how to balance text, graphics, audio, and video for an engaging experience. Many company training organizations are staffed by sales professionals on their way up the corporate ladder. This gives them an excellent feel for the needs of the salesforce but little expertise in instructional design or in choosing the most effective learning techniques. Without instructional design professionals, a training program is often a seat-of-the-pants add-on to the business strategy, rather than a critical strategic driver that empowers a company’s most important resource. Training programs tend to be viewed as discreet, one-shot items to support an upcoming POA or a new visual aid, rather than part of a strategic continuum that includes marketing, advertising, and other communications efforts. Training an Equal Partner Nimble organizations know that training is an equal partner with marketing and sales in driving the business strategy. Each brand should have a training plan that is executed by training professionals who are experienced instructional designers, learning specialists, and professional communicators. These training professionals should work hand-in-hand with the sales professionals who serve as subject-matter experts and project managers in the training department. A Solid Infrastructure Learning companies that understand the technical infrastructure required for online learning and have experience with all forms of training delivery make excellent partners. Successful companies have learning infrastructures that support constant learning with engaging material for a variety of learning modalities. It makes sense to have an experienced learning specialist as a partner or on staff to lead a training plan that coordinates the efforts of several training providers into a single coordinated effort. In the end, learning is either a hurdle for sales reps to overcome on the way to doing their job or an energizing force that empowers and motivates a salesforce with relevant information and practice exercises. Only engaging, well-crafted learning produces the latter result. NXLevel Inc. NXLevel Inc., Hopewell, N.J., is a learning company that specializes in engaging technology-based learning programs and strategic training infrastructure. For more information, visit nxlevel.com. September 2004 VIEW on Marketing

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