Content and design Transferring the Learning Bryan Horveath Executive Director, Ventiv Professional Development Group When looking up synonyms for the word “learn” two common verbs — study and find out — immediately pop up. Although both imply taking action, study tends to take on a more passive connotation. Study often is associated with the learner being taught or trained versus a learner-initiated approach as in to find out, seek, discover, or gain knowledge. Independent of the type of training initiative, companies need to consistently answer the question on the learner’s mind, “What’s in it for me?” To the trainer, the answer may be obvious, but it should never be assumed that the trainees make all the connections between the data presented and the value or impact the information offers in a selling situation. Design Elements That Encourage Trainees to Proactively Seek Out Knowledge Adult learners possess unique motivations to help them stay focused and stick with a topic until a problem is solved or until enough information is gathered to complete the task at hand. Relevancy and immediacy are two of the key principles in adult learning and training. If the training design has been developed appropriately, the information should be relevant to the learners’ wants and needs, and its usefulness should be immediately applicable. This is when the learner will be motivated and take on a more active role in the learning process. Another challenge for trainers is to find ways to motivate change in the training participants, and even more importantly, sustaining this behavior change. Performance improvement is just one of the motivators representatives employ to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to reach their goals and maximize their bonus potential. For other learners, career success and advancement are drivers of this active learning process. Regardless of the specific motivators, if representatives are able to learn more of what they perceive to be valuable and less of what they don’t, then the learning process becomes more appealing and the knowledge is transferred and applied. Learning to Engage As adult learners, sales representatives will have a desire to be involved in the learning process. As such, trainees need to be alert, attentive, and engaged in the process. In addition to great content, how the training is delivered can make a difference. There are several best practice offerings in three progressive categories to make the delivery of the training as impactful as possible — learn, demonstrate, and apply. Learn The bulk of learning occurs before classroom training begins. The most prevalent form of this pretraining is the self-paced home study learning module. Other prework assignments that get pulled through include on-line communication-style self-assessment and e-based compliance training and administrative requirements through an e-learning application. As learning continues throughout the training curriculum, the focus shifts to highlight the need to know information. This is accomplished by refining the trainees’ selling through several approaches, such as interactive workshops; small group discussions, exercises, activities; and group presentations to name just a few. Demonstrate Before coming into the classroom, learners often begin the proof-of-knowledge phase of their training via online testing. Alternatively, immediately upon arrival at their onsite classrooms, training representatives are tested in a centralized, trainer-facilitated assessment center. And throughout the classroom training there are many other opportunities for learners to demonstrate the knowledge they have acquired, such as progress checks via audience response key pads, presentations back to the group, classroom product assessments, and testing and role play scenarios. Apply The last component, and the most important phase to maximize a representative’s productivity, is the application of learning. It sometimes can be difficult to certify that representatives are able to put into practice the accumulation of learning. There are several processes, tools, and metrics available to objectively appraise an individual’s performance. One effective solution is to conduct selling simulations, in other words a simulated environment in which representatives can execute their final role plays. This offers a safe, yet realistic environment in which sales representative can practice making and receiving feedback on multiple calls of varying lengths, style, and types. Such exercises assure that your representatives are ready to hit the streets running — having perfected their sales presentations. inVentiv Health, Somerset, N.J., through its three divisions — inVentiv Clinical, inVentiv Communications, and inVentiv Commercial — can support a pharmaceutical product at any point in its life cycle. For more information, visit inventivhealth.com. May 2006 VIEW on Sales Training Independent of the type of training initiative, companies need to consistently answer the question in the learner’s mind, “What’s in it for me?” To the trainer the answer may be obvious, but it should never be assumed that the trainees make all the connections between the data presented and the value or impact the information offers in a selling situation.

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