Ideas for Product Specs eLearning

[Joe_Deegan]

I'm looking for some ideas for an Articulate eLearning project I am working on and I know that there are a ton of great ideas out there in the Articulate community. Please let me know if you have any suggestions that can help improve my project.

The eLearning course is for sales people who will be selling a new line of products. It's important for them to know the specifications and benefits of the products features so that they can answer customers questions and address the customers needs with the correct product.

So far, I have an idea for a branching scenario where they will be simulating a sales presentation with a customer. But before they can simulate a sales presentation they need to learn about the products which is often the boring part. I'm looking for a way to help the sales people memorize the product specs and feature benefits that's not a boring "Click Next" course with a quiz at the end. Any ideas for spicing up product knowledge eLearning with some kind of interactive challenge or game?

[beeneeb]

Hi Joe_Deegan and welcome to the forums,

Here's a few ideas to get you started:

Since you're looking to keep the learner interested in your course, here's a great tutorial on how to use Quizmaker as a multimedia storytelling tool:

Screenr - @elearning: How to use Quizmaker as both a multimedia storytelling and quizzing tool - Part 1

Also, depending upon what type of product the company is selling, I'd recommend using a labelled graphic in Engage to explain the product.

I'm by no means an expert in ID. So, I'll let some of the "big dogs" take it from here...

[Joe_Deegan]

Thanks Brian. I love what David did with that torture quizmaker project. I also like the idea of an engage labeled graphic. I'll have to toy with embedding an engage .swf into quizmaker so it will be more seamless like the example you posted.

By the way, the product is mattresses if that helps spur any ideas. The salespeople will be selling a new brand of mattresses they are not familiar with.

[beeneeb]

Originally Posted by Joe_Deegan

Thanks Brian. I love what David did with that torture quizmaker project. I also like the idea of an engage labeled graphic. I'll have to toy with embedding an engage .swf into quizmaker so it will be more seamless like the example you posted.

By the way, the product is mattresses if that helps spur any ideas. The salespeople will be selling a new brand of mattresses they are not familiar with.

Hi Joe,

When I worked for an HVAC company, I would utilize an Engage labelled graphic to show off the features of a furnace. Essentially, the imported image would be the front of the unit with the components exposed. I would then put a marker on each component (vent motor, igniter, and so on). Then, for each "step" or marker that I imported, I would import a "zoomed" image of that component along with a description. I think that you can probably accomplish something similar with mattresses, especially if you have access to an image of a mattress that has been cut open with the insides exposed.

Good luck with your project!

[doofdaddy]

I like to throw people in the pool, so to speak.

Have them start selling and then provide a means for them to pull the info they need to make the right decisions. Based on their actions, you give them more feedback and then push them right inot the next decision point.

Make it more like a "day in the life of the sales person" rather than "here's some info about sales."

You could also do something simple like this:

I took the linear content and broke it into three sections. Some of them are interactive, some aren't. I made the quiz seem more like helping a customer and less like a quiz.

[Joe_Deegan]

Thanks Doofdaddy. It's nice to see an example. I am definitely with you on throwing them in the pool. The final activity of the course will be a branching scenario where they will be simulating selling the product to a customer. But before throwing them in the pool I wanted to give them some details on the product and sell them on it so to speak. I've found salespeople need to be sold on the product if they are going to be successful selling it.

[Jeanette]

Going w/the Labeled Graphic idea, how about a day in the life of the customer?

You could make your own composite image, sort of like a montage or a frame-by-frame representation of a customer's typical day, and use that as your graphic. In each frame of the image, you show the customer doing or experiencing something where they're affected by the quality of rest they've gotten the night before. The learner explores each frame in the image, and as they do, they learn about how a specific feature of the new product helps influence that aspect of the person's quality of life. Like, one frame in the image shows a guy having a hard time staying awake at work; another shows the guy taking his trash out but he's having back pain... etc. When the learner explores those parts of the image, they learn about key product features that address those specific issues.

Or how about doing a Tabs interaction where you address customer concerns/needs, kind of like the Volvo example, where the salesperson needs to address objections: Articulate Showcase - Volvo Penta: Objection Handling

[doofdaddy]

Some ideas:

Engage labeled graphic: Use a calendar image and put labels over the calendar pages to represent a timeline. You could create a situation where the learner didn't get the sale and has to go through the calendar to look for clues why not.

Instead of a sales scenario, have the learner be a customer service rep who has to deal with an angry customer who doesn't understand the product.

[Joe_Deegan]

Great idea Jeanette. Love the montage idea showing the effects of not getting good sleep. I will eventually be working on a project covering sleep disorders and "Sleep Science" in general that I think your idea would be great for.

One of the main focuses for this project is putting them in the performance so that they can pull this information from the customer like they will need to in a real sales presentation. After the intro section I am working on now they will be put into a scenario where they can ask a customer questions and the customers response will give clues as to which mattress is best for them. They have to analyze the customers answers to identify which mattress/features will be best for that customer.

[Joe_Deegan]

Originally Posted by doofdaddy

Some ideas:
Instead of a sales scenario, have the learner be a customer service rep who has to deal with an angry customer who doesn't understand the product.

Good idea about the customer service rep. This is a very realistic scenario because the company offers a comfort guarantee that allows the customer to return it if they don't like it. They could be forced to handle an exchange for a customer who was recommended the wrong mattress. Wheels are spinning.