Online accompaniment: Entering the sales conversation with a tablet

March 1, 2016

Online accompaniment: Entering the sales conversation with a tablet

Sell

Trainer

A client is interested in your seminar offerings. You have already spoken on the phone, and now you have a meeting to get the upcoming training projects in the company sorted out. On the phone, you already mentioned that you now sustainably support your seminars with online assistance. Your client was curious but couldn't quite imagine what that really means. To present your online assistance, it's best to bring a tablet to the sales meeting.

On the tablet, you demonstrate to your client which online content your participants have access to in the online assistance. This includes, for example, weekly action impulses and exercises that support practical transfer. You package your online content into so-called “blinks.” A blink consists of a knowledge unit or a motivating instruction related to a seminar topic or method you presented in the seminar. Thus, your participants receive support from you in all learning and transfer phases. In the seminar, the participants experience you live. You build a good relationship, create a good atmosphere in the group, and convey the importance of your content. During the transfer phase, after the seminar ends, you support your participants online.

Presenting the online assistance on the tablet

A presentation of your online assistance on the tablet offers several advantages:

You have the chance to visually present the training process and the follow-up. This way, your client understands step by step which content you provide alongside the face-to-face sessions.
Additionally, your client can understand how you support the transfer process. For this, you show him, for example, a video you prepared for a specific method. What advantages do these video messages offer? Through video, you can motivate your participants to practice again with your persuasive skills and a personal touch. You have another chance to capture the good mood from your seminar date and use it as a transfer catalyst.
We place great value on blink.it App having an appealing design and intuitive operation. This is important for you as a trainer because you want to quickly and easily upload your online content to the platform. At the same time, your seminar participants are more motivated to engage with appealing and easy-to-use e-learning offerings.
When you are sitting across from your client, just hand him the tablet, and he can directly try out your online assistance. Talking about a concept is nice. A hands-on test is the most persuasive!

From the perspective of the client: Why is online assistance important?

Your client might ask you why online assistance is even necessary. The short answer: To support practical transfer. Practical transfer is a process and must be sustainably supported. As a trainer, you have a significant influence on specific areas. This includes defining clear learning objectives in your seminar, providing your participants with the best information for learning, and offering long-term support for questions or suggestions. You have slightly less influence over internal company structures and the general “transfer climate.” Here, the company's leadership is called upon. They must ensure, for example, that your participants have the opportunity to apply the new skills during their work.

From the perspective of the trainer: Why is online assistance important?

You want your participants to develop and learn new things. You want to make it as easy as possible for the learners. You want to provide your participants with information that helps them. Your face-to-face session should stimulate your participants to think, be exciting, and entertaining. It is important to you that the skills you impart can also be successfully applied by your participants. Satisfied participants secure you follow-up orders. Online assistance helps you achieve these goals because you can provide your online content through the blink.it platform. This way, you stay in contact with your participants during and after the seminar and provide support. You conduct the communication through one platform. This way, you don’t have to deal with different providers for quiz queries, video hosting, and reminders.

A bonus for you is that you only need to create the online content for your seminar once. You can subsequently use your online assistance for different seminar groups (and different clients). Your online content is reusable and can be used repeatedly. Additionally, you can still respond to the wishes of your clients. Does your client want videos on a specific topic or content? No problem! You create the desired online content (e.g., videos) for your client. Only the participants of this client will see these videos in their online assistance. If you want to learn more about video production and “studio quality in your own four walls,” then get in touch with us! We are happy to support you.

Online assistance as an additional offering for your seminar

The online assistance can be a supplement to your existing offerings. This way, you distinguish yourself from other trainers and provide a solution for practical transfer. On the other hand, you can also offer your online assistance as a standalone product. This means you sell your seminar as before. Additionally, you offer the opportunity to book your online assistance for your seminar. Your selling argument is the sustainable support of seminar participants and the accompaniment of the practical transfer. Behavioral changes do not happen overnight; your clients know this. If you present a coherent concept of how you will support the practical transfer, you have a good chance of selling your online assistance as a product. If you wait for the “OK” and still negotiate with your client about the online assistance, you can convince with templates. This means you create blinks in the platform but do not yet fill them with the online content. It’s about giving your client a picture of the platform and showing which content the participants will have access to in your online assistance. Your offering includes, for example, action impulses via video, knowledge queries, and support through a comment function. Ask whether the leadership (e.g., the team leader) can be involved in the online assistance. The support of the leadership is one of the most important factors for practical transfer. How can this happen? For example, you create a short video with the leadership. In this video, the benefits and practical relevance of the seminar for the participants are presented.