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Training Program Plan
Training Program Plan Part I: Training Program Description
Background
Our Organizations insurance sales and service unit is the leader in the insurance business
within the federation and is something to be celebrated. To be at the top took hard work and
determination; however, to stay on top takes innovation, creativity and a fully engaged insurance
staff. We have done a great job hiring and training new Insurance Sales and Service
Representatives. Our training courses are designed to meet the needs of our employees as
learners; conversely, we are not meeting the needs of our employees as performers.
Training Program Scope
There is a significant need to support the continued development of the existing Insurance
Northern Region Field Sales and Service Representatives. The existing groups training has
consisted of a combination of classroom and online courses; however, they need additional
practice and reinforcement to solidify product knowledge and necessary job skills. We can
become much more targeted and purposeful in developing and honing key sales skills (probing,
product positioning, overcoming objections, cross-selling, and closing the sale, etc.) on an
individual basis as well as group style progression by implementing an Academy Pod within the
Insurance Sales and Service Contact Centers. By creating the Sales and Service Academy Pod
in addition to an organized curriculum, we create an environment for the Sales and Service Reps
to grow and develop their confidence and competence in selling abilities, offering improved
strategies for overcoming objections with customers, and finding the comfort level in asking for
the sale.
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Audience
The intended audience is approximately 20 incumbent Field Insurance Sales and Service
Representatives located in our Michigan, Nebraska, Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa branch offices.
These Field Sales and Service Representatives have an average 1.5 years of employment with the
organization. These employees have attended the core curriculum as assigned by the business
unit; licensing, product and billing training, Professional Selling Skills, Interaction Model and
Sales Toolkit techniques. However, none have had the opportunity to work in an environment
that offers support of the skills learned in the core curriculum.
Program Goals and Objectives
The Academy Pod program is be divided into three, week-long modules; Inbound Sales,
Outbound Sales and Customer Service. Incumbent Field staff will spend one week per month
over three months in the Academy Pod located in either the Omaha, Nebraska or Dearborn
Michigan Member Services Contact Center. The program goals for Module one: Inbound Sales
are practice and repetition of foundational skills learned in new hire training, such as, quoting
auto, homeowners, PUP, Specialty Lines, while following the Interactions Module to obtain
certification. The objectives for this module include:
Overcome the objections that are included in the Insurance Sales Toolbox, in a confident
and consistent manner
Qualify members before starting the quote process to discuss needs including; why they
are calling, are they looking for anything other than price, and ask questions about their
current insurance company and agent
Using consultative sales techniques to cross-sell other AAA products on 30% of all calls
ending in sales.
Execute a robust, fully qualified quote versus a simple "data collection priced based
quote"
Demonstrate knowledge and proficiency in all steps of the Interactions Model by making
appropriate statements and asking for necessary information in a clear and concise
manner on all calls
Begin and end all interactions in POC+ system consistently including the following
skills: Adding Notes, Setting Tasks, Life Leads as appropriate on every call
Enters full auto and home quote data in one call without using paper forms and calling
the customer back on every call.
The program goals for Module two: Outbound Sales are practice and repetition
developing Outbound Sales best practices using POC+ system resulting in certification. The
objectives for this module include;
Use prospecting sales skills effectively and as appropriate for specific outbound sales
campaigns
Create unique campaign scripts for a quote opportunity or compelling voicemail for: New
member leads, Re-quotes, Triple Check, Cross-sell opportunities: auto-only
Use time and workflow management techniques for scheduling outbound activities
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The program Goals for Module three: Customer Service are practice and repetition of key
insurance service transactions while being monitored for quality of executing the Interaction
model, following the necessary underwriting and processing guidelines resulting in certification.
The objectives for this module include:
Schedule appropriate amount of time for taking inbound and outbound sales calls each
day during the week
Enters appropriate documentation accurately into POC+ System and contact history
Training Program Part II: Gap Analysis
Learning and Development received a request from the Vice President of Insurance for
training and development of their incumbent Field Sales and Services Representatives. This
group of employees are not performing as well as the insurance Sales and Service Staff working
in the Customer Interaction Centers located in Dearborn, Michigan and Omaha, Nebraska.
Initial observations from the insurance management teams are Field Sales and Service
Representatives are not utilizing consultative and prospective sales approaches, not competent or
confident using the Point of Contact Plus (POC+) Customer Relation Management system as a
sales diary or for sales leads, are not utilizing their time appropriately for outbound sales
opportunities, and are not fully versed in all insurance products offered by market.
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Analysis Methods and Results
In an effort to fully understand this gap in performance between contact center sales staff
and field sales staff, Learning and Development conducted an analysis using three methods of
analysis; observation, interviews, documents and artifacts, as well as performance and product
analysis. The analysis was conducted in the contact center sales and service units with high and
standard performers and compared these results to the same analysis process of the high and
standard performers in field sales and service.
Document and Artifact Review
Training. A review of training transcripts of this specific group of employees show they
have all attended the required training curriculums for sales techniques, insurance product,
systems training and quoting and billing processes. These courses are the same courses delivered
to the Contact Center Insurance Sales force. The fact that the Field Sales and Service
Representatives are not using the knowledge and skills learned in the training program, and are
not performing to the relative same level as contact center employees is of concern to the
organization.
Previous Experience. Human Resources reported the review of the identified Field Sales
and Service Representatives have a higher percentage (92%) of previous sales experience than
Contact Center Sales Representatives (27%). These results show that previous experience does
not have an impact on higher performance that those who have no previous sales experience.
Reference Materials: (On-The-Job). Product reference materials are updated current
and accurately reflect product information and policies in place for all markets. These materials
are used universally and are available to all Insurance sales and service representatives.
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Job Descriptions. The job descriptions for both Field and Contact Center Insurance Sales
and Service Representatives were reviewed and are identical in the areas of position description,
position duties and responsibilities, position education and qualifications. The position differs
slightly in position skills and specification, specifically in areas of call center environment.
Performance Review and Analysis
Human Resources reported the review of the identified Field and Contact Center Sales
and Service Representatives sales goals are not significantly different in the ratio actual sales
transactions versus sales opportunities offered. Although there are differences between in
number of sales opportunities offered and sales transactions between the Field and Contact
Center. Service Observations are available for the Contact Center Sales force, but not available
for Field Sales Force.
Observations and Interviews
Learning and Development conducted side by side observations and interviews of two
high and standard performers in the Omaha and Dearborn Member Services Contact Centers.
The purpose of the observations was to review usage of the necessary applications in processing
customer insurance needs, use of key sales communication strategies, and leads management
referrals. The Learning and Development team compared these results with side by side
observations and interviews of two high and standard performers located in the Minnesota and
Wisconsin branch offices.
The results of the comparison indicate that high and standard performers in the contact
center have a higher level of proficiency using the insurance systems and the Customer
Relationship Management systems as well as using the sales and communication strategies to
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meet customer human and service needs, and are well versed in product knowledge. Key
reasons for these differences is the opportunity for peer mentoring and consistent service
observations and coaching from leadership is part of the onboarding process in the contact
centers and is not a practice in the branch offices. Interviews were conducted during the side by
side observations and the consistent feedback from Field sales was that they did not have the
opportunity to practice the skills with support when they were hired. Two sales representative
stated it [transition from training to on-the-job] felt like sink or swim. Their training was more
than adequate; however, there was no additional support in applying the skills in real time and
they are all open to help in further development.
Training Program Plan Part III: Budget
The budget outlined in the following matrix contains a cost and income estimate for the
selected 20 Field Sales and Service Staff to participate in the Academy Pod Professional
Development. It is noteworthy to point out that all personnel involved in the analysis, design,
development and delivery of the training program are employees of the organization and are
included to provide an overview of the costs of this training initiative
Estimated Costs
# Hrs/Unit
Line Item
Description
Personnel
*Avg.
hourly
pay/commi
ssion for
Salaried
Personnel
Fringe
Benefits
Sub-Total
Qty
Line Tota
120 hrs.
Cost pr
Hr/Unit
$28.00
$3,360.00
$3360.00
32 hrs.
32 hrs.
32 hrs.
8 hrs.
9 hrs.
15 hrs
120 hrs.
25 hrs
36 hrs.
$24.00
$32.00
$21.00
$18.00
$32.00
$21.00
$18.00
$27.00
$30.00
$768.00
$1024.00
$672.00
$144.00
$288.00
$315.00
$2160.00
$675.00
$1080.00
1
2
2
3
2
2
3
3
20
$768.00
$2048.00
$1344.00
$432.00
$576.00
$630.00
$6400.00
$2025.00
$21600.0
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Average loss of sales to organization per
participant non-work activity for 1 week period
per month for three months.
No External Staff/Contactors are used in this
project No additional Costs
Printing and Binding Costs for eight policy
guides per participant
Print Marketing: Brochures, Flyers, Table Tents
12 hrs. per
week
$32.00
$384.00
23
$8832.00
NA
$11.00
$88.00
20
$1760.00
100
$3.00
$300.00
NA
$300.00
Tech
Support
NA
Equipment
NA
$1,200.00
(per week)
$3600.00
(3 wks.)
$3600.00
$28800.
NA
NA
$3.25
$3.25
20
$65.00
$9.25
$27.75
(per wk)
$83.25
(3 wks).
20
$1665.00
External
Staff
Materials
Travel
Facilities
Supplies
Misc.
Total
$51685.0
No of
Positions
Available Internal
and external
Resources
Estimated
Time
Required
Program
Internal:
180 hrs.
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Position &
Role
Planner
Instructional
Design
Facilitator
Subject
Matter
Expert
Manager
Supervisor
No of
Positions
Available Internal
and external
Resources
Estimated
Time
Required
Director Learning
and Development
Internal:
Learning &
Development
Instructional
Designers
120 hrs.
Internal
Learning and
Development
Learning Specialist
40 hrs.
Internal:
One MSR Manager,
Omaha NE Center
One MSR Manager
Dearborn MI Center
One MSR Supervisor
Dearborn, MI Center
Internal:
One MSR Manager,
Omaha NE Center
One MSR Manager
Dearborn MI Center
40 hrs.
Internal:
One MSR Supervisor
Dearborn MI Center
One MSR Supervisor
Omaha NE Center
100 hrs.
80 hrs.
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Position &
Role
No of
Positions
Available Internal
and external
Resources
Estimated
Time
Required
Peer Mentor
75 hrs.
Program
Evaluator
Internal:
Two Sr. SSRs located
in Dearborn, MI
Contact Center
One Sr. SSR located
in Omaha NE
Contact Center
Internal:
Director Learning
and Development
(AKA Program
Planner)
One Sr. Instructional
Designer Learning
and Development
40 hrs.
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Service Representatives time for peer mentoring during Academy Pod hours. Overtime has been
approved and budgeted by Executive Leadership.
Staff Performance Evaluation
The purpose of the program is to improve the performance of the Field Sales and Service
Representatives and to ensure program success evaluating the learners is imperative to
continuing the program in the future. Learning and Development will use Kirkpatricks model of
evaluation to assess the program and the learners. Surveys will be sent to participants to evaluate
the content and facilitation of course segments via the organizations LMS. Data from these
surveys will be collected and reviewed at the completion of these segments and reported at the
end of each week to include any trends in feedback that will assist in enhancing the program.
Completed observation sheets will be collected at the end of each day and data will be compiled.
Learner performance for established performance goals; such as completed sales transaction ratio
to sales opportunities, percentages of cross selling, leads generated in POC+ and outbound calls,
throughout the week. These same performance criteria will be monitored and collected 30, 60
and 90 days post training. Feedback generated from the surveys regarding support and
facilitation of training will be gathered from surveys to measure effectiveness of facilitation for
coaching, continued improvement and recognition purposes.
Training Program Plan Part V: Stakeholders and Goals
The following matrix lists the goals each stakeholder has in your training program, and
how to build support from them in order to produce a positive impact on adult learning for the
training program.
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Stakeholders
Partnership Goals
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Executive Leadership:
Assistant Vice
President (AVP)
Insurance Sales and
Service
Regional Field
Operation Presidents
(RFP)
Management:
Contact Center
Managers (CCM)
Member Service
Centers
Field Operations
Managers (FM)
Insurance Sales and
Service
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Supervisors (CCS)
Member Service
Centers
Trainees:
Field Sales and Service
Representatives (SSRs)
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Communication and marketing is important the success of any business and this holds
just as true for training programs, the targeting or marketing process is an essential component
of the program planning process (Caffarella & Daffron, pg. 311, 2012). The communication
plan markets the training program to ensure that the messages communicate this professional
development opportunity is useful and meaningful to potential participants is critical to ensuring
program participation (Caffarella & Daffron, pg. 311, 2012).
Communication Channels
Leadership involvement in communicating and supporting skills learned in training
initiatives is imperative to successful results and positive impact to performance. Because
leadership set the expectations of performance, communication of the program will be the
responsibility of the Executive leadership and management of the participants attending in the
training program. They will be provided key points to communicate to their staff in order to
generate excitement and engagement for the participants as well as the stakeholders
communicating this program. Email, the Insurance and Learning and Development intranet
home pages, and one on one/team discussion with Field Sales and Service Representatives are all
channels in which to communicate the before, during and after the training and development
initiative.
Communication Points
Prior to implementation, Executive Leader and Managers will communicate some key
points on the benefits of the Academy Pod professional development program. These key points
are 1) Opportunity for professional development of Field Sales and Service Representatives, 2)
Past training and on-boarding has not offered the opportunity for employees to receive individual
support while applying skills on the job, 3) Learn from experienced high performing cohorts 3)
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Allows learners the opportunity to practice in a safe, supportive learning environment, 4)
Capitalize on current experience and knowledge to continue development as a professional Field
Sales and Service Representative.
During the training, Executive Leaders and Managers will communicate the progress of
the initiative, highlighting initial feedback from participants. After the program, Executive
Leaders and Managers communicate the importance of keeping the skills alive to participant
direct leadership and while attending departmental and team meetings to discuss additional
continuous improvement steps.
Marketing
To market this training program learning and development has created a logo and slogan
for professional development opportunities and a fact sheet with pertinent information about the
Academy Pod as a professional development initiative The logo brands this initiative as a
growth opportunity and the slogan Learn, Grow, Develop & Make a Difference elicits a sense
of continued education and avoids the compliance or retraining, I have to be here sentiment
that can often be felt and expressed from incumbent employees. This marketing can be used for
print materials, such as binders, flyers, table tents and brochures, as well as electronic
communication; i.e. email and intranet.
ACADEMY POD
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When does it start and The Academy Pod begins each quarter for five to seven insurance
how long is it?
professionals to attend one week per month for three consecutive mon
Where Is the Academy Academy Pods are located in our Dearborn, MI Member Service Cen
Pod?
and our Omaha NE Member Service Center.
Who will be
conducting the
Training?
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align training with strategy (Sec VI, pg. 486, 2008). This standard is incorporated into
measuring the effectiveness of our training program. The following matrix outlines the purpose
of each level of the evaluation process, how and when evaluation will be collected, the metrics to
be used and how we will use these results to produce a positive impact. The program planner
will work directly with the responsible parties, such as Branch Managers, IT and HR for data
collection and report results.
Results
Behavior
Learning
Reaction
Level 4:
Level 3:
Level 2:
Level 1:
Level
Purpose
A measure of the
satisfaction of the
participants who
attended the
Program
The extent to which
participants
increased their
knowledge, learned
or improved present
The extent to which
participants applied
what they learned
when they returned
to their jobs
The improvement in
performance of
participants and the
impact to the
organization
Conclusion
The Academy Pod is an exciting opportunity for our organization to provide professional
development for incumbent Field Sales and Service Representatives. Mentoring programs such
as this have been implemented in many organizations and contact centers over several years and
it is a proven concept that consists of numerous hours of side-by-side coaching and development.
Field Sales and Service Representatives could benefit from the volume and variety of calls that
come in to the Member Service Centers for repetition and reinforcement of sales and customer
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interaction skills. The Academy Pod will provide this group the opportunity to solidify and
enhance the skills you acquired during new hire training.
References
Caffarella, R.S. and Daffron, S. R. (2012), Planning Programs for Adult Learners: A Practical
Guide, 3e. ISBN: 9780470770375, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Kirkpatrick, D. L. (2008). Section VI: Measuring and evaluating impact - luminary perspective:
Evaluating training programs. Alexandria: American Society for Training and
Development, dba Association for Talent Development. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/896136537?accountid=35812