MW-LIGHT (iSpring Online)

The MW-LIGHT company is the international producer and the distributor of decorative lamps for interior and landscape lighting. The geography of sales is Russia, the CIS, Western and Eastern Europe.

The project manager of distance learning MW-LIGHT Lana Vinogradova told how by means of iSpring the company started the mixed training and raised the professional grade of sellers in Russia, Germany, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

We wanted to expand geography of training and to reduce costs

To be more successful than competitors, it is necessary to be more smart. Therefore in business personnel training — not luxury, but means for development. Competent employees quickly and qualitatively solve assigned tasks and conduct the company to new victories.

We in MW-LIGHT pay much attention to personnel development. It is quite difficult task for the company which works in 36 countries. To keep employees in a tone, the huge staff of trainers is necessary, and it is labor-consuming and costly. Therefore 2016 we decided to implement eLearning and to pass to the mixed training.

eLearning had to solve four big problems:

Continuous employee development from the different countries. I am convinced: the meaning of training is not lost, only if it is full-time employment. It is necessary to follow a closed loop the Flask: the employee takes a course, receives a feedback, analyzes results. Only in that case he will learn something new. Operational updating of information. At us is in assortment of 300 collections of lamps, from 10 to 100 models enter everyone. In a year the range is updated for 35%. Therefore managers and sellers had to have an access to electronic directories with up-to-date information. Involvement. We wanted to start training the most comfortable for employees: with gamification elements, with different formats (an electronic rate, a webinar, etc.). It was important that people could study any free minute, in any place remotely and not to spend time for internal trainings. Increase in a scope. It was necessary to increase the number of pupils and at the same time to do without excess costs. The debut in eLearning began with the choice of SDO

At first we considered WebTutor. Quite complex system. Only the programmer can configure and manage it.

A lot of excess functions and high price — two more reasons which played minus. In addition, that SDO earned qualitatively, long process of implementation is necessary.

For the company which only masters distance learning and is on the threshold of tests and errors to buy a system, and then several months "sharpen" under itself, it is illogical — you waste time and money.

We looked for tools which would yield result in a short time. iSpring coped with a task. What is pleasant, each product of the company has a trial period. It is possible to arrange test drive and to deliberately make the decision on purchase. Simple and powerful SDO with wide feature set — here is how I would describe iSpring Online. It is easy to start a full stroke of distance learning: it was registered in a system, created and loaded a rate, appointed to the employees and checked their results on reports.

One more plus — a system constantly develops! I noticed more than once: I send to technical support the message with wishes, and after a while there is an updating with these changes. It very cool!

Naturally, having selected iSpring Online, we tested also the editor of iSpring Suite rates.

In iSpring Suite we most often use:

Tests. We examine beginners after internal welcome-rates, we check knowledge of employees after each remote training. At our disposal 23 types of questions. It is enough carefully to scan knowledge of personnel and to fix the passable material.

Dialogue exercise machines. From that, how qualitatively the seller will be able to build a conversation with the buyer, the success of the company and sales growth depends. Dialogs help to fulfill skills of communication without risk to break the transaction.

Interactivities. Just now we do a rate about the company and actively we use Time line. With it it is simple "pack" and systematize historical stages of development in MW-LIGHT.

Library of content. It saves time for development of a rate or dialog twice. Characters, backgrounds, icons, objects constantly go to use. I use templates of slides as the idea for a design of a rate. Everything is simple as if you collect the designer — select content from ready materials, finish under tasks of the company and impose a rate. It is not necessary to make terms of reference for the designer or to wait for him drawings.

With iSpring we trained 400 employees

These are managers, sellers and merchandisers. We want to increase this digit till 1000.

Training goes to the companies in four main directions:

Own retail and franchizing: Regenbogen light multimarkets in Russia and Germany. Wholesale clients: regional networks, separate shops and shop-in-shop — shop in shop, i.e. the branded platform with our products in large shop of interior light. DIY: such large networks as Leroy Merlin, OBI, Castorama, Maksidom, Hoff to whom our range is provided too. Online stores as in Russia, and abroad. For each direction the separate training program is prepared now.

However the rate on technology of sales became "first signs" in iSpring for us. Five modules, everyone on half an hour entered it. After — test testing.

At first a course was completed by sellers of Regenbogen network, then we on its basis prepared materials for other directions.

Using the rate developed in iSpring we taught technique of sales own network, franchizing, wholesale clients and shop-in-shop. Now we stake on range rates. I will remind, goods are updated for 35% in half a year. It is difficult to sellers to remember features of each model, and in our case relevant knowledge of products – 80% of success of the transaction. Therefore on each collection we do rates now. In fact, it is the PowerPoint-presentations in a HTML-format. On each slide the structured information with photos and technical specifications on lamps, their art characteristics, advantages over other models.

Each such rate is an electronic directory, a peculiar knowledge base on the range with filters and search. The seller can hammer the article and quickly find the necessary lamp.

As we provide the mixed training

If to speak about Russia, then earlier employees from regions had to come to Moscow: here the biggest showroom in the country — the training ground of MW-LIGHT. In it 11 styles of lamps are provided, and the certain hall is devoted to everyone. During training employees study features of lamps and learn to present goods, work standards and technology of sales.

Also trainers work "in the field": leave to regions and pump over a field personnel.

At the heart of the mixed training — too the internal program. eLearning serves as addition. Sometimes we use it for alignment of knowledge, sometimes — for immersion in a subject. For example, we know what training there passed employees, and we appoint several electronic rates for fixing of knowledge. In certain cases we use rates in a pretrening: we give the basic concepts, the theory. At an internal meeting the trainer does not spend time for methodology any more and is focused in practice.

Besides, using remote testing we carry out a cut of knowledge and we fix changes "to" and "later". Employees take primary test, then study a rate and again answer questions to acquire information.

We well develop mobile training. We simply send links to rates, and employees pass them in convenient time from the tablet or phone. It is convenient. For example, merchandisers in networks cannot use the computer at work. When to study them? In public transport, houses — in any convenient location. Availability and mobility — very important opportunity at iSpring. If it is possible to learn only from the working computer, many people would be eliminated. And so the motivation to training grew several times. At the employee the excuse "to me inconveniently" disappeared!

What results were achieved

New approach increased quality of work of employees. For reference use: on sales at us sellers of Regenbogen — our own retail are considered experts. These are the first-class pros, a sample for the others.

By means of the mixed training with the iSpring tools for half a year we "raised" newcomers merchandisers of Hoff network to the level of professional advisors in the field of interior and landscape lighting. It was noted by the CEO: he periodically goes round sales points and itself examines employees.

During operating time with iSpring we developed:

8 rates in Russian and two in German; 46 range rates; 16 types of tests and two dialogue exercise machines. And also held 120 webinars to iSpring Online.

Now we implement the system of motivation of employees using gamification in iSpring Online: we want to enter competitive effect, game elements and passion to a training system.

On start start of the Self-development program using the new Directory tool where the library of the developing materials will be available to users.

In plans to release new courses, tests and dialogue exercise machines, to build new training programs and to develop together with iSpring.