How American Express uses training to increase sales See how this large financial services

company effectively uses e-learning

to train their salesforce

THE CLIENT

American Express is one of the world’s

largest card issuers, processing millions of

transactions daily as the premium network

for high-spending card members. It also

operates the world’s largest travel network

serving both consumers and businesses.

BUSINESS GOAL

American Express was introducing new

products and services across EMEA and needed to train more than 300 sales people on them in a very short period of time. They designed a skills and knowledge programme which was targeted at their sales team and was to enable sales managers to identify new opportunities and increase revenues for the business.

THEIR CHALLENGE

Complex training programme

To create the desired behaviour change among sales people, American Express needed a skills and knowledge programme that comprised a blend of classroom training focused on soft skills, and e-learning which would complement the traditional training sessions.

Low enthusiasm for e-learning

While e-learning had been used by American Express in the past, few sales people had any enthusiasm for it.

Short timescales

Project timing was critical and the e-learning course had to be completed by staff in just two weeks in preparation for the final face-to-face workshops.

Tracking and reporting

With such short timescales American Express had to make sure all involved staff completed their e-learning in time for classroom training.

Not enough in-house e-learning capabilities

The majority of the company’s trainers were face to face, and though the company had an internal e-learning team, they needed more capabilities to meet the demands and timescales of the project.

THE DISCOVERY

American Express needed a training

partner that would assist them in the

design and development of the e-learning

modules and fulfil their expectations.

Samantha Hansford, Training & Development Manager, EMEA

Commelius has an excellent track record in

the delivery of e-learning and considerable

experience in how e-learning is best delivered

as part of a blended learning approach. We

were confident that they could deliver an

excellent product within a very tight timeframe.

“

”

THE SOLUTION

To combat low expectations, it was vital that the

e-learning had a style and approach that would

bring the subject matter to life and provide an

engaging learning experience to reinforce the

essential knowledge and behaviours.

“

”Samantha Hansford, Training & Development Manager

Solution: interactive e-learning that could also be used in a just in time way

Commelius created three hours of interactive and engaging

e-learning; with one module being designed per product.

Designed in collaboration with key stakeholders across the

business, the modules included all the required facts and

knowledge about each product within an innovative design.

Each module used a familiar structure that was easy to

navigate if the learner returned to use the modules in a just

in time way. They also each contained a useful and practical

product toolkit. Each module ended with a user assessment

so learners could check their knowledge.

With such short timescales, the

tracking and reporting capability

was key to the project’s success.

Solution: tracking and reporting tool

The e-learning was delivered on ALTO - Commelius’s learning

management platform.

Every morning during the two week completion period, thanks to a

tracking and reporting tool – Pursuit which is a part of ALTO – the

L&D team could download a report on who had successfully finished

the modules.

Samantha and her team were then able to identify who had not yet

completed the course and escalate actions to the relevant

management teams, so they could push their teams through.

RESULTS

The e-learning course was completed on time and

on budget with a completion rate of 86%.

Over half the learners completed feedback forms with

100% rating the learning as good or excellent,

99% reporting that they were now more familiar with the

capabilities of the products and 90% felt they were more

comfortable discussing products with customers.

We’re delighted with the e-learning and

the feedback – the users really enjoyed the

experience and we were able to move into

the workshop phase fully prepared.

“

”Samantha Hansford, Training & Development Manager

Also see…

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