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LearnQuest CONNECT n e w s l e t t e r

JULY 2014, ISSUE 3

LUCY’S COLUMNIn my column, I will be discussing challenges that we face in our business and personal lives, and hopefully, methods to settle them. Business, being a part of

life, presents trials, just as our personal life does, and consequently, we need a similar approach in dealing with these difficulties.

It is a well-known concept that we cannot change outside events or other people —we can only change our reaction to them. With the right attitude, we should be able to take in damaging circumstances or negative people and train our mind to interpret off- putting examples such as these, as simply warnings, telling us how not to behave and actually helping in our endeavor to better ourselves.

In addition, pain and discomfort are quite often good teachers—they are really vivid and grab our attention forcefully—for example, being ill or even ill at ease makes one appreciate a state of well-being and comfort.

Let me offer some practical advice on handling pain and despair: this crucial task presents a challenge that is twofold—not to allow the sour feelings to spill into everything so that we stain our sense of the world, and yet, remain careful not to contain such emotions so that they fester and infect our sense of ourselves.

I suggest the following meditation during the times of trial when we need to restore our connection to the powerful currents of life:

• Sit quietly, and after some time open yourself to the mood of solitude.

• Breathe slowly and concentrate on feeling the Great Winds surrounding you.

• Breathe steadily and feel your breath mix with the currents of life.

We will continue in our next issue of the newsletter. Stay well, Lucy.

From the Editorial Staff

LQ Ambassadorby Georg Gottshalk

Hello, LearnQuest Team Members!

We hope that the July issue finds you well and enjoying the summer!

As Lucy mentioned in the previous issue, we are pleased to introduce an updated format with human interest features, themed-articles, and enhanced visual appeal in the digital format. For example, this month in “LQ Ambassador” read about Georg’s trip to India; instead of combing through an article for stats, view them all at once in “Numbers Game.”

The common thread running throughout these new editorial features is our singular connection as members of the same LearnQuest family. This is your newsletter: written by you, about you, and for you, and serves as a monthly forum for us all to come together and learn not only about the successes, innovation, and expansion occurring across all departments, but also one that provides a glimpse into the individuals behind them.

Being responsible for LearnQuest Global means travel. In May, I was able to visit Germany, South Africa (briefly), and India. Each country is vastly different from each other, and from our headquarters back in Bala.

After taking the red-eye over to Germany, it was amazing to see our cross-European team coming together from Spain, France, Germany, Poland, and Bulgaria! A year ago, we didn’t have a single colleague outside of the US, and even earlier, just this year (January) there was still only one employee in all of Europe!

Now look at this table at Markus’ home in Cologne, where we all enjoyed a fantastic Thai dinner presented by his (Thai) sister-in-law:

SPOTLIGHT ON...Susan LaShombInterview by Meredith Ruggeri

MR : Susan, how many years have you worked at LearnQuest?

SL: 11 years and that’s my lucky #!

MR: What is the most rewarding aspect of the position you hold at LearnQuest?

SL: Working with talented, hardworking, intelligent, and inspiring people—and not to mention fun! Also, the challenging work keeps life interesting.

MR: Can you describe your funniest LQ memory?!

SL: I plead the 5th!

(continued on pg 6)

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LearnQuest Partners with New Horizons Southern California to Expand Course OfferingsI am pleased to announce that LearnQuest North America has signed a Partner to Partner Reseller Program agreement with New Horizons Computer Learning Centers of Southern California. New Horizons delivers a full range of technology and business skills training, from basic application and desktop productivity tools to complex IT systems with the option of both online and traditional instructor-led training. The US agreement expands our ability to offer LearnQuest clients, public and private classes in Application, Business Skills, and Technical Training with authorized training from Microsoft, Cisco (CCNA) Citrix, CompTIA, Red Hat, and VMWare. Our Sales, Education, IT, Marketing, and Finance teams all are working together to ensure our course catalog and systems are ready to support this new initiative. Check out the LearnQuest website over the coming weeks to see these newly added offerings in our catalog as well as guaranteed to run classes for our customers to enroll in.

Closed Deal Identification and IBM Lead Pass

LearnQuest and IBM sales are partnering to drive skills for a smarter planet. Recently, IBM approved passing publically available client information to GTPs, including IBM

Client Name, City, State, Country, and IBM sales representative name/email and software/hardware offering deal size. In addition, IBM has agreed to send an email to the IBM Account Manager who sold the deal, informing him or her about LearnQuest and to expect a call from one of our sales representatives. Each month, IBM Training will distribute closed deal information and distribute the leads among the five GTPs . This is a significant opportunity for our sales teams to work lockstep with IBM to ensure that our customers get the skills and training they need and maximize their IBM software investment. Leads from May have already been distributed and assigned to Account Executives and will be tracked and managed in CRM. North America Sales team members have begun emailing and calling IBM Account Managers to introduce themselves and schedule capability calls and meetings with clients.

2014 Q3 July-September SPVC $299 Promotion

In 3Q, North America Sales and Marketing will be reaching out to students who have taken an IBM ILT course over the last 12 months that has an associated SPVC or WBT. Students will receive a personalized email from one of the Inside Account Executives with an offer to purchase the equivalent SPVC to reinforce what they learned in the class, with 30 days access to refresh and practice what

their new skills and knowledge in an online environment with hands-on lab exercises. Marketing will provide the inside sales team the email tracking information, including opens, clicks, and opt-outs . Inside sales will enter the online order through the website and document all leads and opportunities in CRM. Depending on the success of the campaign, we may look to do offer this and other upsell campaigns to increase our student days.

Notable Deliveries/Wins in June 2014:

Here are some notable Private Classes delivered in June:

• HCSC – Boot Camps: $39K and DataPower and WebSphere Message Broker $55.6K

• HP – WebSphere Portal: $25.6K

• Liberty Mutual – Teradata: $24K

• UHG – WebSphere Extreme Scale: $24K

• Kellogg – Enterprise Architecture: $22K

• Bass Pro Shops – InfoSphere Quality Stage: $16K

• Walgreens – Linux Systems: $20K

• McKesson – DataStage: $18K

Here are some highlights from the Marketing Team at LearnQuest for July:

• We have created new legal agreements and letterhead for all registered countries. These documents can be found in Sharepoint.

• We are running a Skillsoft Bundle promotion for Q3 which started in July: there are six different categories which can be purchased as a bundle at a discounted price. Click here for details.

• To better serve our international customers, we are now displaying a country-specific email for customer inquiries, instead of the LearnQuest US phone number, when a local number isn’t available. This email is visible in the header of every page, as well as on the “Contact Us” page. To see an example, click here.

Marketing Updateby Josh Jolly

LearnQuest Expands its Horizonsby Jon Sofro

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Partner ProfilePartner Information provided by Leah Schneiberg

Partner Name: Mirhenge

Based in: Seoul, Korea

Mirhenge’s road to becoming a LearnQuest Partner was… “Mirhenge became LearnQuest’s exclusive Public Partner in Korea- November 2013. Mirhenge was a former Authorized Training Partner of IBM and one of their largest producing partners in Korea, so it was a great ‘win’ when LearnQuest approached them and solidified them as a partner.”

This organization is a noteworthy LearnQuest Partner this month because… “The last two GSI results we received from IBM showed that in one month LearnQuest captured 93% of the IBM training market in Korea and then captured 100% of the market in Korea the following month. “

This Partner’s most impressive stat to date is… “Mirhenge produced 1501 student days to date.”

The biggest challenge Mirhenge has faced in the Partner role is…

“The biggest challenge of working with Mirhenge has been a language barrier. While LearnQuest does not have local language ability in every region, language comprehension and communication with the Mirhenge team has caused us the most challenges.”

Its team worked to meet this challenge by… “In order to help navigate around this issue, the Channel Team has set up regular meetings with the Mirhenge team. These meetings allow any day-to-day issues or updates to be

discussed, clarified, and corrected in real-time. Upon instituting these meetings with Mirhenge, the Channel Team also established regular meetings with the rest of our global partner network.”

The most exciting thing about Mirhenge’s future in the Partner Network is… “LearnQuest, through our partnership with Mirhenge, was the Number 1 IBM Global Training Provider in Korea. We are excited to see this continue and are eager to use this relationship as a model for all of our partners globally. Mirhenge continues to be a perfect example of how our partners can both expand their business and increase their market share as a result of their partnership with LearnQuest.”

We’ve made significant progress during the second quarter in many areas! The global team has consistently increased student numbers across all regions, enabled more and more partners, and established the foundation for our continued expansion into new areas as we transition Latin America and Africa into GSI during the next few months.

Here’s how our global teams have increased student numbers over the past year:

The highest growth rates in our direct business have been seen in India, followed by Australia. This dramatic growth contributed to LearnQuest being the #1 GTP in both India and Australia . EMEA growth rates have been smaller but will pick up significantly in 3Q and 4Q 2014.

Partner-based student volume has made us #1 GTP in Korea, Italy, Philippines, and the Ukraine.

Our partner-based and direct business combined drive the growth of our international operations.

We’ve made great progress since we began the global operations function one year ago, but we’re just getting started! More to come …

LQ Global Updateby Georg Gottshalk

Seoul, Korea

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LQ Ambassador (cont.)The meeting resulted in continued optimization of our EMEA operations, increased support for our partners, and drove a tripling in the EMEA pipeline for Q3. Presently, the team is intensely focused on making the third quarter a success for LearnQuest!

From Cologne, Sebastian (“The Third”) Trost, Markus, and I went to South Africa (my second red-eye of the week) to present at an IBM Roadshow in Johannesburg. I’d last been to South Africa in 1996, and a lot has changed—but some things haven’t: on the drive to the Hilton the cabbie offered either an extra 30-45 minutes of traffic on the highway, or a five minute shortcut, where she promised we’d get robbed at gunpoint. Knowing how much our IT team loves their Dells, we quickly chose heavy traffic …

LearnQuest represented well in the IBM meeting, and is now, according to IBM’s local GSI team, in the leading position in South Africa and CEWA (Central and West Africa) with a great set of partners (thank you Channel Team!) and the best strategy to win!

The next stop was Mumbai for a midnight-to-3am stopover on my third red-eye. The airport was humid, and I was told it totally had Wi-Fi: if you have an Indian data card, of course, which everybody has, naturally. Not me. Blackberry is was! Glad I had it. The airport was like a bus station, with just one large waiting room, and about a dozen “gates” right next to each other that let to … well, busses, which took people to airplanes parked randomly (or so it seemed) on the tarmac.

I’ve already talked about the India visit briefly in the last newsletter. I’m continuing to remain impressed with the way the team is tackling a very difficult market, one that for team members coming from a US (or European) marketplace , is often difficult to comprehend.

Just driving from the hotel to the client site, or to IBM, or on to a partner site, is a test of willpower: do I really need to go to that place that bad? Traffic

is utterly nuts, people are constantly honking, a two-way lane easily accommodates three lanes of regular traffic, packs of motorcyclists are constantly crisscrossing through, an extra lane out of nowhere is built by motorcyclists, the occasional suicidal pedestrian is dashing through, a cow every now and then is smack in the middle of the road (occasionally dead), and trucks, busses, and every imaginable form of vehicle compete in traffic that even the most experienced off-road racecar driver would find challenging to survive!

My favorite shot was the Indian Fedex Truck though:

Our LearnQuest colleagues in India were having a great time enjoying my traffic observations (a.k.a prayers). They got me safely everywhere, for which I shall be eternally grateful!

After a few days of very intense meetings with the team, partners, and a lot of IBM executives, I was glad to

be home, after yet another red-eye with a stopover in Frankfurt.

I remain deeply impressed by the driving skills of our LearnQuest team (thanks Saby!), the way they capitalize on IBM opportunities via Discrete Services , and how they win household names like Wipro, JP Morgan, Cap Gemini (thanks Karl!), Infosys, or Allianz.

Thanks to the efforts of everybody in India (Kaushik, Saby, Patricia, Jismi, Stanley, Smitha, Manjul, Sana), LearnQuest quickly became the #1 GTP in India in May after being #3 in April, and prior to that, not being operational!

It’s wonderful to see LearnQuest form and succeed with our shared core values in all of these diverse cultural environments, and I can’t imagine a better, more fun team to work with.

We’re building a great company for the future, and it’s an honor and great pleasure to serve and also great fun to see the LearnQuest Global team succeed in ways we could not have possibly imagined even last year around this time, and already WIN! so many accounts, in so many different countries.

More to come … we’re just getting started! Here’s to LearnQuest, the premier Global Training Provider!

Thanks,

Georg.

Yes, that’s a two-lane road.

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TIPS & TRICKS

1. CCLeaner (download at https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner): Use this to both clean unnecessary junk from your PC, such as temporary files you may not need, and to clean up your computer’s registry .*

2. Defrag your PC: In simple terms, defragging your PC physically organizes the contents of your hard drive so that the files on it are stored sequentially. This can significantly speed up your PC and should be done regularly, as it reduces the time your hard drive has to search for files. You can find the defragmenter by clicking Start and typing in Disk Defragmenter .*

*No software is to be installed on your LQ issued machines without prior approval and authorization from the IT Department.

CRM migration finally complete

As of Wednesday, July 14, all LQ users will have their access status changed in the current 2011 CRM to view-only and will not be able to save or make any changes.

At the same time, everyone will have his or her access to CRM Online turned on and with the same level of access they have always had in CRM.

Everyone must be aware of three major changes:

1. Accessing CRM:

a. Navigate to: http://learnquest1.crm.dynamics.com

2. Logging in:

a. Please use your Office 365 (your email) credentials

3. You no longer need VPN to access CRM!

Because we are migrating from the same version, everything else should look pretty much the same!

A few other important items of note:

1. The CRM Plugin will need to be reconfigured.

a. Email instructions were sent out to all users on July 16. If you have not reconfigured your plug-in, please do so. If you need assistance, please contact IT.

2. Advanced Finds:

a. If you have any advanced finds saved in your account, they will NOT be immediately brought over. Some more development needs to be done with this feature, and we did not want this to be a show-stopper for the migration. Please either be patient and wait until the vendor is able to complete this, or if you don’t have many, please recreate your Advanced Finds.

3. Excel Files / Pivot Tables

a. The way any saved Excel Files/Pivot Tables enter CRM will be changing. The vendor will be reviewing

this with us, and once we are shown how to properly migrate these types of files, we will be sending out detailed instructions. Per the vendor, there is no need to recreate the files/tables from scratch.

4. Mobile Access

a. You can now access CRM from any device with a web browser by navigating to the above address!

b. Once we upgrade to CRM 2013 (later this year probably) there are apps available to access CRM on an iPhone and Android.

Thank you all so much for your patience and understanding during this process!

As always, please contact us if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.

NUMBERS GAME

Welcome to the “Numbers Game,” a new section in our newsletter, where we highlight some interesting numbers that are company or industry-related, and present facts in short spurts using numbers. Let’s get started!

120: The number of classes from January through June that received a perfect score (5 out of 5) for customer satisfaction regarding our class deliveries. This number is based on the instructor rating only. Out of these classes, 54 received a perfect score for the course as well. This is amazing because last year we only had 54 (instructor) and 30 (instructor and course) total for the entire year and we’ve surpassed that by more than double within the first

six months of this year!

310: The percentage increase in the number of classes delivered in Q1 of 2013, compared with the number of classes delivered in Q1 2014. In the first quarter of 2013 we delivered 142 classes (not days) and in the first quarter of 2014 we delivered 440 classes. That’s an increase of almost 300 (298) classes within the first quarter.

462: The number of new instructors interviewed within the past 5 years. So far this year we have interviewed 125 individuals. Last year we interviewed a total of 125 and we’re at that mark already only half way through this year.

LQ Global Updateby Nik Opalenik and Kris Hagner

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Today’s general inquiries and problem reporting from external entities can be serviced through the LearnQuest general phone number and email address. Our new interactive phone system processed over 700 incoming calls in the first two weeks of July, and in June, our Customer Service area, staffed by Tommy Berger, logged 175 general inquiries.

What does a caller hear?

Hello, you’ve reached LearnQuest, the leading provider of complete IT and business education solutions. To better serve you, please listen to the following Main Menu.

> If you are interested in a training class, press 1

> If you are calling about a class that is currently in progress, press 2

> ……

To the external caller, the above menu is what they hear when dialing into our USA area codes. Simple and friendly to the caller, however, behind the scenes these calls are being routed to specific support areas for answering. In phase I, our implementation focused on USA, EST time zone. Additional phases will incorporate other time zones, global locations, and second level routing. For example, a student calls about a class in session, and he or she presses #2. With second level routing, the next set of prompts could ask the caller if he or she is currently taking a webinar or a self-paced class.

To help with email inquiries, we implemented a customerservice@learnquest.com mailbox that is monitored daily. Entries are documented in CRM, along with their corresponding responses. This workflow allows us to analyze and evaluate inquiries for process improvement initiatives. Inquiries are answered by Customer Service when there are repeatable processes, written scripts to

follow, or documentation stored in our continuously growing Knowledge Data Base. More complex inquiries are re-routed to functional areas.

What are some examples of email inquiries?

Public Registration:

A student wrote an email recently received by customerservice@learnquest.com. The student had registered for an Instructor-Led Training course. Although the student received an invoice from us, this student was unable to complete the PO process. Customer Service routed the inquiry to Finance; they then proceeded to provide the student with the necessary information. The student completed the PO process, and LearnQuest made the sale.

Partner Questions:

A partner wrote an email recently received by customerservice@learnquest.com. The partner had many questions regarding the upload of instructors and the upload of public classes to the public schedule. Customer Service used the Education-Partner-Operations Guide and Partner-Portal Guide to answer the questions on how to upload information and in what order. The partner’s question ultimately dealt with specific rights in its contract and at that point was routed to the Global Channel team.

MR: What is one thing people might be surprised to know about you?

SL: That I was ranked 2rd in the state in tennis when I was in high school.

MR: Do you have a favorite quote or saying that inspires you?

SL: “To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

MR: What has been your best travel destination and why?

SL: Taking my mother to Sweden! My grandparents were from Oland, and we were able to visit where they grew up as well as meet many wonderful relatives.

MR: Please share one thing that you have learned about yourself while working at LearnQuest.

SL: That challenges are opportunities!

MR: Susan, what advice can you share with new LQ employees?

SL: Be resourceful, stay positive, be accountable, challenge yourself, and be a team player!

SPOLIGHT ON...(cont.)

Answering our Customer’s Inquiriesby Kathy Rucinsky