Hybrid Sales Training by Wüstenrot

Together with Umberto Saxer Training AG, Wüstenrot Bausparkasse AG developed a hybrid sales training, in which the learning effect is as great, if not greater, than in a normal face-to-face training, with an increased level of concentration on the part of the participants.

Catgory: MOOC

Project partners:

Wüstenrot Bausparkasse AG

&

Umberto Saxer Training AG

Don't just do "online learning somehow", but get added value out of it. Possibly even design the hybrid learning event in such a way that everyone derives greater benefit from it.

This idea arose at Umberto Saxer Training AG because more and more participants in their seminars were of the opinion that the long journey was no longer appropriate. However, there were concerns from many sides that the previous quality standards of a training course that lasted 14 days could also be achieved online. In April 2018, they took the plunge and launched a test balloon with the first 2-day hybrid seminar. Since the results were very convincing, they decided to continue on this path and from then on, the 14-day training in Sales Cybernetics? took place online.

Also Rainer Horn, responsible for training and further education at Wüstenrot, which has been working with Umberto Saxer Training for a long time, became aware of this concept and took the opportunity to take part in such a seminar online during his holidays. He was so fascinated that he ended up taking the entire seminar. In the process, a light comes on for him. Verkaufskybernetik? by Umberto Saxer has a very positive influence. What is a problem at Wüstenrot, however, is the question of how a trainer can train a group of more than 1000 employees in the sales force at a high level. Since Rainer Horn has long found Verkaufskybernetik? to be the best methodology in sales and the way Umberto Saxer teaches this material is unique in his eyes, he saw the solution precisely in this hybrid concept. With this he approached Umberto Saxer Training AG and said "What you are doing is great, you need to make it bigger. I would like to be able to reach and train more employees in a shorter time."

Together, this concept was then scaled up so that large groups could also be trained successfully and interactively in this "small group atmosphere".

Even before the pandemic, Wüstenrot had committed itself to trying out a wide variety of methodologies. In the process, a sheer smorgasbord of experiments accumulated. Tests were conducted with Zoom, Teams, GotToMeeting and Skype. Didactically, we tried to work with or without Powerpoints, with document cameras or flipcharts.

CATEGORY: MOOC

The term "MOOC" stands for Massive Open Online Course and is generally used for online courses that have a large number of participants and are open, i.e. have no access or admission restrictions.

MOOCs are mainly used in the higher education context, although they are also used in corporate education.

In addition to the classic MOOC, there are now several variants or differentiations, such as cMOOC (connective), xMOOC (extension) or bMOOC (blended).

In the end, it became clear that the hybrid solution from Umberto Saxer Training AG promised the best chances of success and the existing cooperation was expanded with this concept. This was the starting signal for larger hybrid sales trainings in which several hundred participants were actively/interactively involved in the seminar online.

This is because, while the classroom format ensures that the group is divided up and sits partly directly in front of one and partly in front of the computer, this format, without further support, demands more than double the attention span of the trainers. It is known that the activation of online participants requires completely different means than that of face-to-face participants. There are also didactic differences.

Hybrid MOOC

With the hybrid seminar, a real seminar atmosphere can be transferred from the room to hundreds of online participants. In this way, seminars/examinations can be conducted online in a legally secure manner, at any time and in an even more didactically optimal manner.

Learning needs

In recent years, Umberto Saxer Training AG and Wüstenrot have been working on a methodology to eliminate this excessive demand on the trainer, which is ultimately also of a technical nature. The challenge was to address this excessive demand on the trainer and thus ensure a functioning system in which all sides win. The ambition was to have at least 1000 participants benefit from the hybrid format during the project, which is one third of the total number of employees targeted. The basic idea of "imitation" according to Albert Bandura was the guiding principle and should therefore be transferred from the presence part to the online participants. It was also hoped that this model could subsequently be applied to other training courses and target groups, i.e. outside of sales, distribution and management. In addition, it is Wüstenrot's direct concern to achieve a clearly measurable or calculable reduction in CO2 emissions and thus to achieve further sustainability for the environment as well.

Project progress

As early as August 2019, the idea was created at Wüstenrot to create an online offer. The first concrete pilot event took place on 27 or 28 April 2020 as part of the examination for "Specialist Cybernetic Selling - IHK" in segment 5 of the further training course set up for this purpose with a certified qualification. On the basis of this pilot, an initial evaluation was carried out, which had an influence on the follow-up dates.

Finally, after May 2020, the promotion of this new format was carried out in the usual channels for Wüstenrot and the hybrid sales training was thus also directly advertised. The overall evaluation of the actual project was carried out in June 2021.

The hybrid format is set up in such a way that the presence participants are always visible to the online participants through two additional cameras. At the same time, both groups (online and present) are connected by means of the same tasks, in which the results are to be compared together.

In addition, the involvement of a "technical moderator" is necessary, who supports the trainer and thus minimises the additional workload as much as possible, if not eliminates it altogether. In addition, the aim is to promote a stronger focus on the learning content and thus strengthen the learning effect.

METHODS

• Blended Learning
• Chats
• Learning portal/learning platform
• Virtual Classroom
• Web Based Training (WBT)
• Webinars

Just like in a recording studio

The premises for hybrid sales training are strongly reminiscent of a studio for audio or video productions. In fact, this is where all the threads come together. The moderator is supported in the training sessions from here and it is also the control centre - the brain that connects the real and virtual participants.

Project result

If you see others working, you are more willing to work yourself.?That is the basic principle of this model, and it actually works very well! With the idea of "social contagion" of activities, it is possible to activate participants. This does not only happen in the area of presence: especially when presence participants notice, see and experience that their fellow participants from the virtual space are also working, a synergy effect is created that is mutually dependent. This closes the circle between online and presence offerings and the hybrid basic concept fulfils its purpose fully.

It is interesting to note that in the online segment in particular, group formation is far less relevant than in the face-to-face segment, which is logical due to the real physical distance as well as the virtual anonymity: In the online segment, it is far more difficult to find oneself in groups and to socialise. Thus, for this part of the event, social activities such as witticisms, repartee or rank skills become less important. Instead, the hybrid seminar succeeds in increasing the concentration on the actual content. This has a very positive influence on the implementation of the seminar content in practice. This makes it possible to achieve great learning successes through online measures in seminars lasting several days, even with large groups.

This is also reflected in the acceptance among the participants: with a good 1800 participants, the minimum participant target for this new hybrid format was far exceeded. In this regard, very positive feedback was given to those responsible both at Wüstenrot and at Umberto Saxer Training AG, even without being asked. As a result, there will be further offers of this form at Wüstenrot in the future. On the one hand, there will be these in varied forms, and on the other hand, the format has already been carried out by Wüstenrot in a narrower format.

Also worth mentioning is the calculation of the CO2 savings due to the kilometres not driven to the attendance event. A saving of no less than 45,000 kg CO2 is calculated here, with the same learning result and learning transfer.

"I have tried this out myself.

I am surprised at the pull (collaboration) it triggers when you see how others work in the seminar.

Or how nice it is to experience a subgroup with the online participants.

Or to notice how high the concentration level can be with online / hybrid."

Rainer Horn

Division Manager

Wüstenrot Bausparkasse AG

Conclusion

The hybrid sales training project has started with an enormous success. "It's already flying," is how Rainier Horn describes it in his concluding self-summary. Exploiting the possibilities to create an even more concentrated form of learning is not a self-evident undertaking. After all, the hurdles are great: even in 2021, many entrepreneurs still feel a certain inner insecurity when it comes to the topic of "online". Breaking down these barriers and even optimising them in a way that is fundamentally positive and even better for learning requires a certain amount of innovation and willingness to try things out. This has been achieved, the high demand and sustainability of the learning success alone confirm this project in an impressive way, but also show that the synergy effects between online and face-to-face training - i.e. hybrid training - seem to be far from exhausted. The steps are clearly going in the right direction, and one can say: The success proves Wüstenrot and Umberto Saxer Training right.

The jury of the eLearning Journal is convinced of the direction and is pleased to award this project with the eLearning AWARD 2022 in the category MOOC.

INFO

Specifications: A functioning hybrid format that can be applied to other trainings and target groups afterwards, with a high participant participation as well as at least a good feedback rate with a valid and verifiable sustainability calculation in terms of saving CO2 values.

Special features: Development of a hybrid training in which the learning effect is as great, if not greater, than in a normal face-to-face training, with an increased level of concentration on the part of the participants.