Getting Started with a new eLearning Project?

Think about how you may want to Connect with your Customers . . .

Begin by thinking about the online development skills that you and your team can provide, and then figure out a few ways to communicate/discuss these skills in your customer’s language (business terminology). Minimize the jargon, the technical terms, the trendy phrases, etc., and instead strive to focus on communicating in language that your customer can easily understand.

Using a more insightful and connected communication approach that does not simply advocate for specific technological learning solution, but demonstrates your willingness to understand your customer’s issues like - key business drivers, crucial outcomes of the learning challenge, organizational structure, business practices, unique learner needs, etc. can be a more effective strategy for achieving better overall learning outcomes. 

Consider the following:

• What are your Consultant’s KSEs? Or, how well do you understand the Knowledge, Skills, Experience, your “digital strategies”, i.e., the “consultant skill set” that you, and your team can bring to the learning project?
• A strong understanding of your KSEs helps you to better communicate your team’s skill set in your customer’s “business language”.
• Communicating in your customer’s business language can foster a stronger connection, and can help you to better highlight the “consulting skill set” that your team can bring to help address your customer’s learning challenge.
• Be willing to ask detailed questions to “dig in” and better identify the root causes and key drivers for the learning challenge.
• Be willing to have regular “crucial conversations” around your customer’s fears and concerns around the current offerings, or for their past learning implementation(s). What worked? What didn’t work? Why didn’t it work? What scares them about moving forward with a new solution? Try to assess what concerns your customer, discuss these concerns, and identify straightforward strategies to help address their concerns.

It may not always be easily attainable, but the goal here is to strive to build understanding, to foster trust, and to help start a collaborative partnership as early as possible in your projects. Use this partnership to continually work closely together to assess and address crucial developmental issues.

Establishing, developing and strengthening your customer relationships early on can help you to stay better connected, to explore ideas more effectively, to better understand your customer's unique learning challenge and to deliver a more effective learning solution.

Danny Ortegón leads and develops strategic e-learning implementations across multiple industry sectors. His recent focus has been developing innovative and effective e-Learning strategies for various clients serving millions of learners.