Versado Training’s 2019 Business Development Initiative

by | Nov 12, 2019 | Business Development, Training

The best businesses survive and thrive by word of mouth and reputation. The history of Versado Training’s growth has been no different. This year, our team has grown by leaps and bounds in man (and woman) power. Our team began a “push initiative” that set out to leverage Versado’s relationships with diverse colleagues and maximize our industry knowledge. We began by encouraging growth with new partners within various corporations and industries, with the objective of sharpening our knowledge and staying ahead of learning trends.

To push this initiative forward, our business development team focused on leveraging lateral connections by showcasing examples of how we pull through client initiatives. This provided a great opportunity to reconnect with our peers within the life sciences industry and to check in with consulting peers and colleagues to understand what’s happening from a learning and development (L&D) perspective. While doing so, we sought to uncover opportunities to deepen connections with L&D partners.

Findings

 

What we found was threefold:

 

  1. Our clients are increasingly seeking to prove that the money and time spent in L&D meets higher order objectives and provides recognized growth in knowledge, behavior, skills, and attitudes. The economic pressures of research and development (R&D) and marketing have necessitated the need for proof that the training is efficient in time and money and, importantly, delivers specified results. We recognize the need to provide feedback to our clients to show that their learners not only had fun, but that objectives were met. We have encouraged our clients to take the extra time to collect data through surveys and during role-plays and certifications. With this shared information, we continue to sharpen our internal processes and hone our deliverables to best meet objectives and maximize the impact on end users.
  1. Interest in the use of augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) for training is escalating across disciplines, but specifically in the life sciences industry. By expanding our work in this fascinating space, we have found increasing opportunities to explore this novel and alluring learning trend in a way that doesn’t just add engagement and excitement to learnings, but also targets specified objectives and outcomes. We have found that AR/VR in training is best used for the following:
    • to elicit empathy and emotion
    • to simplify a complex object or physical space
    • to interact within an environment
    • when a total focus, void of any distractions, is critical to learning
    • when the learning space is too expensive or too logistically complicated to be replicated

With a focus on these most effective uses, we can advise our partners when the value of an AR/VR learning environment would be maximized.

  1. Finally, in order to highlight the work of our talented creative services and instructional design team, our account development team tried a new approach during a handful of our pitches. By showcasing the “Versado Way” within the pitch, we gave clients a glimpse into the creative yet focused work that we do. During our pitches, we incorporated a focus on the following:
    • Remote learning
    • Hands-on interactions with our capabilities
    • Theming to provide a cohesive message
    • Gamification to enhance learner engagement
    • Priming and reinforcing opportunities to create excitement and objective push/pull through
    • Surveys both before and after training to measure results and gain feedback

By taking this approach during our pitches, it gave clients an opportunity to see what their learner audience would be experiencing by partnering with Versado.

Business Development Initiative Conclusion

Versado continues to value open dialogue with our clients. We take a consultative approach to help uncover training needs, especially if they are not explicit. We incorporate a proactive approach to look for the best possible deliverables to meet objectives, truly listening to our clients’ needs and objections. Our talented team is highly skilled at asking questions to isolate minutiae and truly drive focus and action toward meeting the higher-level objectives that the learning industry faces. Our team is continually reading, learning, and challenging each other and ourselves to stay razor sharp, keeping things simple and effective in what could easily become a very chaotic learning space. In house, we treat each other with the utmost respect, encouraging and supporting one another. We will continue to use these company-wide high standards to surpass the expectations of our clients, creating a strong pipeline of training solutions and laying a foundation of excellence so that our clients will continue to think of Versado Training first when the next learning event arises.