Over breakfast before today’s Internet Retailer conference, I listened to the e-commerce manager of a sporting goods store describe the purpose for his visit to Boston: “We’re here to learn. It’s critical to keep pace with what’s happening, and so going to the speaker sessions is our way of keeping up, of getting smarter. I just wish the rest of my team could be here.”
Two colleagues stayed behind in Canada, he said, but he did bring along his techie webmaster. Hi, there. Hi, he replied shyly. After another bite on my bagel, I asked what he’d been learning?
The e-commerce conference offered lots of diversions, the webmaster said. The trouble was that the sessions felt oriented towards marketing, and he was focused on programming. Oh well, it was still nice to have come. He said this to me as if repeating it out loud would make his manager, smiling at him across the table, feel better about the expense.
The two ladies who remained in Canada worked on marketing stuff, but also customer service stuff. And they couldn’t afford to leave the customer service stuff unattended in order to enjoy a five day, there-and-back-again, Boston adventure. So they missed out. “I’ll bring back what I can remember and we’ll talk about it,” the e-commerce manager offered with a hopeful tone. Again, as if repeating it out loud would inspire him to, to … to what, exude diligence in his note-taking?
The cost of airfare, the lodging, and the intensive all-day, multi-day format had excluded from attendance the actual people (those two ladies), who are doing the hands-on part of this company’s Internet marketing work. Ack.
As I bid farewell and left the table, a feeling of scarcity stuck with me. How to shuck this feeling? How can we train up a team without airfare expenses getting in the way? How can we promote learning among one’s entire team? Imagine the sales possible from getting all four (the ecom manager, the programming geek, the marketing & customer service ladies), on the same page? Imagine each person spawning unique ideas from the same learning experience, if only they could share it?
Whenever we build our distance learning product, merchants ought be able to:
- involve the whole team, even an outside freelancer.
- make something a team can experience, and then reference later for a just-in-time refresher.
- offer teachable moments in small enough bites that even the busiest customer service person can make the time to learn.