CRM - March 2009 - (Page 44)

and participation (i.e., were questions asked?). Those who exit after 15 minutes receive a much lower score than those who stay the full 90 minutes. These reports helped pinpoint a problem particular to Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), where participants were either dropping off or had low attendance. It turned out, not surprisingly, that timing was key. “We’d hit a 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. window in Europe and people would fall off,” Kardon says. The company now holds two webinars, one for its North American audience and another for EMEA. Further examination and follow-up surveys revealed that Eloqua’s European attendees found more relevance in hearing from European experts, moderators, and customers; now, Eloqua caters to those preferences. And efforts now have a shelf life. With On24, Eloqua has been able to turn its webinars into permanent marketing vehicles that can be reused for future initiatives, which had not been possible given the poor quality of previous webinars. The three most critical aspects of a successful webinar, Kardon explains, are: a strong topic; a targeted list; and an emphasis on education, not advertisement. Eloqua brought the first two to the table, but in its partnership with On24, it was able to truly fine-tune its best practices in webinar engagement. “[Participants] are giving you 60 to 90 minutes. You have to give them information they haven’t heard before. They’re saying, ‘Give me insight, a nugget of something,’ and that matters a great deal,” Kardon says.“You never want to be in sell mode.You want to be a teacher and deliver value all the time.” —Jessica Tsai A Training Regimen Gets Rigorous Brainshark helps FitLinxx pump up customers’ use of fitness technology M the payoff WITH ON24, ELOQUA WAS ABLE TO: $ reach record levels of webinar attendance with 3,292 registrants; gain more than 120 leads from webinars; confidently rely on a platform that scales to accommodate high numbers of registrants; score the quality of leads among webinar participants; use reports and analytics to determine causes for participant drop-off; and store and reuse webinars for future marketing. any companies have programs for training employees. But on-demand business communications provider Brainshark helped one business train its customers, and keep those customers coming back for more. There is no shortage of exercise clubs in the developed world, nor a lack of healthconscious (or image-conscious) people to fill them. Still, there’s an increasing call for ways to extend fitness beyond the gym. Founded in 1993, Norwalk, Conn.–based FitLinxx uses technology to motivate people to pursue active and healthy lifestyles. The company sells a range of electronic devices for monitoring and encouraging healthy activities to fitness facilities, healthcare and wellness providers, schools, the military, and consumers. The devices require some user training, which FitLinxx had always handled the old-fashioned way—sending a representative to the customer site to conduct classes. This worked for years, but geographic dispersal and growing demand meant moving beyond the old method. “This approach was presenting challenges,” said Kandice Turner, director of customer training and program development for FitLinxx, in a testimonial. “Onsite visits had to be scheduled three to four weeks in advance, and the travel was costly and ate up our training resources.” Any new employees at a site meant another round of travel and training, as did any new product or feature. By early 2008, FitLinxx knew it needed a change. Turner sought out Brainshark and its on-demand communications capabilities. Usually, the first thought with a solution similar to Brainshark’s is agent training, but FitLinxx had other ideas. “We needed a solution that could train people outside of our organization—our customers. However, our customers are so focused on day-to-day operations, they simply don’t have the luxury of scheduling staff training in advance,” she said. Brainshark gave FitLinxx a way to supplement and even replace live training with Web tutorials that users could access at will and repeat as necessary. More than just generic training videos, Brainshark’s editing capabilities enabled Turner’s team to customize the offering for each client. “The on-demand model…has been a perfect fit for our needs, enabling users to participate in training sessions at their convenience without the need for multiple onsite visits from our team,” she said. “Plus as our technology is updated, we can efficiently roll out new features and benefits in weeks instead of months. With Brainshark we are able to offer the kind of flexible, customizable training our customers demand.” Ease of access is a major selling point. Equipment costs money—money that’s wasted if the equipment’s not put into regular use with the client’s own customers. When clients can train as much as they want until they understand the product, risk of underutilization is minimal. In addition to the intended benefits of reduced training costs and better staff utilization, Brainshark has helped FitLinxx in other ways. The easy, repeatable accessibility of training content has helped reduce the volume of customer support calls. Furthermore, the Brainshark platform allows users to create powerful presentations at trade shows. “Customers such as FitLinxx are not only reducing specific costs such as training, but drastically improving the overall customer experience leading to better retention and bottom-line results,” said Joe Gustafson, Brainshark’s CEO and founder, in a statement. “It’s a powerful example for many companies who are looking to cut costs without sacrificing their quality of service.” —Marshall Lager the payoff WITH BRAINSHARK COMMUNICATION TOOLS, FITLINXX WAS ABLE TO: $ reduce its training expenses by more than 50 percent; allocate staff more efficiently; provide better presentations to prospects at trade shows; and reduce the volume of support calls. 44 CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT | MARCH 2009 www.destinationCRM.com http://www.destinationCRM.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CRM - March 2009

CRM - March 2009 Contents Front Office Reality Check Customer Centricity The Tipping Point Stay Tuned Stimulating Citizen Experience CRM on Twitter Retailers Face Reality Making Relationships Matter Required Reading We the People Innovation Nation CRM and the iPhone Looking to Score The Virtual Welcome Mat A Tough Transition Made Easier A Training Regimen Gets Rigorous A Battle Fought from Afar Secret of My Success Re:Tooling Connect Pint of View

CRM - March 2009

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