IMGCAP(1)]
From the September/October 2009 issue of ISO&Agent.
Agents need proper training to sell well in the payments industry. However, some ISOs are reluctant to invest time and funds into effectively training new hires and instead rely on less-effective training methods-or no training at all.
Some ISOs "want production [from agents], but they don't want to put in the training work," says Jae Haas, executive vice president of TransNational Bancard LLC, a Rolling Meadows, Ill.-based transaction processor and ISO. "It's a Catch 22. How will you take a na??ve person and expect him to sell deals properly if they haven't been trained?"
Some ISOs that undertrain agents may want to avoid the costs associated with training, while others avoid training for fear agents will take what they learn and move on to work for a competing company.
What such ISOs forget, however, is "the only thing worse than losing a salesperson is keeping one that is not trained," says Haas.
To lower training costs while maintaining training quality, some ISOs are introducing such technology as online courses, seminars and videos into their training repertoire. Web-based technology enables ISOs to educate more agents overall for less cost, says Henry Helgeson, president and co-CEO of Merchant Warehouse Inc., a Boston-based ISO.
Web technology is the future of ISO training, agrees Aaron Slominski, director of business development with Direct Technology Innovations, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based ISO. "You will see more people do Web-based training," says Slominski. "Training is going to continue to evolve" away from costlier methods, such as group training that requires all of the participants to travel to one location for the session, he says.
SOME METHODS LESS EFFECTIVE
Sales-agent training methods are not equally effective at educating agents, industry observers note. "Many companies don't invest a lot of time in their sales reps, and [the reps] don't know what they are doing," says Slominski, adding that poor training is the root of many agent problems.
Among the least effective training methods is "coffee-shop training," note observers.
Coffee-shop training "is where an agent meets a sales manager in a coffee shop, and the sales manager slides a binder across the table and says, 'Read this,'" says Mark Dunn, owner of FieldGuide Enterprises LLC, a Hartland, Wis.-based consulting firm. The method is "training materials without the training," he says.
Coffee-shop training "doesn't work," agrees Marc Beauchamp, CEO of Bankcard Boot Camp, a Houston-based provider of agent training. Beauchamp once received payments industry training in a coffee shop. After breakfast, the sales manager provided Beauchamp with sales leads and told him to start selling.
Beauchamp attributes his subsequent industry success to "shear persistence" and having an earlier background in sales. "I know I made so many mistakes those first few months, that with proper training I would have closed much more business for myself as well as my ISO," he says.
Despite the difficulty agents encounter with coffee-shop training, some ISOs continue to use the method. "I would hope [coffee-shop training] would be obsolete, but there are those organizations that do not provide any training at all" in the industry, Beauchamp says.
The benefit to ISOs of coffee-shop training is the low cost, note observers. "There's a good return on your investment" in coffee-shop training because the ISO only pays for the materials in the binder, says Dunn.
In-person training workshops typically are more effective at educating sales agents and preparing them to work for an ISO. But the high cost of travel and organizing sessions has become cost-prohibitive for some ISOs, professionals agree.
Classroom or workshop training can be expensive, says Dunn. To conduct classroom training, an ISO must pay for someone to lead the class, rent meeting space and assume the travel costs of any new hires who do not work nearby.
In part to save on agent-training costs, many companies have added online sales training, such as Internet-based seminars-often called Webinars-that typically enable attendees to call in to a conference phone line and follow along with visual presentations using their personal computers.
"In this economy, no one wants to travel," says Rori Ferensic, director of education and professional development for the Electronic Transactions Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group. "A Webinar is an hour, and you never have to leave your desk. You are saving money and time and travel dollars," she says.
In-person seminars are great but "very expensive," agrees Helgeson. With technology-based training, such as Webinars or conference calls, "you have a smaller success rate per [sales agent], but you are able to get to a lot more reps," he says, adding that Merchant Warehouse uses Webinars to train its agents. "It's cost effective for us. You can get to 20 guys in 20 states," he says.
TRAINING WITH TECHNOLOGY
Technology developed during the past 15 years has helped improve training, says Beauchamp. "Years ago, a lot of this technology was difficult to use and develop," but now it is more accessible, he says.
In the future, more ISOs will have multimedia training tools, such as online video or audio sessions, available for their agents, Beauchamp says.
Online videos give new agents the benefit of one-on-one training without having to place the trainer and the trainee in the same room, says Paul W. Lonsford, managing director of ISO/Agent Blueprint, a Dallas-based training company. Lonsford uses online videos, which he posts on his Web site, to provide industry training. He also is a sales agent with First Data Independent Sales, Atlanta-based First Data Corp.'s ISO partner program.
"I use systems and technology as much as humanly possible" when training others, says Lonsford. The separation of trainer and trainee is not detrimental to the new agent's education, he says. Trainees still can develop a mentor relationship with their instructors despite not being together, says Lonsford.
Direct Technology Innovations determined it was not cost-effective to fly their new hires to the company for training, but it wanted them to feel like they were part of the ISO's team, says Slominski. To accomplish this, the company in the spring began using for agent training Skype, a software application that enables users to make voice and video calls over the Internet. Direct Technology's managers and ISO-support staff gather in a room and introduce themselves to new agents via Skype. The new hires can both hear and see managers with the application, says Slominski.
The Web-based training "goes one step further in terms of building a relationship," says Slominski. "We want the people to feel like they are part of a team," he says. During the training, the ISO shows training videos recorded at the main facility so the new agents can see the building and how different processes work, says Slominski.
Though Web-based training has its benefits, associated challenges also exist, observers agree.
Ensuring every agent is participating in online training sessions is one difficulty.
"The problem with Webinar versus a classroom is we can't monitor involvement," says Helgeson.
In a class, the instructor can see if everyone is paying attention, and he can interact with participants. When using some online formats, it may be possible for an agent to log in and then walk away from the computer without participating in the session.
Often, agents' skills over time will indicate whether they paid attention during the online training, notes Helgeson. "The ones that wander off [during the Webinar] probably won't succeed," he says.
ISOs that want to monitor new agents' online training can use tools that list how many individuals accessed the site and whether they listened to the content, says Beauchamp. ISOs also can administer a test or quiz at the end of an online-training session to track an agent's progress, he says.
The Electronic Transactions Association offers online courses that include quizzes throughout the learning process, says Ferensic. "There are exams at the ends of the courses, and the user must attain a specific score to get a certificate" of completion, she says.
Some ISOs also "are doing testing, doing online surveys and asking for feedback" about online training sessions, says Beauchamp. Besides ensuring agents have digested the content, such feedback helps ISOs customize and improve the information, he says.
BASIC TRAINING
Regardless of the training format an ISO uses, be it Web-based technology, in-person workshops or another training method, every company should ensure their agents are equipped with basic sales skills, agree observers.
Much sales-agent training emphasizes products but lacks in basic sales skills, contends Beauchamp. "Where I see a gap today is on some of the intangible skills or softer skills, such as teaching them to communicate, to develop a sales strategy," says Beauchamp.
For new sales agents, "lack of knowledge oftentimes turns into fear or doubt, and fear creates call reluctance," says Beauchamp. "Many times they just don't have the confidence to make the sales call if they don't obtain training on at least the basics."
Without a training emphasis on sales basics and strategy, newer agents may find it difficult to compete effectively with sales veterans. "Some employers don't want someone without a base level of training," notes Ferensic. "Employers do want people to obtain" base sales and industry knowledge, she says.
Part of the reason for meager training programs is concern from ISOs that agents they train well will leave to work for competing companies, observers note.
"There is a ton of concern among ISOs of training agents and having them leave," says Helgeson. Merchant Warehouse strives to give agents fair compensation to keep them happy and working with the ISO, he says.
"It's better to invest in a person and you treat them fairly so they want to stay," Haas agrees. It is inevitable, however, that some agents will choose to leave, he notes.
Giving agents the skills they need to succeed while with an ISO is important, and Web-based technology can enable ISOs to educate more agents for less cost than some other training methods.
