Amway Case Study: Providing Effective E-Learning For An Extremely Large and Global Distribution Channel
Amway Case Study: Providing Effective E-Learning For An Extremely Large and Global Distribution Channel
Providing Effective E-Learning for an Extremely Large and Global Distribution Channel
IMPROVE SALES READINESS AND RETENTION
How would an organization reach and effectively train a sales force of more than four million people while aggressively competing with new product rollouts? Amway is a leader in the $80 billion global direct-selling industry, offering people a distribution business of their own based on retailing products and recruiting others to do the same. Amway supports over four million independent distributors with a proven compensation plan and portfolios of quality products in health, beauty, and other consumer categories, along with the merchandising materials and the extensive training and education they need to be successful. The independent distributors provide guidance, advice, support, and mentoring of new recruits and receive monthly and annual bonuses and other cash awards and business incentives based on group performance. To support such a large number of people in 80 countries and in more than 30 languages, we desperately needed to leverage e-learning, said Randy Fingleton, Global LMS Manager for Amway. Our problem was, we werent reaching all of them quickly enough with individually targeted training. Some new applicants might even decide to leave the business before they could get trained in the areas that interested them. And we werent able to track learning activities or do business analytics, or even gather Level 1 Evaluation data.1 The problem of new-distributor retention is a big challenge for both Amway and the individual who recruited the new applicant to join. It increases the time and money spent on recruiting as well as hinders sales force readiness. We could launch a product in a given market, such as Japan, explained Fingleton, but it might be more than six months before all the people got properly trained. These problems not only affected sales revenue for Amway, but also reduced the potential for business growth with its distributors and adversely affected its brand. Another key challenge for Amway was keeping learning content consistent across global markets. Lack of consistency could put Amway at risk with regulatory compliance issues in different regions. We needed a platforma proven, highperformance learning solutionto design, develop, and implement learning globally in a more consistent manner, said Brian Heath, Director, Distributor Training, Amway, in order to improve sales readiness and assure our distribution force that the content meets all regulatory and brand standards.
1 Kirkpatricks Four Levels of Evaluation for assessing training effectiveness.
We needed to execute globally on a really large scale and in a compressed time period. In SumTotal we picked an excellent partner that could help us with the expertise and support we needed. Randy Fingleton Global LMS Manager
Fast Facts
Industry: Consumer Packaged Goods, Direct Sales Countries: USA and Global Users: 1.8 Million+ SumTotal Product: SumTotal Learning
www.sumtotalsystems.com
http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/articles/k4levels/index.htm
BUSINESS CHALLENGES
Flexibly deliver consistent, highquality learning content in 30 languages retention of new distributors learning for effectiveness
Improve sales readiness and Track learning activities and analyze Manage learning across regions with
different regulatory issues SOLUTION
RESULTS
www.sumtotalsystems.com
About SumTotal
SumTotal Systems, Inc. is the global leader strategic Human Capital Management (HCM) solutions that provide organizations with a new level of visibility to help make more informed business decisions and accelerate growth. Recognized by industry analysts as the most complete solution, SumTotal provides full employee lifecycle management, including a core system of record, from a single provider for improved business intelligence. The company offers customers of all sizes and industries the most flexibility and choice with multiple purchase, configuration, and deployment options. We have increased the performance of the worlds largest organizations including Sony Electronics (NYSE: SNE), AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN [ADR]; London: AZN), Amway (KUL:AMWAY), Seagate (NYSE: STX), Dell (NASDAQ:DELL), and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG). For more information, or to request a demo, please call +1 (866) 768-6825 (US / Canada), +1 (352) 264-2800 (international) or visit www.sumtotalsystems.com
About Amway
With its affiliates around the world, Amway is a leader in the $80 billion global direct-selling industry. Established in 1959 and based in Ada, Michigan, Amway reported sales of more than $8.2 billion in 2008. The company is a leader in health and beauty products through its NUTRILITE brand of nutritional supplements and its ARTISTRY brand of skin care and cosmetics. Amway offers the opportunity for people to have a business of their own based on retailing products and sharing the opportunity with others who will do the same.
www.sumtotalsystems.com
Corporate Headquarters
SumTotal Systems, Inc. 2850 NW 43rd Street Suite #200 Gainesville, FL 32606 USA Phone: +1 352 264 2800 Fax: +1 352 264 2801
EMEA
SumTotal Systems, UK 59-60 Thames Street Windsor, Berkshire United Kingdom, SL4 1TX Phone: +44 (0) 1753 211 900 Fax: +44 (0) 1753 211 901
APAC
SumTotal Systems India Pvt. Ltd. 7th Floor Maximus Towers Building 2B, Mind Space Raheja IT Park, Cyberabad Hyderabad, AP- 500081, India Phone: +91 (0) 40 6695 0000 Fax: +91 (0) 40 2311 2727 2012 SumTotal Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. SumTotal, and the SumTotal logo, are registered trademarks or trademarks of SumTotal Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. 012_0113LS