\n\tBy Gail Dutton<\/p>\n
\n\tWorking the floor of the busy Nebraska Furniture Market, American Leather brand ambassador Tom Phelan used the mobile apps on his iPad to show potential customers schematics of the furniture line, showcase available fabrics and leathers, and help customers make on-the-spot decisions while they were in town for the weeklong Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting. For those who said, \u201cI\u2019ll be back,\u201d e-mailing their furniture choices caused them to return, order in hand, in greater numbers than before. In fact, sales from this year\u2019s event were 70 percent higher than those of either of the previous two years.<\/p>\n
\n\tAlthough Jill Shambo, Marketing manager, says the increase wasn\u2019t solely due to the use of mobile apps, they were a huge benefit. They\u2019re proving to be a big benefit in training retail salespeople, too, she says.<\/p>\n
\n\tAmerican Leather first began using mobile apps in April 2011. So far, \u201cmobile apps are used mostly in the field,\u201d Shambo says, replacing many of the materials the brand ambassadors typically use. Apps provide information to retailers so they may help their customers select and care for the various leathers and fabrics. Apps also detail the 130 different collections, 89 leathers, and 320 fabric options available, their pricing and configurations, as well as differences in frame constructions. The apps are segmented for brand ambassadors, retailers, and consumers, providing just the information each group needs.<\/p>\n
\n\tNow, \u201cour brand ambassadors go into a retail store before it opens for training and always have the most up-to-date information. And,\u201d Shambo says, \u201cThey don\u2019t have to cart a lot of samples.\u201d The catalogs are transmitted easily to retail sales associates on the spot, just by hitting \u201cSend.\u201d Alternatively, sales associates can download the password-protected apps from iTunes. Because the apps reside in the iPad, they are always available regardless of WiFi access.<\/p>\n
\n\tBeyond Sales Training<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tImportant as training the sales force is, mobile training apps are being used for much more. Visual Eyes Inc., for example, has developed training apps for the U.S. military\u2019s combat medical teams that detail specific medical procedures, such as controlling hemorrhaging. Other apps, developed for corporations and government agencies, pass along core values, institutional knowledge, and best practices. \u201cWith rapid turnover (and Baby Boomer retirements beginning), institutional knowledge is being lost,\u201d observes Gerard Gibbons, O.D., CEO of Visual Eyes Inc. Apps may capture part of that knowledge and disseminate it through short interviews, analyses of failures, interactive games, or best practices applied to certain situations, and he says, \u201c\u2026served up in a way employees can use.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe American Ophthalmological Society (AOS) is using apps in its continuing medical education (CME) courses to supplement training, Dr. Gibbons says. In that instance, the full course is on the Web, and derivatives\u2014including tips, techniques, and insights\u2014are developed as mobile apps.<\/p>\n \n\tVisual Eyes also is developing a Website, www.afterdeployment.org, for returning military personnel that trains them and their families to deal more effectively with the health issues that are specific to them. Dr. Gibbons says the site includes apps that veterans and their families may download to assess issues; chart their progress or moods; or help them cope with specific issues, such as post-traumatic stress or sleep disorders.<\/p>\n \n\tTracking Training<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tOrganizations also are using mobile apps to manage the path or sequence of training, to verify that training occurred, and to help users maintain training records throughout their careers, notes Alan Knitowski, chairman and CEO of Phunware.<\/p>\n \n\tPhunware, which develops apps to train employees at Fortune 500 companies and the U.S. government, creates \u201ca broad mobile experience, not just bite-sized chunks of information,\u201d Knitowski says. That means \u201canytime, anywhere training\u201d that typically is downloaded to a mobile device. The experience may include a logbook of activity, training schedules, and (for the military) physical performance, as well as courses for such things as cultural awareness, new products and services, competitive threats, and talking points.<\/p>\n \n\tIn the corporate world, \u201conce you have a mobile sales experience, for example, we send out talking points. But just because they were sent doesn\u2019t mean they were read or internalized,\u201d Knitowski points out. \u201cTherefore, we have automated methodology that indicates whether the work was read and whether it was understood.\u201d In that regard, this is similar to online training in which reading material is followed by quizzes. \u201cThis approach eliminates doubts about proficiency,\u201d he says, and gives instant compliance statistics.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cGamification\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tOne of the major trends in apps development, Knitowski and Dr. Gibbons both say, is the recent emphasis on making apps more entertaining as they move from supplementary training to primary training. \u201cTraining happens where people are ready,\u201d Dr. Gibbons emphasizes. Therefore, \u201ctraining opportunities are all equal today.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tVisual Eyes, for example, uses strategic storytelling in its apps. That combines cinematic techniques and interactive design with perception and cognitive learning approaches to make each app logical, multi-layered, easily retained, and easily consumable. People remember compelling stories better than dry facts. So \u201cit\u2019s not enough to get the information in a timely way,\u201d Dr. Gibbons says. \u201cToday, learning is about ease of understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tCoca-Cola knows this and uses multi-player gaming over electronic devices to train many of its executives. As Janet Clarey, senior analyst at Bersin & Associates, recounts, \u201cCoca-Cola partnered with Kelley Executive Partners to develop an executive education alternate reality game combining social and mobile technologies for competitive and collaborative team problem solving.\u201d One version involved 16 senior executives from Coca-Cola\u2019s North African division and ran for four days to help teams learn to better divide their skills and resources. According to Clarey, Coca-Cola used this exercise to learn about how Millennial consumers use Web 2.0 technologies and thereby develop a more effective marketing campaign.<\/p>\n \n\tLooking Ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThere\u2019s been a huge explosion of consumer apps, and business apps are increasing incrementally,\u201d Clarey says. A recent Bersin & Associates study shows mobile training increasing from 9 percent of respondents in 2007 to 20 percent in 2010. \u201cIn five years\u2019 time,\u201d Knitowski predicts, \u201cthe dollar value of enterprise apps will exceed those of consumer apps.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe message for trainers is to design information for mobile audiences. Resistance to use is rarely an issue, says Steve Christensen, CEO, Babbleware, Inc. \u201cConsumers have more technology than their employers,\u201d he notes, so they tend to be familiar with consumer apps already.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe key features are agility and ease of use,\u201d according to Christensen. Ease of use is assumed in an app. Today\u2019s graphic trends include using minimalist designs, thin sans-serif fonts, bolder colors, background textures, and cinematics. At the enterprise level, apps may be more sophisticated. To be effective, they \u201c\u2026 must be able to respond to changing conditions, including new regulations, new products or services, new markets, and new customers,\u201d Christensen says.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cApps are moving from supplementary training to primary training,\u201d Knitowski notes. \u201cTraditional training won\u2019t go away,\u201d he says, but will have remote options that are freed from the constraints of time zones and Internet access, making training truly an anytime, anywhere activity.<\/p>\n \n\tMobile Apps Trends<\/strong><\/p>\n By Gail Dutton<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[16],"class_list":{"0":"post-9473","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-magazine","7":"tag-feature","8":"magazine_issues-september-2011"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n