All DRN clients receive training on the DRNsights suite when they begin using our platform. This includes both how-to’s for Address Scoring, Location Reports, Location Alerts and Loss Alerts, but also demos of and education about what these products can do for their business. We also offer ongoing training as new users come on board with a client, and refresher training when users need to sharpen their skills. And when clients want to go deeper and learn more about a tool, we can provide more advanced training.
Until March of 2020, training has usually consisted of classes of up to 20 users, hosted on-site at client locations by DRN’s Client Services team. We’ve also provided personal support to address specific needs – even sitting with users at their desks to help when they need it. It’s a huge benefit to our clients and a great way for us to learn about their businesses and build relationships.
But then Covid-19 entered the picture, and we pivoted quickly to bring the process online. This still typically includes group training led GoToMeeting or Google Meets, with one-on-one online support as well. So far, this has been successful for both our clients and for DRN, but also presents some challenges.
For clients, there’s added convenience and flexibility in scheduling since there are fewer logistics to coordinate – no travel for the DRN Client Services team, no meeting space needed, etc. And one-on-one training can be done more at the convenience of individual users since it’s all online.
For DRN, we’ve been able to schedule more training within a shorter time period than we could before, which means we’re getting more users engaged faster – that’s great for us and our clients. But we’re missing the personal interaction and how much that can help us understand and serve them better. The online individual sessions are effective but it can take a bit more time and not be quite as easy as communicating with someone in-person, one-on-one.
We don’t know when we may be able to return to in-person training. But we do know that training and relationships are important, so we’ll keep up the online process and work hard to make it even more effective for our clients. If you have any questions, are interested in some training, or have any best-practices you would like to share with us, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We are here, even if only online for now, but hopefully in-person soon.
