Citibank e-ETM: Program for Expanded Target Markets Making It Work By Targeting Stakeholders and Learners
	The Citicorp Latin America Training & Development Center developed "e-ETM (E-Learning Sales Program for Expanded Target Markets)," a voluntary, self-paced sales training program for 140 sales people in 13 countries. The e-ETM program includes a collection of 15 web learning modules developed in Spanish, plus supporting material for supervisors for coaching and follow-up. Read here how the Citibank design team increased the success of the e-ETM program by partnering with vendors, using needs assessment data to get user input, decentralized decision-making, and used a robust marketing campaign to boost participation in e-learning. See a description of the instructional design used for the e-ETM: E-Learning Sales Program for Expanded Target Markets.
	Key Components A robust marketing campaign to gain buy-in and boost participation in e-learning Using needs assessment data to address learner concerns Partnering with vendors Decentralized decision-making
	The Challenge The Citicorp Latin America Training & Development Center faced several challenges when they set out to design a training program for their global sales people. One challenge was that at Citibank, about 95% of the learners were not exposed to e-learning before the e-ETM program was introduced. To boost participation and program effectiveness, about 10% of the e-ETM project budget has gone towards internal marketing targeted at both the Credit and Sales units. Why was it necessary? One reason for marketing was to address learner concerns. The project manager made excellent use of the needs assessment findings to target the marketing campaign. The Solution Partner with vendors Because there was a budget crunch, the project manager used an outside e-learning vendor to develop the program, but there was a catch. The vendor company, a small start-up shop, agreed to develop the program for a much smaller fee in return for permission to use the finished product for their own marketing purposes. The arrangement was a win-win for both parties. Tie-in to needs assessment - getting user input To develop the e-ETM program, designers used needs assessment and usability testing to involve learners and managers in the program's design and implementation. All the countries and about 10% of the target audience individuals were part of the authoring team, and half of the supervisors also helped in the development. During the launch period (May 15-June 30=45 days) two revisions were made to site by hand incorporating feedback and suggestions from the actual learners, with their names and giving credit to them. During design and development, the project manager held monthly conference calls with 14 managers so they knew what was being built. During the launch period, the project manager pulled data from the LMS to discuss the stats on weekly usage of the e-ETM resources. Decentralized decisions about participation Again, e-ETM is not mandatory. Because there were thirteen countries involved, each with its own requirements and conditions, the implementation of the e-ETM program had to be decentralized, with decisions made locally about whether or not and how to participate. For instance, learners in one country may not be able to access the online materials during work hours because of bandwidth limitations, or materials might get held up in customs in another. Encouraging participation in e-learning For example, at Citibank, about 95% of the learners were not exposed to e-learning before the e-ETM program was introduced. So, their sales managers were involved as "change agents." Learners were encouraged to go to their supervisors for assistance, and supervisors were prepared to provide their sales people with guidance and thoughtful discussion about lessons learned from e-ETM. Robust marketing campaign To boost participation and program effectiveness, about 10% of the e-ETM project budget has gone towards internal marketing targeted at both the Credit and Sales units. One reason for marketing was to address learner concerns. The project manager made excellent use of the needs assessment findings to target the marketing campaign. The design team created a slogan, plus CD-ROMs, posters, stickers, give-aways, and presentations to target various stakeholders and increase participation in the e-ETM program. E-learning was a new idea for many learners and supervisors, and they had many concerns, such as, "Does e-learning mean that we won't get to go to training with the nice instructor, and the nice hotel with the nice food?" Designers were also concerned that if they positioned the program as "advanced," then the novice employees would think it was too difficult, and if they positioned it as "basic," the seasoned employees would think it was too basic. The marketing campaign was used to let people know that e-ETM would not replace instructor-led training (ILT). Rather, e-ETM would provide many benefits for learners and supervisors, such as: e-ETM could be used to compliment ILT e-ETM could be used to teach basic skills through lessons, and advanced skills through case studies e-ETM could be taken independently e-ETM would allow learners from the Sales and Credit departments to work together E-Learning Strategies Citibank had several effective strategies for marketing their e-learning.
Figure 1
	Marketing Strategies to Support Your E-Learning Effort Slogan. The ETM group had wanted to distinguish themselves from other groups in the organization. The project manager was able to leverage that existing culture by creating a slogan for the e-ETM program, "Made by ETM, for ETM" as seen in Figure 1. This slogan was meant to gain buy-in from the business unit by giving them credit for the program, and letting people know that the program was designed with their input, not by some "outside" training person. CD-ROM. The CD-ROM was targeted at training coordinators, sales managers, and the learners themselves. It served two main purposes. First, it provided a two-minute tour of the e-ETM program for learners. Second, it was a call to action for all three groups to help make the e-ETM program a success. For training coordinators. Training coordinators were nudged to pull data from the LMS and prepare reports for sales managers. They were given a heads-up about how to use the marketing posters and other materials that they would be receiving. Finally, they were coached on how to support learners during the rollout, including how to get the necessary technical assistance. For sales managers. Managers were urged to talk to their local training coordinator about the LMS report. They were also encouraged to follow-up weekly with learners to make sure they had the necessary support from the training coordinators and the information technology folks, and to make sure to discuss the cases with learners. For learners. Learners were told how sign-up to participate in the e-ETM program, and how to get the support they needed from their manager, training coordinator, and IT support technicians. For the sponsor - A taste of Flash. The project sponsor insisted on Flash, but there was really no time or money for it. So, the project manager addressed the sponsor's wish by creating a 2-3 minute Flash piece in the marketing CD-ROM. Posters. A series of three posters were sent to each city to be posted by the training coordinator. The first poster was timed to be posted with the stickers, and highlighted the main page of the e-ETM website and included key "WIIFM" points (What's in it for me?) to introduce and entice potential learners as seen in Figure 1 above. Two weeks later, the second poster included screen shots of each of the seven scenarios to expose them to the role-playing possibilities as seen in Figure 2, "Do you understand that each module provides a different learning scenario?" Finally, the third poster featured the visually appealing characters from the "cocktail tour" to highlight the program's rich interactivity and clever design to attract late adopters.   Figure 2 Stickers. Stickers were chosen as a cheap but effective marketing element. In one country, the project manager had the janitors put the stickers on the computer monitors of each sales person so they couldn't help but notice the advertisement for the e-ETM program. Kick-off presentation. The project manager delivered a thirty-minute kick-off presentation via a conference call with fourteen managers in the thirteen countries. The presentation included a variety of messages for stakeholders including what the e-ETM project is and is not, and a description of the three components: Lessons, Cases, Tour. Successful Results The e-ETM project has been quite successful. So far, over one-third of the target audience has participated in these voluntary modules. Each learner has attempted about seven of the fifteen modules with a completion ratio of 80%. In one country, where limited bandwidth keeps people from accessing e-ETM during business hours, some learners are coming in on weekends to complete the modules. According to Ivan, the project manager, "I think it was successful because it was short, simple, and they [the users] helped develop it." Yes, a free PDA was offered as an incentive, but Ivan found through analyzing the usage data, some learners who completed several modules did not qualify for the PDA - "they did it because they wanted to learn." Lessons Learned The e-ETM project manager, Ivan Cortes, is pleased with the project. "It packed a lot of punch. It was small, simple, cheap, and it has all the elements." He was also candid about what he learned from the experience. See lessons learned in a complete description of the instructional design used for the e-ETM: E-Learning Sales Program for Expanded Target Markets. For More Information For more information on the e-ETM project, contact Ivan Cortes at Ivan.cortes@citicorp.com. Ivan is an instructional designer from Florida State University, and currently Sales Training Director for Citibank in Latin America.