eLearning

Junior sales representatives at Heartland Pro HVAC with less than six months at the company and less than two years of overall sales experience.

Heartland Pro HVAC saw a steep decline in service contract sales after hiring a group of new sales representatives. The new reps were getting in front of clients but struggled to overcome objections, and closing rates fell significantly. The business goal was to restore normal closing rates by giving sales reps effective tools to overcome sales objections.

A 35-minute scenario-based eLearning course built in Articulate Storyline 360. A sales mentor character guides learners through a three-step framework: categorize the objection as a Value, Competitive, or Approval concern, ask refining questions that sharpen the understanding of the objection, and respond in a way that moves the conversation toward closing. A branching practice scenario lets reps rehearse realistic sales conversations before the assessment, and a downloadable job aid provides a useful reference in the field.

The course presents engaging content through realistic scenario examples. The learning culminates with an interactive simulation of a sales call. Knowledge checks with feedback also provide low-stakes reinforcement of learning.

I started with a design document that defined the business problem, target audience, learning objectives, delivery recommendation, and assessment plan. From there I built a content map that tied every target actions to the business goal, and learning objectives to those actions. I produced a storyboard including on-screen visuals, slide text, narration script, and planned interactions. I developed the course in Storyline 360 in iterative cycles of building, review, and refinement.

Learning is measured through three in-course knowledge checks with feedback, a branching practice scenario, and a final assessment of five scenario-based questions with an 80% passing score and unlimited retakes (Kirkpatrick Level 2). I recommended evaluation surveys sales mentors 90 days after launch, comparing each rep's pre-course and post-course closing rates (Kirkpatrick Level 3).

Marketing consultants at SageFlow Marketing, a marketing consulting firm. They are experienced professionals whose research and problem-solving skills were developed before the AI era.

SageFlow's goal is to see their consultants move beyond using AI for basic, routine tasks, and instead partner with AI on projects that require complex research and analysis. SageFlow set a goal for its consultants to achieve a 50% productivity gain in producing marketing proposals with AI while maintaining the firm's quality standards.

A self-paced course built in Articulate Rise 360 that teaches consultants the basics of partnering with AI in analysis workflows. Learners build an information-rich context folder for the AI to draw on before prompting begins, apply smart prompting techniques during the analysis process, and form a context handoff plan for when long conversations bog the AI down.

An embedded animated introduction video introduces the learners to the need for the course. The content is presented in the context of engaging, real-world examples.

Starting from the business goal, I identified the specific actions consultants need to take, tied each action back to the productivity goal, and derived learning objectives from those actions. Content was then chunked into subtopics that stay strictly within the scope of the objectives. I developed the course in Rise 360, extended and edited stock images in Photoshop, produced the animated introduction video in Powtoon, and edited the video in Camtasia.

The course concludes with a performance-based assessment of scenario questions set in realistic consulting contexts (Kirkpatrick Level 2). A post course evaluation is recommended that would allow consultants to self-report productivity increases utilizing AI as a partner on complex tasks (Level 4).