The Challenge
Starting a business is no small feat. The team at Volusion knows this – and is focused on providing the best all-in-one e-commerce and marketing service to growing businesses across the globe. Over the past 20 years, the Austin-based company has helped more than 180,000 entrepreneurs build better stores and earn more than $28 billion in sales.
With on-demand, 24/7 customer care, Volusion guides business owners through every step of their journey. And to help entrepreneurs jumpstart their businesses, Volusioneers must possess deep expertise in a constantly-evolving suite of products and services. Jared Kile, Trainer at Volusion knows this all too well, “There are a lot of things happening in our software – and they can change pretty rapidly.”
For years, training at Volusion depended on PowerPoint presentations and Word doc quizzes, but the Volusion team quickly found the limitations of these formats. “When I started,” explained Jared, “we had no mechanism to automatically give [reps] feedback on how well they did”. Additionally, it was difficult to keep materials up-to-date with frequently-changing policies and product info, which Jared notes “was very frustrating for learners”.
So, Volusion set out to find a better way to train. A way that was both learner and trainer friendly. That’s when they discovered Seismic Learning (formerly Lessonly).
Jared Kile
Trainer
The Process
To get off to a fast start, Jared enlisted the help of Seismic Learning Services team to transform all of Volusion’s content and PowerPoints into lessons. “We were almost starting from sum zero,” Jared remembers. “To have them help us create documents, show us how to best use the system and build content was huge.” With content in place, Jared’s team deployed Seismic Learning for both onboarding and continuous training for three levels of e-commerce consultant.
As a result, reps went from frustrated to empowered. Expert-level Consultant Kabutey Ebeheakey agrees, “[With Seismic Learning], it’s a lot easier to get information and I have more opportunity to learn and grow. It’s also nice to have refreshers on stuff that I have learned”. This has made it more efficient for reps to complete weekly assignments and review training on demand.
In addition to basic training, the team also uses Seismic Learning to earn badges and certifications, levelling up their roles and responsibilities. This has significantly impacted the team’s ongoing training for the better. “The biggest change has been the continuous education that we have for our employees,” explained Kris Campana, Director of Customer Experience. “We don’t have to take a group of reps out of the queues and away from helping our customers. They can just jump in when they have a lull period and get training done. So everyone is able to continue learning.”
And since Jared is responsible for the majority of learning and professional development for the team, he also enables subject-matter experts to create lessons and quizzes. Kris praised the way the team has owned building content, “I like to empower people on my team to really take ownership, and Jared’s using everyone as a resource in how we grow and learn”.
Jared Kile
Trainer
The Results
Prior to implementing Seismic Learning, Volusion’s training programme took 5 weeks to complete. Now, new reps are ramped faster, completing training in just three weeks. And Volusion’s Seismic Learning-powered training isn’t just more efficient. It’s more effective, too. More than half of new reps hit minimum expectations in their first month; before Seismic Learning, it took three months.
And Volusion isn’t stopping there; they’re actively monitoring ongoing learning and correlating it with rep performance. Customer Experience Team Lead Jenna Amburgey notes, “I get to manage the badge programme and see the progress of my reps. I also take advantage of manager development portals. I get to grow while our reps are growing”.
These days, Seismic Learning is more than software for Volusion – it’s a partnership. Jared notes, “The folks we’ve worked with at Seismic Learning have been incredible. I haven’t received this level of service from any other vendor I’ve ever dealt with”.
Seismic Learning exists to help trainers like Jared and his team Do Better Work. And we’re proud to play a small role in Volusion’s mission to help customers build better businesses. Jared concluded, “I imagine the people I hang out with are getting a little tired of hearing about Seismic Learning. If you’re looking for a way to build training quickly, and have it instantly usable, Seismic Learning is the way to go”.
