Specific
Software Solutions Company LLC (SSS) sells software tools and actuarial
services for risk management and insurance professionals. One of their
products is a subscription website focused on helping employers
reduce worker's compensation costs and improve productivity. The
communication and training challenge was how to present their expertise
and wealth of knowledge on the web
in an engaging way.
SSS
contacted Tanner to do the writing. Through interviews, research, and
analysis Tanner distilled SSS's expertise into 15 training modules,
each with an illustrative video
and introductory audio. Some modules include
downloadable, customizable materials for specific business and industry
segments. The
award-winning subscription website, WorkCompEdge.com, combines the
benefit of SSS's management experience, real world advice and examples
for managing costs, and an implementation plan.
Success Stories We have helped customers and employees understand what a product or service can do for them, understand how to use a product, or understand how to perform a specific task. These changes impact sales volume, customer satisfaction, costs, efficiency, and employee satisfaction. We draw satisfaction from contributing to your business success. We invite you to read our success stories.
Deloitte
Who Answers the Call Center's Questions?
Deloitte needed to train a group of newly hired call center employees quickly and effectively on the DTE (Deloitte Time & Expenses) system. Existing training was unorganized, inconsistent between facilitators, and lacked interactivity for participants. Tanner evaluated the training documents and made over a dozen improvements to the existing materials, including
Identifying learning objectives
Structuring the course content to reflect the learning objectives
Adding questions, audio clips, and practice exercises for learner interaction and retention
Developing a Leader Guide to help ensure consistency of course material delivery
Creating checklists so that participants had specific learning tasks to complete in the on-the-job portion of their training
Adding graphics and screen shots to the course materials as appropriate to enhance the look of the materials
Tanner delivered a final product that provided practical, consistent training for call center employees. The employees were better prepared to perform their jobs due to application of the required skills during training which led to better retention of learning objectives.
Direct General Insurance
Big Challenge Meets Big Solution
Direct General Insurance Company agents, working in over 420 retail stores in thirteen states, sell new and renewed automobile insurance policies to walk-in and telephone customers all day long. The main sales tool the agents were using was once a state-of-the-art mid-range system, but had become a relic. The company wanted to upgrade the AS-400 system to an online system that single-handedly looked up VINs, requested motor vehicle reports, interfaced with payment systems, and enabled selling the company's ancillary products. Direct developed in-house, a super system that did all these tasks, and more.
Swooping in on a Cape Direct needed documentation for their new Web FEP (Front-End Processing) System and contracted Tanner to write a help file. Tanner provided a multi-person, long term project team to research, interview SMEs, write topics, and test the help. When complete, the documentation was embedded within the Web FEP application and is accessible as context-sensitive help or as a stand-alone document.
The New Normal The high profile Web FEP product and the accompanying help file have been a huge success. The agents like the speed and reliability of the new system. They have all their sales tools as well as the system instructions in one system. In addition, the help file content is easy for Tanner to update as Direct makes improvements to the system.
Cybervision Text
Golf Pro in Your Pocket
Golf pros Nancy Quarcelino and Rita Reasons wanted to write a golf book, but they didn't want it to be another photo instruction book−they wanted a golf book that incorporated pointers and short demonstration videos a golfer could view on the course on a PDA.
Their publisher, Cybervision Text, and partners, Tanner Corporate Services and Duthie Learning, agreed to accept the pioneer project. Tanner knew that Adobe's enhanced pdf could play a video, but had never used it in a project. The first step was to prove the platform's suitability. That done, Tanner worked with Duthie Learning to optimize 66 videos for presentation in an Adobe pdf.
The partners' innovative approach enabled the realization of Quarcelino's vision−the multi-media golf book Staying on Course: Mastering Golf's Most Challenging Shots. Quarcelino's book was published in two versions. One complete version is available on a DVD, which "reads" like a book. Golfers can also download mp3 files of individual videos onto PDAs to take to the golf course for "field training."
JoggleBug
Patent Pending
When the principals of JoggleBug secured a provisionary patent on their invention, they had no way of knowing how swamped they would be when the deadline to submit the patent application came due. With 16 days left to complete the drawings and descriptions, JoggleBug called Tanner.
Tanner consulted with JoggleBug's patent attorney for pointers on patent writing. To learn about the invention, Tanner interviewed JoggleBug's principals, and studied their systems description and marketing plan. Using a template provided by the attorney, Tanner tackled the detailed sections first.
Because of the tight deadline, Tanner compressed their workflow. To enable the illustrator to create process flowcharts at the same time as the writer described the flowcharts' contents, Tanner began by outlining each of the processes. As soon as each process description and matching flowchart was complete, Tanner sent them to JoggleBug and the patent attorney for review, working on both originals and revisions at the same time to tighten the review cycles.
Tight scheduling and quick client turnaround paid off−on the due date, the attorney submitted the patent application with hours to spare. As technical writers, we'd prefer more buffer time, but in the world of patent law, that was a no-sweat situation.
Delek US Holdings/MAPCO
When Procedures Are All Over the Map
MAPCO has over 500 gas stations and retail convenience stores across the southern United States. Employees working in these stores have lots of tasks to do each day--anything from helping a customer with a purchase to developing the work schedule for the week to making sure the coffee machine is clean and a fresh pot of coffee is brewing. Employee turnover is fairly high.
MAPCO didn't have a centralized way to create and distribute the many operating procedures that store employees need to know. They had procedural documents stored in different places, authored by different people, and other documents that were incomplete. Many procedures weren't documented at all. And store employees could not access any of this information easily, nor could they be certain that the information they did have was current.
MAPCO classified this material into ten store operating systems, and contracted Tanner to help organize it. MAPCO also asked Tanner to
identify and write procedures for those tasks that weren't documented;
review, verify, and edit the procedures that did exist;
complete those that had steps missing;
and put all this information into a searchable online help file for easy access.
MAPCO now has an online tool that all store employees can access whenever they need information about how to perform a certain task. MAPCO's Training & Development team can easily revise, add to, or remove content, so all employees can be confident that the procedures are accurate and up-to-date.
Summit Learning Systems and Direct General Insurance
Networking on Steroids
Direct Insurance Company, with whom Tanner has worked for several years, wanted to beef up its sales training. Tanner introduced Direct to Summit Learning Systems, a training company with generic training modules for many skills, including sales.
Tanner and Summit began a joint project to customize four sales skills modules for Direct. The customized modules would be handed off to Direct's regional trainers who would take the training to agents in its 13 states.
The year-long pilot phase is ending and over 80% of agents who participated in the pilot report increased sales. They feel confident in their new skills, and pride in their growth from order takers to legitimate sales people.
And Tanner's relationship with Summit Learning Systems has grown, too. What started as a partnership to pilot four modules has grown into a project to design and implement a model sales process for Direct.
Copyright 2009. Tanner Corporate Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
