Training For On-The-Go Advisors

"We're greasing the skids," says Starishevsky. "These are complicated products and it's hard to make an advisor understand in one conversation all of the nuances about the content to be discussed. The Web-Ex, followed by a face-to-face visit, is a much more powerful one-two punch."

JNL's experience with the Web-Ex is representative of how trainers at life insurance companies view e-learning tools generally: that it is most effective when used in combination with in-person meetings, such as classroom instruction. But maximizing the value of such "blended training," sources say, requires an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of the educational tools.

As at JNL, AXA Equitable finds that its online educational content provides an excellent "foundation" for advisors learning about new products or sales concepts. But the application of the knowledge acquired, as in the form of case simulations or role-playing, is best conducted in-class, according to Stephen Burnthall, a senior vice president at the company. He adds the online instruction, which includes quizzes, also helps to weed out advisors who are not sufficiently motivated to learn.

E-instruction need not always precede in-person meetings. David Eisenberg, an advanced marketing consultant at Transamerica's Strategic Marketing Services unit, says the company hosts periodic "lunch-and-learn" gatherings to acquaint advisors with new technical and sales concepts. Thereafter, producers are directed to go online to see more detailed information about the topics, including coursework leading to CE credits.

For e-learning to be effective, content developers need to be mindful of certain time limitations, sources say. While online courses and other text-heavy information can go on at length, users have a reduced tolerance for extended video or multimedia presentations.

A video recording of a conference seminar for posting online should not go beyond 20 minutes, says Emily Viner, a field vice president at Guardian Life. Anything longer, she adds, is unsuitable because such recordings lack the interactive element of live presentations. As for video-email, the time constraints are still greater.

"If you're over 3 minutes, the video is probably too long," says Starishevsky. "Video e-mail is intended to capture your attention and inspire you to read on. It doesn't attempt to educate you completely."

How effective is the technology-based training? In terms of cost and efficiency, e-learning tools are largely meeting or exceeding expectations, sources say. Experts generally also express satisfaction with user adoption rates. Burnthall observes, for example, that approximately half of AXA Equitable's advisors now elect to learn about new solutions through the company's web portal. Guardian's Center for Learning and Professional Development also enjoys substantial web traffic; in January alone, training videos posted at the site received 5,700 viewings, says Viner.

Whether viewers are paying close attention while they're tuned is, however, a question mark and not only for video. As Starishevsky points out, monitoring users' active participation in online educational content generally remains a challenge.

But such unknowns are not stopping insurers from enhancing existing e-learning offerings and kick-starting new ones. AXA Equitable, for example, is planning to launch a "refreshed platform" that, among other features, will allow advisors to do online calendaring. And Guardian Life is venturing into podcasts, digitized audio that can be downloaded to a PC or portable device, such as an iPod, and replayed at the user's convenience.

Trainers at other insurers, however, say they're not ready to initiate podcasting, nor online chat forums. Some attribute the go-slow approach to the fact that a still substantial segment of the producer community, particularly those advisors in their 40s and 50s, are not yet accustomed to working with these new media.

And producers' comfort level with the medium, experts say, is no small consideration. That's because, however cutting-edge is the presentation of educational information in technology terms, the technology counts for little if it doesn't further advisors' skills and expertise, their value to the clients they serve, and, ultimately, sales for the companies they represent.

"Technology-driven knowledge events can be a great equalizer," says White. "But the technology is about more than training; it's about getting sales through the pipeline. So when we train on a product, we also have to effectively train on the concept that facilitates the sale."

"Technology-driven knowledge events can be a great equalizer," says White. "But the technology is about more than training; it's about getting sales through the pipeline."