By The Intelitech Group
When I was a teenager my neighbors asked if I would be willing to water their plants while they were on vacation. Before they left, they invited me to their house to show me their different plants, trees, and flowers.
Among all their flowers and bushes they had pine trees that were recently planted and still delicate. They informed me to water each tree for a couple of minutes each day.
While watering I was distracted and left the house without realizing that I had not turned off the water on one of the newly planted pine trees.
When I returned the next day, I was horrified to find a large puddle surrounding the pine trees. I quickly ran to turn off the hose unaware of the consequences of overwatering the tree. I thought everything would be fine if I just left it alone for a couple days without anymore water.
After time it became clear the pine tree was dying. I had killed the young tree by watering it too much. Luckily for me, my neighbors were forgiving.
Spaced Learning
This concept of watering trees can be compared to training collectors. I recently attended a webinar that consisted of a panel of leaders from different agencies in the industry. They each shared various ways in which they train their collectors.
It seemed they all mutually agreed that learning happens best when collectors are trained in shorter periods of times through regular time frames. This method of learning is often referred to as spaced learning.
Spaced learning improves retention by taking conscious information and makes it subconscious. It takes less time in the collectors’ day and provides a better alternative to long hours of lectures. It is similar to the concept of drinking from a drinking fountain compared to a fire hydrant.
StackUp™
At The Intelitech Group we created a solution called StackUp that tests collectors knowledge over various laws, regulations, and techniques. Each day the collector will answer two questions in each category.
This allows collectors to continually be trained a couple minutes a day. We have a pool of thousands of questions. It is unlikely that collectors will be asked the same question but are likely to have a question that goes over a similar concept or principle.
Jared Legg, VP of Operations at HSAM, recently said this about StackUp:
“StackUp allows us to continuously focus on compliance while still keeping it fun and competitive. We all know that the best way to learn is repetition, and by answering our StackUp questions each day, the repetition of questions and answers helps our agency maintain compliance with all the regulations.”
StackUp allows you to take better care of your collectors than I did my neighbors plants. Don’t drown your collectors but rather give them the perfect amount of information daily.
Contact Us and Follow Our Blog
If you are looking to improve your collector training through spaced learning and would like to see a demo of StackUp contact The Intelitech Group at (360)-260-9780 or email us at todd.anderson@intelitechgroup.com
Blog articles are posted every first and third Monday of the month. Follow our blog and let us know your thoughts and ideas. If you have questions we would love to address them in our posts and continually build a solution that meets your needs.
