Customer Relationship Training in Blended Format
Unlock Value (for You and Your Customers) with Industry-Leading Training Programs
Our industry-leading customer relationship training programs are presented in two unique, complementary formats — blended and virtual. Each is designed to ensure that your key team members working in complex technical environments develop next-generation customer relationship skills that hold the potential to transform your business.
Carefully customized to the unique needs and goals of your company, each training program is designed to achieve lasting impact. Key components of these invaluable, in-depth, multifaceted programs include a mix of:
- Instructor-led training (live in-person in our blended format; live onscreen in our virtual format)
- Individualized project work on real, current customer issues
- Role plays (live onscreen or live in-person) that emulate impactful job situations
- Self-paced e-learning
- Individual and peer coaching opportunities
Learn More About Training Formats
Blended Customer Relationship Training
Global Partners Training has three decades of experience helping companies working in technically complex arenas strengthen their most important business relationships through customized, next-level training. Our proven programs are customized to your employees’ roles and your company’s goals to deliver engagement and hard business results. And, our unique measurement system captures both skill acquisition and the business impact of your program to ensure that you achieve your training objectives.
Plus, we’re continually raising the bar on the effectiveness of our programs by using the best training methods available and the most advanced ways to measure their impact.
Our time-tested methodologies work well in both blended and virtual formats.
Here are some attributes that stand out about our blended programs:
1
“The Magic”
In the words of GPT Partner Fabrizio Battaglia, there is a certain “magic” that happens when facilitators and participants are all in the same room. Team cohesion and interaction, epiphanies achieved during role-playing exercises, a feeling of community and sense of shared purpose — these qualities that happen seamlessly with face-to-face training are not impossible but may require more effort to cultivate in a virtual format.
2
Full-Day Immersion
Participants get the benefits of full-day workshop immersion along with the paced reinforcement of instructor-led webinars and self-service learning modules. The blended format is designed to engage all types of learners.
3
Hands-On Attention
Personalized, face-to-face instruction and side-coaching is easy to deliver and incredibly effective in our blended format.
4
Flexibility
Flexibility is key, and if the need arises GPT has the ability to shift your training from blended mode to full virtual mode, or the reverse, without losing momentum with participants.
5
Being in the Room
Additional intangibles that come with learning together in the same physical workspace during the workshop component of your blended training include:
- Learning styles: Some employees learn more effectively from face-to-face interaction.
- Body language: It can be much easier to pick up on non-verbal communication in an in-person setting rather than seeing instructors and classmates on-screen.
- Interaction/engagement: Video teleconferencing is one of the wonders of today’s business world, but it can still be a bit easier to ask a question of the instructor or to engage in a free-wheeling discussion about the subject matter when you are all in the same room.
Bottom line: Neither format is “better” than the other, and there are far more similarities between formats than differences. Typically, the choice comes down to what is the best fit for your company.
Virtual and Blended Training Formats: Similarities and Benefits
Our company was founded in 1990 — and since then we’ve been continually refining and improving our programs while responding to emerging trends in corporate training, technology, customer experience and more. Here are several of the most notable features common to both formats of our industry-leading customer relationship training programs:
Customization
Well before the training sessions begin, we work with your leadership team to develop an in-depth understanding of your company and your goals for the training. Once we understand what you want to get out of the training, we customize a program to your industry, your company’s goals, and your employees’ roles. Based on interviews with your people, we develop interactive role play scenarios and case studies that match important situations your employees face each day, resulting in high engagement by training participants and immediate on-the-job impact.
Localization
The rules of effective — and even appropriate — communication vary greatly by region and country. That’s why our certified facilitators not only speak the local language, they also have deep industry-specific expertise that allows them to tailor the program delivery to address both cultural nuances and unique workplace challenges.
Embedding
It takes more than one day to change behaviors. Our programs are designed to ensure that your team members understand our toolkit and know how to apply it in actual situations they face on the job. Eighty percent of live training time is spent interacting with cases and practicing new skills. Behaviors learned in live workshops or webinars are reinforced and sustained by e-learning, in-the-field action plan implementation and interactive coaching sessions. Participants share insights into tools they have tried and results they have achieved with customers. Facilitators and peers provide the motivation and support needed to continue applying skills on the job with impact.
Measurement
With our unique system, we take a baseline measurement at the beginning of each program that shows how effectively your employees are using a specific skill. We continue to track your employees’ improvement as the program progresses. As the formal program concludes, the link between adoption of relationship skills and business impact is elicited via a detailed case report in which each participant demonstrates how using the tools contributed to actual business results.
Certification
Designed to transform your employees’ relationships with your customers, each training program includes certification criteria requiring participants to apply their news skills on the job and also to generate, and demonstrate, business results. Our experience shows that a fundamental shift happens when participants go through this certification process.
Webinar Series: Use Service to Unlock New Revenue
Take a deep dive into the art and science of building more lucrative business partnerships with your key customers
Watch the Webinars
Which Program is Best for You?
In addition to offering multiple formats for our game-changing, experiential customer relationship training, we also have a trio of flagship programs to choose from.
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Service Training
A complete, powerful service and sales relationship skill set for your front lines.Get Details + -
Sales Training
An unstoppable path to trusted business partner status with key executives at your top accounts.Get Details + -
Strategic Account Alignment™
Align your approach with customer goals and generate more business.Get Details +
Whether working onsite or employing trusted videoconferencing technology in a virtual setting, our experienced facilitators empower key members of your team with invaluable customer relationship success skills — delivered through customized training sessions that are attuned to your industry and inspired by the goals and vision of your company. Contact us today to talk about how we can help.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is the content in the blended and virtual programs the same?
Yes. Both formats contain the same toolkit, customized role plays and case studies, and assessment and outcome measurement systems. While the learning design is necessarily different and some exercises are done differently, all programs are aligned with industry best practices and delivered by experienced facilitators.
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What additional costs may be required for a blended program?
Workshops may require site fees (if workshop space is not available at your company), and travel and living costs for facilitator(s) and participants. We will work with you to understand these costs based on your particular needs and make sure deployment of any training program is as economical as possible.
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It is hard to pull our people out of the field for training. How can we mitigate this cost?
Pulling your people out of the field, especially during busy times, can be challenging. This is part of your total training cost and should be incorporated into your program format decisions. Some work schedules will favor blended training with full-day workshops; other work schedules will favor virtual training. The goal is always to get your training done in the most efficient format without sacrificing effectiveness.
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How would I choose one delivery mode over the other?
The Blended Training and Virtual Training pages are meant to highlight the distinctive attributes of each training mode, and so we recommend you read both pages, including the FAQs, to learn more. The best fit program and training mode for your company or division will be determined by your overall goals, your training population, your scheduling preferences and other factors. Please contact us and we can help you decide.