I like to call learner technical support the “secret sauce” of our success in the continuing education industry. Not only is our superior support one of the many things that sets InReach above other companies, it is an invaluable asset to our clients. Just look at the statistics. 89% of consumers have stopped doing business with a company after experiencing poor customer service.1 While 45% of US consumers will abandon an online transaction if their questions or concerns are not addressed quickly.2 In the Contact Center we have a crucial mission. We are not only responsible for answering questions and resolving issues, [...]

We asked our resident webcaster, Paul Meador, about some tips to follow for a successful online educational experience. Here’s what he had to share with us about an important aspect of an online training or event: the internet connection. In Paul’s words, “A lot of times, the people organizing webcasts or other streamed online events forget to ask about the most basic thing—what is the internet connection like? Is it strong enough to support the entire, uninterrupted event? Some things need to be worked through, before committing to the location.” Here are some suggestions that Paul says are vital to the [...]

Does your course catalog work for you to drive registrations or sales, or do you have to do all the work promoting your content, while your course catalog merely serves as a content repository? For most people, the answer is the latter. Their course catalog is merely a listing of the courses their organization offers. This listing can sometimes be ordered by credit or date, but most likely is just a long, long alphabetical list of courses. Why should you care? Because at its core your course catalog is an eCommerce site, and in order to be successful and drive the [...]

These days M-learning, or mobile learning is a big buzz word in the online education field, and many organizations are scrambling to create an m-learning strategy. In a previous post we offered some tips on when and how to develop your m-learning strategy. Today, we’re going to focus on another aspect of mobile learning—one that does not receive as much attention—a mobile catalog. Here are InReach we recognize that the ability to quickly find relevant content increases sales and overall learner satisfaction.  In order to make the browsing experience as intuitive and easy as taking a course, we’ve developed a robust [...]

When we talk about the 4P’s of marketing, Promotion always comes last. By this point in the process you should have hammered out all the details with your product, its price and how your learners will access your courses (place). Now, you are ready for the final piece, promotion. Promoting your product can take many forms, and, like all the other aspects of your marketing should be sculpted around your learners. Just as you offer a diversity of product types to reflect the diversity in your learner’s tastes, come up with a diverse promotional campaign. For instance, if you are targeting [...]

As a product guy who has experience with startups, SaaS companies, and large technology companies I have come to realize there are principles in this “IT world” that would translate well to the world of online education. Whether you are creating your first eLearning program or looking to take a continuing education program online consider some of the following tips. Determine your MVP No, I’m not talking about your Most Valuable Player, I mean your Minimum Viable Product. What are the bare essential requirements you need to constitute to make your program viable? Ensure you have your MVP in place, launch [...]