In automotive sales training, online training has become a much bigger piece of the training equation. The question is, is this a good or bad thing?

 

Going back to the 1990’s I was the pioneer of online training for the auto industry. I first started doing online training for auto dealerships before most people in the industry had ever heard of online training. I have had enough time with this training format to give a strong analysis of the good and bad.

 

Let’s start with the good points of online training.

 

  • Time effective – You can do short bursts of training that keep people attuned to their daily activities without much interruption
  • Convenience – Online training is usually done on demand
  • Cost effective – Online training does not require the costs of taking people out of the dealership or bringing a trainer in the dealership. Travel costs are avoided and opportunity costs can be maximized.
  • Subject Focus – You can focus different people on different topics at the same time. You do not have to mass educate and can being people along at their own speed
  • Automation – You can automate learning, testing, and accountability

 

Now let’s examine the draw-backs to online training.

 

  • Not as effective – If done properly, in store and in person training trumps online training for effectiveness and retention

 

  • It gets done – If you hire an outside trainer to come to your store you will schedule and complete the training. Often, online training becomes one more thing that is ignored and not inspected.

 

  • Attention – Although skill levels and content can vary widely for trainers, if a good trainer is hired, they will be able to hold the attention of the trainees at a much higher level than a talking head on the computer screen.

 

  • Implementation – Training becomes education when there is implementation, understanding and habit formation. Online training cannot accomplish this without some trainer or management interaction. Virtual training is rarely virtual. It requires human application.

 

  • Creates magic bullet thinking and laziness – Online training often becomes an excuse for managers to never train. Online training can create the illusion of a magic bullet fix.

 

 

Final Analysis: Online training is a great tool but is not an end all, be all for training. Online training is a great addition to training and should be looked at as an additional resource and method to educate your team.

 

Online training used as the primary or only source for training is a huge mistake. You must use as much material, methodologies and formats as possible for the best training to occur.

 

For maximum training results that delivers a high ROI, you must use in person, in dealership training performed by outside sources such as experts, trainers, speakers from both in and out of the industry. You must also perform in person in store training with your own personnel such as Dealers, managers and even salespeople.

 

In addition to the in store training you must provide outside training as well. It is always key in education to change environments from time to time. Changing the environment adds excitement and limits on job distractions.

 

If you combine in store training, outside dealership training and online training along with personal development coaching you will be providing a fully rounded and effective training format that can match all training modalities and methods needed for all your team members.

 

The answer to the question of in house vs. online training is simple. Use both and add more. There is never a saturation point to education.