Needs Analysis, outcomes, and objectives

1. Training Needs Analysis
Section 1: Project Overview
Project: Technacious Warranty Program Training
Project Description:
● Technacious is an electronics retailer rolling out a new warranty program for products it
currently sells. It will replace the old warranty program and associates must be trained in
the differences, provisions, and how to sell it. Currently, 35% of Technacious’ warranties
are being returned/refunded, and the company is looking to reduce this rate to 20% in
the next 12 months. This project will equip employees with the knowledge to answer
questions and properly inform customers of the benefits.
Objectives:
● Business Goal: Inform associates of the new warranty program, increase sales to
customers and reduce warranty refunds from 35% to 20% in the next 12 months
● Project Goal: Associates must know the differences between the new and old warranty
programs, the details of the new program, and how it differs from other warranties.
Audience:
● 300 employees including sales floor associates, cashiers, customer service
representatives, and managers at ​an​ electronics stores across the nation
Constraints:
● With the amount of part-time associates and scheduling issues it may be difficult to
deliver training to all in a reasonable time frame.
● It may also be difficult for associates to distinguish between the new and old program.
Project Roles:
● Sponsor(s): Technacious
● Project Lead: Carson Wampler
● SMEs: Mark Boulier, Angelina Figueroa, Amanda Mullens, Anthony Redgrave

2. Section 2: Data Collection Plan
Materials Review
● Review new warranty fact cards already provided to employees - look for key points that
should be reiterated in the training
● Obtain and read through the old and new warranty contracts - this will allow us to
independently identify their similarities and differences
SME Interviews
● Contact the guarantor(s) of the warranty and the company’s director of sales to learn
more about the warranty features and communication techniques already in use by the
employees
● Seek to understand why the SMEs feel that customers are returning warranties.
Performance Observations
● Observe a sample of employees from both high-performing and low-performing stores
● Shadow employees who are already offering the new warranty with customers. Observe
how they introduce and discuss the product looking for areas of opportunity to address in
the training.
● Observe how many warranty programs employees are selling during an average shift.
HRIS System
● Ask for data on how often the old warranty was honored to reinforce the legitimacy of
needing to purchase any additional warranty but especially the new one.
● Request performance evaluations to determine if there are any correlations between
sales of warranties from new hires vs long-term associates
● Collect information on what products were bought when a warranty (old or new) was sold
● Research modern sales techniques, especially customer engagement. Ask to implement
these at one store on a trial basis to measure their effectiveness.
● Identify the current service model, and determine how is it implemented/enforced within
each location.

3. Section 3: Data Analysis
After gathering data and information from various sources, our analysis focuses on the following
main areas:
● What are the commonalities between the products that are available for warranty?
● Is poor service/lack of information a factor in the higher return volume?
● Do trainees have all of the necessary information to help the customer make an informed
decision?
● Are warranty sales lower for new employees than those who have experience with the
company?
Products Available
● Consider the products purchased at the time of warranty sale - do they share
commonalities such as price, brand, product type (computer, phone, game system, etc)?
Is there a trend between which products/price points are being refunded most often?
Using the data provided from the related answers, we could create a model that
illustrates these common points and determine if they offer an avenue for helping
trainees identify which shoppers are more likely to engage in a discussion about the
warranty and/or purchase it.
● All products $50 or more with exception to cables and accessories are available for the
warranty program.
Sale Techniques
● Compare the sales results of a sample of stores, both high-performing and
low-performing, (also focusing on the sales techniques used) to three others of similar
demographics and sales volume. Determine if sales were impacted and if there was a
connection between this and the technique used to engage with the customer.
Employee Experience & Preparedness
● We’ll use a scatter plot to compare years of experience with the number of warranties
sold to determine the correlations (if any) between the two. This can potentially help us
address a specific pool of associates struggling with sales and communication of the
new warranty program.

4. ● Using a Fish Bone diagram we can determine the needs required to bring an associate
towards the company’s goals by establishing solutions for the environment, materials,
measurements, machines, methods, and people.

5. Section 4: Recommendations
A combination of training and non-training solutions will help achieve the project goal.
Training Solutions
We will design an eLearning training that can be deployed at all stores simultaneously.
Employees can complete the training independently at computers or kiosks giving managers the
flexibility to assign training times when it best suits the needs of the store.
Supporting Goals
● Identify the key features of the new warranty program, distilling them into talking points
that can be easily retained and reiterated by store employees
● Determine best practices for engaging customers with “up-selling” a warranty in mind
● Observe current sales techniques to identify areas of opportunity for improvement or
adaptation
Non-training Solutions
Positive Reinforcement
● Management should consider creating a tracking incentive/recognition program to
encourage employees to reach sales goals and increase warranty sales.
Communication/Availability of Information
● Management should ensure materials are continually updated to ensure employees
have the most up-to-date information on warranty offerings.
● In addition to the fact cards already in use, signage explaining the warranty could be
placed throughout the stores near products for which a warranty is most recommended.
● Announce training to managers/shift schedulers 1-month in advance of rollout so they
can factor the training time into the employee’s daily tasks with an expectation that each
employee must have at least attempted the training within two-weeks after roll out.

6. Section 5: Conclusions
Description of Training 15-20 minute audiovisual presentation and questionnaire presented on an
eLearning platform.
● The material can be rolled out to all stores simultaneously. Store employees
can access it through kiosks or computers in the store during their shift by
logging in with unique identifiers (SSN/employee ID number). This will
automatically track which employees have been exposed to the training. It
will be the responsibility of the manager/shift leader to set aside on-the-clock
time for the employee to complete this task.
● Following an audiovisual presentation that outlines the features of the new
warranty and provides tips for engaging with customers, the employee will
use the elearning platform to answer a series of multiple-choice questions
about what they just watched.
● Questions will be displayed on the screen and buttons with the answers can
be pressed/clicked to enter a response.
● Employees who answer 90% of the questions correctly will automatically be
recorded as having successfully completed the training. Company leadership
will have access to a report showing progress of employee completion
including number of attempts before success was achieved.
Cost ● Our company’s standard eLearning product fee that covers the cost of
research and design.
● If the shadowing and service strategy research tactics are approved, there
may be additional cost to cover the researcher’s travel expenses.
Benefits ● This approach, if supported by store management, will provide all staff
access to the training in a timely manner. We will utilize pre-existing
company resources (kiosks/computers) to deliver the material which will
mitigate the costs of materials.
● Using a training that can be completed independently gives stores more
flexibility in scheduling their teams to complete it. It should be unnecessary
to schedule special sessions outside of store hours and managers can
incorporate the training into employees daily tasks during slow sales hours
when there are fewer customers requiring attention.