REDSEED BLOG

Trainees can now have a different Marking Manager for each of their courses. Courses can also have a pre-defined marker that we can set up behind the scenes as well.
All user accounts can now have a username or ID as well as their email address. They’ll be able to log in to the system with either option.
When adding new users you will now see a step-by-step wizard instead of the standard dialogue box. This should make the process easier to work through, and will help you (and us) avoid double-up accounts.
When editing users, you’ll notice the requirements are a little more extensive. That’s because it’s been updated to include the extra fields for login details etc. It should still be pretty self-explanatory.
When you look at a user’s account within the Coach and Admin mode you’ll see a revamped layout, reminiscent of the ‘Training Summary’ view that you get when you log in. You can click on a user’s course or courses to open up useful information like ‘last update’, ‘marking manager’, ‘course progress(%)’, etc.
The Workbook Marking list in ‘Today’s Actions’ now shows how many questions need to be marked for each user. This should help you identify whether you’re just doing a quick re-mark of an incorrect answer, or marking an entire workbook session.
We’re also collecting daily data across all users in preparation for the release of our new RedSeed Energy reports.

Here’s the finer details…

Usernames

Username and Email Split

Previously we used an email address field only for login, which served as both your username and notification address. We’ve now split this into two individual fields for each account. So you can now choose your login username to be something different. The username is required to be RedSeed unique. If your chosen username is not unique an advisory message (as shown the screenshot above) will be displayed.

Login

You can login to RedSeed with either your username or email address along with your password.

Existing Accounts

To bring all current RedSeed accounts into this new framework we’ve done an update of all accounts and applied the following rules to this transfer.

Any existing account with a non valid format email addresses i.e. John.Smith, now have John.Smith as their username and an empty email address field. We advise users to enter in a valid email address they can check now to compliment their account as the addition of this will open up all the email notification features RedSeed has to offer.
For all existing user accounts that had a valid email address, these have been retained and in most cases the new username is a combination of your first name and RedSeed id number (i.e. john4368), which can then be changed via ‘My Account’. The transfer process (and option to login using either email address or username) means that everyone should be able to login in exactly the same as they have done prior to this update.

Add New User / Edit User & Multiple Markers

Add New User

With the new username field and the potential for multiple markers, adding a new user has now been switched into a step by step wizard process. This enables us to help determine whether an account may already exist, and also that all the appropriate information is captured for the type of user account required.

The key steps for this new version of ‘Add New User’ are: Contact, Account, Access & Locations and Course Enrollments.

Contact includes first name, last name and email address.First and Last name are required and email address is ideal (particularly for manager accounts) but not mandatory.

Account includes username password details (see image above). Along with unique username and email checks now added, there is also a name match check in place now which will hopefully assist in identifying if someone already has a RedSeed account. The screenshot above shows the the Account section which focuses on the login details; username and password. If no email address is used for the account, then the password must be defined here and then that new user notified of this offline.

Access & Location is where reports/marking access is enabled, company role definition (if applicable) is set and the custom company level that the account is to be loaded into is chosen.

Course Enrollments (see screenshot below), lists available courses and marker options for those. If you click the close button in the top right or choose Cancel from the first step of this form, then that ‘Pending’ user account will be deleted. It is only when the final ‘Create’ button is clicked that the account is created and the ‘Welcome to RedSeed’ email is dispatched to them.

The goal of this new interface with progressive feedback as the account is created is to assist in avoiding duplicate accounts or accounts missing appropriate details.

Edit User

The ‘Edit User’ interface is not in step-by-step wizard form as it’s expected a revision will just be a single field type update, but has been updated to include the new fields and components such as ‘marker per course’ in the Enrollments section.

Multiple Markers

Up until very recently RedSeed user accounts have had a single assigned marker applied to all course enrollments. With the extension of clients use of RedSeed to include Product Knowledge or specialist courses with key assigned markers (who may differ from a store manager Sales Training coach/marker), we’ve altered this structure. Now all enrollments have an individually assigned marker. This means RedSeed can handle many more scenarios in terms of workbook marking roles. We also have ‘Exclusive’ and ‘Default’ marker flags available behind the scenes, so all new courses released can now be defined with these to further preset a training schedule. This type of transition leads into our next main stream of development which focuses on training schedules which covers aspects such as course order, pre-requisites, exam result outcomes/triggers etc. All existing course enrollments which natively assumed the client account marker by default, have now been updated. This change will be transparent for those accounts, but does unlock those course enrollments to now have individual marker assignments.

User Details

The last major release with the introduction of the ‘Training Summary’ interface brought a new simplified training progress view to RedSeed. It was exclusively trainee specific, so we’ve re-used a slightly modified version of that format to replace the old ‘User Details’ view within Coach & Admin. We’ve tried to more clearly provide both pertinent information on training progress with links to related documents (workbooks, exam reports, certificates etc). Programme level (sub sections of a course) bar charts have been removed, but we’ve reintroduced progress values along with standard meta data such as start, last update info with marker details etc. To view the extra info for a specific course just click on the Course Name and those details will drop down (click again to slide the info up again and out of view) as seen in the screenshot below.

Workbook Marking Answer Count

Want to know how many answers you have to mark for any particular marking assignment without loading it up? We’ve had requests for more detail in this Today’s Actions marking list. Previous releases saw the categorisation of workbook marking / role play mode assignments. The next transition in this development stream are separate lists for full session marking assignments and partial sessions (answer retries). For now we’ve included a total answer indicator in brackets alongside each marking assignment. Hopefully this will enable more insight into the type of marking required (i.e. full session or just a few new attempt answers), so markers can work on those assignments in the desired order or appropriate to time they have free for marking.

Other bug fixes and revisions
As part of this release and through other minor deployments over the last couple of months we’ve made the following bug fixes and tweaks to different areas of the system:

More certificate templates released for new clients & courses.
Training Summary feedback notification display when no feedback in certain scenarios bug fix.
jQuery Firefox patch which was affecting Coach & Admin Reports.
Randomised workbook question module type implementation.
First time training login help video pop up bug fix.
Non course specific threshold for Inactivity Alert in a Region/Store view level of Dashboard (was using old standard 7 days setting, not new custom course specific setting) bug fix – was fine for main reports and user details.
Coach & Admin ‘Todays Actions’ stylesheet tweak to allow scrolling list for long numbers of marking/role-play/certificates.
Progress percentage (now re-introduced) not displaying 100% when at exam stage (as technically not complete until passed exam).
Daily level based data now being collaborated in preparation for release of our new RedSeed Energy reports.

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Should I really have to motivate my team?

December 9th, 2011

Yes, I know it’s part of my job description, but honestly some days it’s hard enough to drag myself out of bed and up the stairs (current office space post-earthquake), let alone motivate the rest of my team as well.

Call me crazy, but I think my team should motivate themselves, not expect me to do it for them. I want them to turn up for work positive, rearing to go and get stuck in, happy that they have a job to come to where we appreciate their energy and commitment. We’re lucky that we have a great bunch of people that are passionate about what they do – even when they’re sleep deprived (small children induced!). But is having a motivated team just luck, or is it a carefully manufactured state of affairs?

There is a good saying, “Hire for attitude, train for skill.” I like it because in my 20+ years of experience in the retail and hospitality industries I have seen my fair share of bad hires. People that ruin morale, cause conflict, give bad service and devalue your brand. So it’s one of my main criteria when I employ someone. I can’t work with someone that isn’t going to do their fair share, and that means contributing to the atmosphere in which I work. And I don’t expect anyone else in my team to have to put up with that either.

Motivation is an attitude, it comes from inside you. You bring it with you when you come to work. That means that you control it. Sure, you can’t always control what happens to you, I accept that, but you can control how you deal with it. I’m even prepared to cut you a bit of slack when life gets complicated, but not for ever.

What I will not tolerate is when that stuff upsets the rest of the team, impacts negatively on our customers or undermines our brand. We stick together, we watch each other’s backs, but we have high expectations about mood and motivation – it is just not acceptable to bring the team down, to be impolite and not do your best for our customers.

So, yes, the first part of the equation is hiring the right people. What are you looking for? Well in retail you are looking for excellent communication skills. A willingness to engage with people, passion about something that is people orientated, the ability to articulate your ideas and a willingness to serve customers and give them an outstanding experience. I have to see energy, spark, or the ‘x-factor’ as some people call it. I’m not looking for loud, attention seekers, just people who epitomise our brand.

Secondly, you have to make it very clear that motivation is their job, not yours, but you will not tolerate a lack of said ingredient. In Jim Collins words, “You are either on the bus or off the bus.” You don’t have to be trained to have a good attitude, a bad attitude can’t be blamed on someone else because it’s a personal choice.

And lastly you have to be prepared to put your money where your mouth is and take action if the need arises. It’s unacceptable for our customers to feel like they didn’t get 100% from us, to feel unloved or that we don’t care. Every member of the team must be accountable for their motivation and actions. There needs to be a very direct and straightforward conversation if anyone goes off track. In many cases the requirement to right the wrong with the customer will have a lasting effect on future motivation.

So take a good look at the motivation in your team. If it’s not what you would like it to be, think about what you need to do. If you hired the wrong people, then start the conversations now and make sure that when you hire their replacement you look for motivation, not skill.

While it’s not your job to motivate your team, it definitely is your job to hire people that embody your mindset, and do something about it if it goes missing in action.

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Sales Training vs. Customer Service

December 9th, 2011

A question that has been coming up a lot recently is why we teach ‘Sales Training’ as opposed to ‘Customer Service Training’. It’s an interesting question and one we’ve had many discussions about over our morning flat whites. Are they really mutually exclusive?

Have you ever gone into a store to buy an item, and then realised you didn’t get something that you should have; a vital accessory, or a complementary item? I have. And shouldn’t it at least be partly up to the salesperson to explore and identify those needs with you as their valued customer? Let’s say you walked into a bike store to buy your first bike. It would be logical for the salesperson to offer you all the products you need to get started right? A helmet for example, or a lock, or a pump. Surely if we’re training our staff to sell better they must be providing a better customer service experience in the process? It’s not about squeezing every last drop of money out of the customers that walk in to your store, but about providing a high level of service, engaging with them in a way that allows them to express their needs, and subsequently crafting the best solution you can for their unique requirements. And it can’t hurt to get a few more dollars in the till in the process…

Sales seems to be becoming a bit of a ‘dirty’ word, conjuring up images of used car salesmen in cheap suits and faux alligator-skin shoes. In contrast, many of you will be familiar with Apple’s solutions-based, ‘selling-without-selling’ philosophy (if not read this article by Anya), and it would be hard to argue that they’re on the wrong track having been recently valued at over $153 billion. So we know that the traditional model of a salesperson has changed as we’ve modernised, and that’s been a necessary reaction to the increase in savviness and pre-purchase research ability of the average consumer. And we all know an old-school salesman (or saleswoman) when we see one…they do tend to stand out. They follow a prescribed method, and this will often include having a myriad of responses to any objection you may have. The sales process will lack the personal touch, and you’ll find them spending more time convincing you to spend money than listening to you and finding a solution that is attractive not only at that moment but a week, a month, a year down the track. A really good salesperson however will place a much greater emphasis on listening to you and identifying your needs, finding out who you are and why you’re there, and less on leading you towards a big sale. These are the type of sales that inevitably prevent buyer’s remorse and create return customers, and in our current environment loyalty is key. Make them feel comfortable in your environment, give them a positive experience that meets their requirements, preferably exceeds them, and sell them all they need to meet those needs. That’s how you give them a reason to come back.

So I guess we understand the argument, but believe in selling with service as opposed to just offering service. A smile will only get you so far. Essentially I think this argument comes down to semantics; it’s what we associate with the word ‘sales’ that makes us feel uncomfortable, not the essence of the process. The reality is that customers enter a shop looking to purchase something, and it’s our responsibility as the provider of that product of service, to sell it to them in a way that is honest, informative, clear, and positive. The customer will associate the positive experience with the product, and your brand, creating a loyalty that can often be more valuable than the products you sell.

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2011: In Retrospect

December 9th, 2011

For the sake of positivity, let’s all agree to remember 2011 as the year we won back the Rugby World Cup, or if you’re not interested in rugby, perhaps the marriage of Prince William to Kate Middleton? Frankly, there’s been a lot of news from around the world and close to home that have really made 2011 a year that will be memorable for the wrong reasons. Earthquakes, London riots, the Euro crisis, Gaddafi, Egyptian revolution, tsunami, Bin Laden, drought, Anders Breivek, nuclear fallout…it can be hard to keep smiling when there’s so much going on in the world. Luckily we’ve had a bit of exposure to hardship in Christchurch this year, and have learnt some lessons in fortitude and hope along the way.

It’s been exciting at RedSeed this year, if slightly turbulent. We all found ourselves in the middle of the February earthquake, losing our office in the process (click here to read more), and subsequently shifted to Anya’s house where we are currently operating. We also had two unseasonal flurries of snow which interrupted business further, so we’ve all had a little bit of forced time off that we otherwise wouldn’t have had. Despite the interruptions, we’ve been busy-bees, developing new courses for existing clients, and working with some exciting new brands. This year we’ve been excited to work with Vodafone, Pharmacybrands (Life Pharmacy, Care Chemist, Radius Pharmacy, Unichem, Amcal), and Rebel Sport. And we’re currently working through the development of courses for Whitcoulls, Storage Box and Briscoes Homeware for launch early 2012.

We’re proud to have built a strong relationship with CureKids this year, helping them deliver their key messages around Red Nose Day and the Add a Dollar campaign using RedSeed technology. A lot of fun has been had filming with the CureKids family, and we were privileged to meet some of their ambassadors in the process. To find out more about CureKids and the incredible things they’re doing turning research into hope your young New Zealanders, check out their website here.

Another significant development we’ve been working through has been with the Retail Institute, to deliver their retail sales qualifications online and align and supplement our existing content to be NZQA accredited. This means our clients will be able to put their trainees through the National Certificate in Retail (Level 2) on the RedSeed platform, which consist of our existing course combined with a supplementary ‘bolt-on’ course. They can even cross-credit their existing training towards the qualification!

Some other highlights for 2011:

Getting to ride a YikeBike™
The NZ Web Development Conference
Presenting at the Retail Australasia Summit
The birth of Ben VT’s first child Maxwell

Many of you will know Ben Sleeman, who has worked for RedSeed since 2009, and was instrumental as our Sales Manager in developing relationships with many of our current clients. In August, Ben took a step in the next stage in his career, becoming a Territory Manager at Ricoh NZ. Although we’ve adapted to not having Ben in the sales position, we miss having him around and the energy he brought to the office. We know he’ll do a great job at Ricoh, and wish him all the best.

Looking forward to 2012, we have plenty of developments in the pipeline. We’ve made lots of changes to the system this year, and next year you’ll be seeing even more. We’re looking to expand the RedSeed team next year and priority one is finding an awesome web/iOS developer, so if you know anyone who fits the bill, let us know.On the drawing board at the moment:

Mobile application of our existing training
Push reporting
More sophisticated course and user management
RedSeed Management Programme
Enhancements to the trainee experience

So it’s almost time to take a deep breath, enjoy a little bit of time away over Christmas, and come back hitting the ground running. 2012 is lining up to be a big year, in Christchurch for sure, and it’s an exciting prospect to be part of that drive. Many thanks to the clients and people who have made this year so positive despite it all. We’re so grateful to have such wonderful clients that push us to improve and grow, and we’ll continue to strive to deliver exceptional training solutions to New Zealand retailers. Enjoy the festive season, be safe, and we’ll see you next year.

Posted in General News, Newsletter, RedSeed Customers | No Comments »

Business As Usual?

November 3rd, 2011

It’s been 8 months since a 6.3 magnitude earthquake tore our city to shreds. Some of you may have read my account of that fateful day in an earlier blog post, and we’ve had 7,737 quakes in total since the first one back in September ’10. That’s quite a lot. Now granted, only a small percentage of those have affected my life, most of them I haven’t felt, but I could honestly say I’ve experienced at least a hundred quakes in the past year or so. That sort of thing takes a toll, and it’s an immeasurable toll because it affects us all differently. I can only speak on my own behalf, having become a father a month following the February quake, in which both my pregnant wife and myself were caught in dangerous spots in the CBD. I’ve found fatherhood brings a new level of awareness; awareness of mortality, the people you love, the risks in life, your priorities and dreams; so in a way it’s been a great learning experience. Something in losing your sense of safety and stability gives you an entirely new perspective on what you stand to lose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIlxoV6uG3Q

It’s been an interesting time. RedSeed as a business hardly faltered, and with our server being offshore our platform continued as per normal. Aside from us having a couple of days to get our heads screwed back on we dug out our laptops and cellphones and got straight back into it from Anya’s house. Luckily they had a space above the garage that we were able to commandeer as working space. We’re still there and for now at least it’s working pretty well. We miss the CBD, the people, the amenities, Hagley Park, the river, and the energy. Our office is still there, one of the very few, although it looks likely that it will be too expensive to repair so we’re facing a slightly different future now.

We know that nearly two-thirds of New Zealand businesses have suffered; the talent pool has shrunk, office/retail space is generally more expensive and hard to come by, employees have more going on in their lives: insurance claims, living conditions, lack of resources, increased stress, etc. It’s challenging and requires a level of thought that hasn’t been necessary in the past. There’s a few key things that we’ve always done well here at RedSeed that have really helped us keep things together, and we’ve perhaps improved on them in the past months:

Communication: We talk often. Whether it’s during the work day, sharing coffee/lunch etc. Not just office talk; we talk about what’s happening in our lives, our properties and insurance, our families, our experiences, stresses, hopes and plans for our city and our personal futures. Obviously we talk shop too, but we always share some time together to talk about life in a more general sense.
A team mentality: We make decisions as a team. Everyone’s voice is heard. It’s easier for us being a small group but it’s the best way to work. Something comes up, we talk about it, work out what to do, work out who’s doing it and move on. That makes us efficient and adaptable; very useful characteristics to have.
Flexibility: We’re all different, and our differences mean we require different things from our lives and our roles. During the tougher times when some of us wanted to be with our families we were given the choice to work from home for example. If someone’s late for work because they’ve had stresses at home with earthquake ‘stuff’, so what? A little flexibility can result in a lot more loyalty and long-term buy-in.
Support: We were offered professional support/guidance after February so we could get our heads back in the game. I took it, and frankly it was one of the best decisions I could have made; for me, my family, and my employers. Hard to measure again but I know it helped with my motivation, productivity and satisfaction.

Our city is slowly piecing itself back together, and so will our local businesses. We lost nearly 9,000 people from our population, but we won’t be going anywhere. We deserve to see our city recover, we’ve earned it, and so have the businesses that have survived. In a strange way we’re lucky to have had this opportunity to learn more about ourselves and the way we live, work and relate, and I for one will be teaching my son the skills we’ve learned along the way.

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Have you been seduced by the promise of a ‘global system’?

November 3rd, 2011

They said it could do everything, pull all our HR needs and tools together in one place. It sounded so tempting, is it too good to be true?

Yes probably, and many companies are just finding out.

Why is it so attractive to move from using specialist tools and providers to looking for a one size fits all solution?

Why do we think that we need to bring inhouse many of the functions that we have traditionally out-sourced?

For many years business consultants have told us to stick to our knitting – concentrate on what we do well. Jim Collins makes this point loud and clear in his book “Good to Great”, where he talked about the Hedgehog concept. He asked us, “What can you be the best in the world at?” Concentrate your efforts on that and be a specialist rather than a generalist.

So why has the online world created the mentality that we can do everything ourselves, and is it really so smart?

Not that long ago we were happy to engage a law firm, a marketing firm, specialist trainers, web experts and so on. We acknowledged their expertise and their skill, the fact that this was their knitting and they would know more than we do. And we paid for it, we might not have happily paid for it, but we did all the same.

So why have we changed our minds? What makes us believe that we can get the same type of outcomes that they can? Something strange has happened to our mindset in the online age. The online market is flooded with solutions, in fact so many that it’s hard to keep up. How tempting it is when a solution can pull together a number of functions and streamline them into one system. We are easily seduced, it seems like it will solve all our problems, the truth is that it doesn’t. It hasn’t and it won’t. What it will do is tie you into a system that you will be reluctant to move away from because you feel like it should work. You start spending your time doing something that is not your core business. You move from hands-on to hands-off.

Little wonder that the trend is moving back to specialists providers who provide their services online as a SaaS (software as a service). Couple specialist providers with no IT grief, no maintenance, no content building and you have a winning solution.

Just because it is on-line and accessible doesn’t mean that we should be doing it.

If it is not your core business, then leave it to the experts!

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