HOW WE ADAPTED FORD OF EUROPE’S TRAINING EVENTS IN THE WAKE OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND BEYOND…

23 Sep

With the far-reaching consequences of COVID-19 putting face-to-face training events on hold for the foreseeable future in 2020, we adapted our strategy to take our existing events online.

Prior to 2020, Ford of Europe dealers and sales staff from numerous markets would often come together and attend face-to-face training events, to learn everything they could about the latest Ford vehicle or product on offer in their respective territories.

But, with the COVID-19 pandemic suspending international travel indefinitely, both Ford of Europe and PHM’s team of content writers and designers had to adapt their methods to deliver the same quality of training to dealers and sales staff across the continent – without being able to meet any of them in-person.

The challenge

In taking our once highly interactive and engaging training events online, there was a concern that the engagement of the attendees could be affected without the face-to-face interaction with either the event leader or their fellow dealers many had become accustomed to.

So, when it came to adapting our courses for a virtual setting, one very simple thing was at the forefront of our minds – how could we ensure attendees remained engaged and focused throughout the training events without ever being in the same room?

The solution

Ironically, we soon found moving our training events into the digital space (via virtual presentations delivered over WebEx) only served to improve and maximise the level of interaction seen in previous, in-person events.

In hosting online events and inviting dealers across Europe to attend, Ford of Europe can now reach more of their sales staff than ever. Stimulating and engaging tasks keep attendees engaged, and the chat box functionality ensures each of them can share their opinion or discuss the topic at hand with their contemporaries.

Each event also concludes with a Q&A session, in which attendees can pose questions to a Ford of Europe subject matter expert (SME), further enhancing the attendees’ insight and providing them with easy-to-understand information they can then share with sales staff in their respective markets.