Hello everyone

I am putting together a Product Training session for a small group (3 – all of who know each other fairly well) which is looking to cover the companies product range with the aim of getting them comfortable with it.
I really want to make the whole thing as interactive as possible, ideally with no 'chalk and talk' sections at all.
I have had a couple of ideas (which I have listed below) – but I would be really grateful if anyone else has any techniques they would like to share.

I look forward to your contributions!

Lucy

My Ideas
1. Give them a topic and have them ‘interview’ an SME and produce a report/guide/poster/presentation etc.
2. Give them a workbook filled with gaps and get them to fill the gaps as a group effort

So this is possibly craziness, but...

1) Maybe this can be approached from a marketing standpoint. I don't know what the jobs of these people are, but maybe you could turn the project inside-out: have them interview customers. What do you like/dislike about the product? What do you do with it? What are the best/worst features? What could we change? (This might even help product marketing. Maybe you could get releases from the customers and use their comments, etc in a marketing campaign.)

2) Maybe they could work on a sort of newsletter for customers or employees with info about the products. Interviews with customers and SMEs could be included. This could also take the form of an Internet or intranet website or a DVD, for instance.

What kinds of jobs do they have and why do they want to learn about the products?

Lucy,

Your idea #1 is good. I have been using it and it brings desired results.

Hello again,

Anup - I am glad that idea 1 works well - I will use that as one of my methods - thanks.

John - interviewing the customers is certainly an interesting slant on things. I am not quite sure how it would work in my case - but I am certainly going to do some investigating as I am all up for trying something new...
I think the newsletter is a very good idea as well. In my case I am only training newer members of the team so any output they produce could be circulated to other members as a refresher.

FYI - These chaps are part of a sales team and are either new to the role or looking to progress.

Lucy

In the past I have developed 'Product Knowledge Sheets'. These have been created with various boxes on the sheet with different headings i.e. features, benefits, typical customers, opening questions, closing statements, clues that the product might benefit a customer, common objections etc.

I would then prompt the participants to discuss individual products and complete the PK sheet. If you have new people as well as 'old hands' you might find some interesting outputs.

If you want to provide a fun 'test' for dry topics, I have several training games that help get this type of information across on my website below.