Liberty Mutual

 

The Liberty Group provides a comprehensive and complementary range of investment and risk products for personal and corporate investment, life insurance, retirement, disability, and health insurance needs. For more information about the Liberty Group see www.liberty.co.za

 

Business Challenge

In 1999, Liberty’s Sales Development and Accreditation Department identified the need for an enhanced approach to training its Intermediary force working in different parts of the country. The key motivators included time and cost saving logistics, changes to legislation, the need to accredit all intermediaries and to provide dynamic content at a worldclass standard.

In addition, the Liberty Group was faced with a high number of new agents joining every month, frequent product launches, and escalating training costs. In addition, agents were unable to sell in their first few months because they were in classrooms for training. Liberty also required all agents to be accredited to meet policyholder protection regulation. The Liberty Group required a scalable and flexible e-Learning platform to deliver training quickly and efficiently.

The Solution

Liberty’s Sales Development and Accreditation Department needed to find a smarter way of working and did the necessary research to find the most effective e-learning solution. With LeadTrain’s skills, advice and implementation assistance, the TopClass Learning Management System (LMS) was implemented.

Using TopClass and Liberty’s @liberty to learn web site a combination of paper-based and online learning is offered – a blended approach for the self-directed learner. Liberty is currently running TopClass LCMS (Learner Content Management System) that allows for the creation, deployment and management of course content and online exams. In addition to the core, Liberty is also utilizing the competency module.

This component allows for the allocation of competencies to a user and assists in terms of the FAIS Bill and the Skills Levy reports.

Liberty also leveraged TopClass Mobile, allowing agents to take training off-line and enabling them to master learning material on their own time, at their own pace, while still being able to continue selling to customers. In addition, WBT Systems’ TopClass provided discussion lists, allowing Liberty colleagues to collaborate virtually.

Managing adoption

Sales Development and Accreditation first implemented e-Learning and TopClass to a small user group – the Agency Initial Training Programme. The programme allowed the student to self-study the content, attend consolidation workshops and start selling much sooner. The content for this course was designed in-house and deployed to this user group using TopClass’ mobile facility.

The second implementation was the introduction of online product exams to the whole Intermediary Force. According to Baker, the TopClass LCMS tool is extremely effective for the creation, deployment and managing of the online exams. “In line with a blended approach, Liberty still offers both the paper based and online examinations, but the online exams are increasing in popularity. The online exam allows the outlying Intermediary the flexibility of writing the exam from the comfort of their own office, at a time that suits them. The marking is automated and results are generated almost immediately.”

Measurable Results

Liberty was able to save significant Rands (South African currency), while reducing training time by 50%. By getting agents trained on-line faster, many agents were able to double their sales figures, while Liberty was able to reduce overall training costs.

Since agents do not need a network connection to access training, and are not tied to a traditional classroom environment, they can continue to sell. Liberty plans to expand the user base of TopClass in the coming year, and incorporate the TopClass Competencies module to actively identify skill gaps. TopClass exceeded many expectations for Liberty:

  • Fast implementation that led to increased revenues
  • Ease of use and administration
  • Seamless integration with virtual classrooms
  • Easy report generation to track and measure user statistics
  • Scalable architecture enabled rapid growth
  • Off-line delivery for mobile users
  • Reduced Training Time by 50%
  • Increased monthly average for a new recruit from one policy sold to three
  • Increased revenues by 20%.

Quotes

“We saw the monthly average for a new recruit go from one policy sold to three. Self-directed learning is certainly the way to go, but interaction with mentors and fellow learners is also necessary.” Natascha Baker Development Consultant with Liberty’s Sales Development and Accreditation Division “With WBT Systems’ TopClass we have reduced the time it takes to train new employees by half and increased our sales by 20%. The benefits are speed to market – beating the competition – and the fact that agents do not travel or leave their sales environment”

Jay Naidoo Head of Technical Development Sales, Development & Accreditation