Developing the st century workforce TM Blended Learning Helps Blood Diagnostics Leader Immucor Gain Competitive Edge Company Immucor, Inc. Industry A leading developer, manufacturer and seller of in vitro diagnostics used by blood banks, clinical laboratories, and blood donor centers. Strategy Improve communication and service skills to internal and external audiences to improve company cohesion and strengthen its service-focus reputation. Implementation Use blended learning incorporating Web- and in-class delivery of AchieveGlobal Stellar Service®, Coaching, Guiding Customer Conversations®, and Healing Customer Relationships® modules to management and frontline staff in briefest effective time possible. Results Improved intra-company co-operation as evidenced by increase in internal e-mail trails regarding customer problem resolu- tion. Increased flow of unsolicited e- mails from customers commenting favor- ably on Immucor technical and field sup- port satisfaction and examples of stellar service. In addition, Immucor is now conducting customer survey data to track additional results. AchieveGlobal helps improve Technical Specialist, Application Specialist and Field Service Engineers’ skill at resolving customer issues As the name implies, technical and field support’s realm is the field – the offices and laboratories where their companies’ products are used. Taking them away from their jobs is costly to the company and its customers so any reason for doing so had better have a good ROI. Such was the case for Immucor, Inc., a medical diagnostics company relying heavily on technical and field support to ensure their customers’ long-term satisfaction with Immucor products and service personnel. Yet it had become apparent to company executives that a gap in customer service quality had opened. The Norcross, Georgia-based Immucor is a global in vitro diagnostics company that develops, manufactures, and sells products used by hospital blood banks, clinical laboratories, and blood donor centers. According to Jim Kennedy, Vice President of Customer Solutions, and Ann Minyard, Director, Application Support and Technical Training, new service skills and behaviors training would help Immucor improve customer relations and maintain its competitive edge. AchieveGlobal, an international performance improvement company, was asked to help Immucor improve both internal and external communications and service follow up. The company is structured upon three organizational branches: field service engineers who are dispatched to customer sites when product issues occur; technical service personnel who provide problem resolution via the telephone; and an application support group who installs Immucor equipment and trains customer staff on its uses. “Each of our departments deals with important problems, and we have to be able to handle customers well,” Minyard notes. “We knew that in our industry staying connected with each other would ensure consistent service delivery for our customers. We believe that AchieveGlobal’s programs and blended learning approach will help us achieve this vision.” Minyard and Kennedy liked how the AchieveGlobal programs are built, especially the tools available to reinforce new skills and behaviors, and selected the AchieveGlobal team to support their initiative. AchieveGlobal recommended a combination of Web-based and classroom-delivered, or blended, training to shorten the learning experience. Minimizing the time required for training was especially appreciated by Immucor staff. Training involved managers and 75