Insider Newsletter from Information Mapping

Information Mapping, Inc.
307 Waverley Oaks Road
Waltham, MA 02452 U.S.A.

T: 781.547.3100
or 800.INFOMAP
F: 781.547.3200
E: inquiry@infomap.com
W: www.infomap.com

September 2006	www.infomap.com	Vol. 14, No. 3

Success Story: ResMed

by David Singer, Contributing Writer

California-based ResMed is a leading developer and manufacturer of medical equipment used to diagnose and treat sleep-disordered breathing ailments. Their products include nasal masks, flow generators, humidifiers, head harnesses and other devices. ResMed is a growing organization that currently employs nearly 2000 people.

Medical device companies rely on effective training programs to ensure that their sales force understands how to sell their products. At the ResMed Learning Center in Poway, CA, a team of Instructional Designers and technical writers is responsible for developing the training that the company’s 80 sales representatives need to help them successfully sell the extensive and evolving ResMed product line.

“Salespeople need to understand our products, and we wanted a user-friendly way present information and get key concepts across quickly, easily and without fluff,” said Treasure Addis, an Instructional Designer at the ResMed Learning Center. “There’s a lot of information they need to know. This type of sales training is often presented in long modules, and critical information gets lost in dense prose-style documents.”

Treasure was among a group of training team members at ResMed who attended Information Mapping learning programs in early 2006. Team members then applied their Mapping skills to design and development of a new series of sales training modules.

This project was especially important because its purpose was to help the sales force prepare for an initiative to introduce ResMed products to prospective customers in a new segment of the market. To be successful, salespeople needed highly efficient training that would enable them to quickly gain understanding of new concepts and unfamiliar terminology.

Right from the start the training team found their Information Mapping skills to be useful in every phase of the work. They used the method for the initial design work and the structuring of interviews with subject matter experts (SME’s) as well as for layout and formatting of the final modules.

Because this was their first use of the Information Mapping method, the team was concerned with measuring its effectiveness. “We wanted to make sure that the money spent on training us in Information Mapping was going to help learning,” Treasure told us. The team quickly confirmed that the method has provided an excellent return on ResMed’s investment.

“The reduction in page count was huge,” Treasure said. “Our modules are usually 80-120 pages in length. In the first module we developed, Information Mapping helped us to reduce this count by 20 pages. This has held true for the modules we’ve worked with since.”

Treasure also reported that the sales force is very pleased with the new training module. “It’s important to remember that our primary learners are sales reps who have demanding schedules. Now they get to do less reading, and they can focus on selling. They’re giving us tremendous feedback about the quality and clarity of the information.”

Equally significant was the amount of time saved by the team due to use of Information Mapping techniques. The average development time for a training module was reduced by 50%, from six weeks to only three. The team attributes this savings not only to its own increased efficiency, but also to major reductions in the time needed by SME’s and quality reviewers to provide comments on their drafts. Revision time for the team after they receive reviewer comments went down from an entire week to an average of only three days.

These time savings translate into impressive reductions in development costs. The ResMed team has begun applying Information Mapping’s method to additional training projects. Team members are confident that the outcomes of these projects will be similarly successful.

This training team’s achievements demonstrate that for organizations faced with the challenges of bringing complex products to market, the Information Mapping method can significantly reduce training costs and provide an effective competitive advantage.

This message is privileged, confidential, and intended for the addressee only. If you have received this communication in error and are not the intended recipient, immediately notify the sender and delete this message from your computer. Your dissemination, modification, printing or copying of this message is prohibited. The contents of this message may contain personal views, which are not the views of Information Mapping, Inc. unless specifically stated. In compliance with Public Law No. 108-187 effective January 1, 2004.