Teach, Don’t Tell – Client Relations in an Ever-Changing Industry

Grant Heger is the Director of Client Relations & Project Manager at RideAmigos. Grant shares some insight on how teaching can be used as a tool to enhance client relationships in the constantly changing TDM industry.

What do you mean teach, don’t tell? Aren’t they the same thing?

• Telling = lecturing, a very one sided activity.
  • Do you prefer to be told what to do. or do you prefer being taught how to do something?
• Teaching allows everyone involved to work together.
• Be multi-modal!
  • Teaching involves a variety of learning methods for both the teacher and the learner: visual, aural, aesthetic.
• How do I do this?
  • Jump on screenshare, create a video, have a question and answer session.

How will it help me?

• Think back to college, high school, or even middle school.
  • What lessons do you really remember?
• Think about the platforms you use most often today.
  • Could you really instruct another user how to work with it efficiently?
• The more you are able to teach about your platform or program, the more comfortable you will be with it!

How will it help my client relations?

• No more feeling alone, lost in the woods of a new platform or program.
• A more personal interaction helps your client feel at ease with a new program or workflow.
• It allows hands-on experience with someone they feel is an expert on the subject.
• It allows your clients and users to have one specific point of contact to refer back to.
• It gives them an easy way to ask questions in a learning environment.

Never stop learning!

• If you stagnate, so will your users and clients. Learn to re-learn.
• Don’t be scared to tell a client “I’m not quite sure but let me find out and get back to you.” This gives you a new learning experience and lets your client know that their question is being attended to.
• If you learn something new, find someone to teach it to. This will help you retain the information faster and more efficiently.
• Always remember that there is more than one way to learn: visual, aural, kinesthetic, and more.

Grant makes the point that effective learning requires total immersion into a new platform or program. If you are interested in learning about the UNITY platform and how it will fit to your transportation demand management needs, take a few moments to watch our exciting demo video.