Educational Services

Today when we are asked to spend some of our limited time on anything, the natural question is "what’s in it for us?” From your perspective, the payoff should be about the attainment and application of knowledge. A person who has “it” and knows what to do with “it" will rule the roost. We must understand that the AV/IT/Digital Signage integration market is demanding value and differentiation and those that provide these elements will be rewarded with profitable sales and recurring revenue streams.

One approach is to create an education strategy for your company starting with a list of your most important suppliers. Then break it down into sales and technical training and be descriptive and proactive in what you require as an end result of the training. Do not permit a manufacturer to take up your time to simply go over the spec sheets and features of a product when you can do this on your own. What you do need from manufacturers is a tutorial on applications, solutions, and prime benefits as well as clear differentiation between their products and the competition.

At Brawn Consulting we consult with you to create a fully thought out continuing education plan founded in education, standards, and certifications that goes beyond courses and seminars as a means of disseminating information. We insure that you can and will achieve differentiation by embracing all aspects that can be provided by the adoption and commitment to professionalism that will be recognized beyond the hallowed halls of our industry trade shows.

With nearly three decades of educational experience, we know that the training and education process for a company can be invaluable from several perspectives if we look beyond our personal paradigms.

First of all, the process of creating an internal and external educational development program "forces" a company to think out each detail of their internal structure, policies and procedures, as well as their products/services and how they are handled inside and outside the company. People speak of company reviews like this but they seldom take place unless a training program is initiated or a business emergency takes place.
If done properly, the review process can be used to inform, educate, and motivate the people who are the beneficiaries of the courses as well as providing development and a set of parameters for the corporate staff. There is a huge benefit in knowing that you have done the best job possible in the communication of your message which then places you in a position to management expansion and growth.
Education and certification programs can be used as the basis of competency in a given area and as a sequence and qualification for job promotion within a company or from the company sales perspective, a qualification to a higher level of dealership for those who have taken the time to be trained.
From a sales point of view, it clearly defines each product and service and separates the tangible benefits from the simple specifications and features of the product. As we all know, features are interesting but benefits are what sell.
From a technical point of view you would have the opportunity to outline the important technical details in the products and services you sell as well demonstrate the integration of the various technologies into specific applications.
An effective educational development program permits you to test and certify employees at will thus verifying a certain knowledge level on the part of the participants. This prevents the use of the dreaded word "assumption" and fosters professionalism.
Well designed programs provide an ideal platform to educate both internally and externally about your company.
An educational program takes the guess work out of communication and insures that everyone is on the same "page of the hymnal". This provides a foundation that can be adjusted and altered as the need arises.
Last but certainly not least, educational development programs and certifications like those offered by InfoComm, ISF-C, and DSEG can be used as a differentiator in the market permitting you to stand above those less qualified in a given specialty.

With the growth in the AV/IT/Digital Signage industries, it is necessary to acquire and implement educational programs with internal and external components for use in identifying and managing the continuing growth you desire. As has been said a thousand times, if you can't measure it you can't manage it. By establishing structure, process, and metrics, training and educational development will be a critical path to differentiation and communicating your message to the market not to mention being the anecdote for those stagnant profits we all fear so much.

Brawn Consulting is the leading provider of educational curriculums and customized content for the AV, IT, and Digital Signage industries offering:

As you are more than well aware, your employees and co-workers working at full throttle in an efficient and effective manner is necessary if you are to meet your goals this year and beyond. One of the ways to insure that each person is fully armed with the necessary tools of knowledge and information necessary to do their jobs in a professional manner is continuing education. I do not know of anyone that disagrees with this. The focus of differentiation in commercial AV, IT, and digital signage is education and certifications. It all boils down to a means to an end.

Customized Educational Development Programs
Educational development can best be categorized as a process of growth through the attainment of knowledge in a formalized manner. Brawn Consulting works with the manufacturer, distributor, consultant, and VAR/integrator to understand where they are today in terms of knowledge and strength and more importantly where they need to go in the future to increase their capabilities. The end result can be a custom designed stand alone course or fully integrated continuing education programs/curriculum tailored to meet individual situations and company goals.

Training/Presentation On Existing Library of Programs
The current library of over 50 Brawn Consulting seminars and training programs start at the basics and move toward advanced course materials in a logical and easy to comprehend progression. Most are industry certified carrying learning unit credits for organizations such as InfoComm and ISF-C, and DSEG and provide in-depth knowledge into the areas of sales, management, technologies, services, and current market niches and conditions.

Industry Certification Training Support
Brawn Consulting is dedicated to the commercial audio visual industry certification programs such as CTS from InfoComm and ISF Commercial from the Imaging Science Foundation and the Digital Signage Certified Experts program from the Digital Signage Experts Group. Brawn Consulting dedicates time and resources teaching numerous courses at InfoComm each year and Alan Brawn and Jonathan Brawn are senior faculty members of the InfoComm Academy and members of InfoComm’s PETC group dedicated to the advancement of education in the commercial audio visual industry worldwide. In addition, Alan and Jonathan Brawn are involved with the Digital Signage Expo and are on the DSE Education Committee creating courses for the digital signage industry. In this regard, Brawn Consulting will work with you to help prepare your employees for industry certifications and provide programs that qualify for continuing education credits for the major organizations such as InfoComm, DSEG, and ISF Commercial.

Development of "Train the Trainer" Programs
There is no substitute for in house training programs and internal support but numerous obstacles seem to stand in the way. Brawn Consulting will help overcome these obstacles by developing in house training programs customized for your company and beyond that, help by selecting and training the appropriate people on your staff to provide continuing educational support going beyond the "occasional seminar approach" so pervasive today.

Development of Online Training Programs
While we get near universal agreement on the concept of continuing education as a necessity, the problem we face is one of time allocation. We can ill afford to take employee time out of the field or away from the phones to sit in a class room and those horrible "lunch and learns" are ineffective to say the least and we get a lousy lunch in the process. Online education if done creatively and properly is one answer to the dilemma of time allocation. As proof of this, we see the number of people who are attending our Brawn Consulting online webinars with voice overs and also the number of people attending the Digital Signage Certified Experts courses online. Here are dome benefits of online education:

Online courses proved creative and content control and they can be managed for distribution and participation.
Online courses can insure staff levels of knowledge on industry related elements that each employee should know in order to be successful and as a result better address internal issues as well as customer needs.
It allows employees to take courses on their schedules and stop and start at will. The staff can browse the table of contents to review the material and they take an exam as proof of their completion.
The online program can be connected to the HR department and used for annual employee reviews.
Ultimately it will take the place of those time absorbing meetings that rarely come off as planned and provide a foundation for continuing professional growth of your staff without intrusion on their daily tasks.

Brawn Consulting can provide expert consultation on your continuing education and certification strategy, supply the program infrastructure as well as create the content plus provide feedback as to each employee’s progress program by program. The continuing education program can begin with a basic Certified Professional course in sales, service, technology, etc. and expand to include other parts of the business that require employee understanding and comprehension and that are ill served by present means.