CE 406 - Learning Theories: Andragogy

 One formal learning experience that stands out to me was my training as a sales trainer at Sandler sales training. Sandler emphasizes the importance of having a sales strategy and a system. Selling is like learning how to ride a bike, the process you take to sell must be practical and not just theoretical. You can’t learn to sell at a seminar but in the process of learning. I learned through this training that you must first, qualify your prospects. Next, you must extract your prospect’s pain. All people in business have a pain point.  Something that is causing them to expend more time, effect, energy, and/or money. Then, you must verify that the prospect has money. So many times, salespeople meet with customers and give a presentation without qualifying that they have money to spend.  Be sure the prospect is a decision-maker and not just the gatekeeper. Lastly, match your service or product to the prospect’s pain. When you show the potential buyer that you have the right tool to alleviate their pain, they will be more willing to allow you to sell them the product or service that will help them succeed in their business.

This selling or sales system method relates to the andragogic principle of problem-centered learning. Problem-centered gives the buyer reason to solve their problems and give them back more time and resources.

Another principle of andragogic learning is experience. Everyone has the experience that can add value to their learning. Regardless of your business or trade your experiences in a particular job can be translated into learning something new. Experiences give you a great baseline for learning new material based on the information you have already gained in the past. Asking questions about how they handled a situation in the past and relating that experience to this present situation will give the learning a new outlook on how the new information can be used.  What each person takes away from a learning experience is shaped by many things, including expectations, attitudes, prior experiences, aptitude, and emotional state.

Designing learning environments means that the information that I provide will be practical and relevant to the learner. Learners, especially adults want to walk out of the training knowing that they can use the information in their organization and if will be useful to them right away.