Natural Training:
from #GLOOM to #VOOM

Bandwidth poverty.  A first world problem. But it can strangle the #VOOM of even the most ambitious, fast-growing business.

‘It was a disaster’. says Feena Coleman, Finance and Operations Director of Natural Training.

‘We only had five megabits per second with our old provider. We hit a period of rapid growth and suddenly systems were hanging and crashing. People started going out to a local cafe to get work done because if a video was being uploaded everything else went on the go-slow.’

As an innovative sales training provider, which is proud of its partnerships with some of the biggest companies in the UK, this was not sustainable. ‘For me as a founder, it felt like I was failing my team. And, after months and months of surveys, it became clear our old telco couldn’t help.’

Natural Training develops programmes that create real change within teams. Change that wins awards. Like ‘Best Training Program 2011’ at the Golden Peacock Awards. Won for its work with Dell Computers, it recognised a collaborative approach rolled out across 17 countries in 11 languages. Working with clients and tailoring initiatives to each culture, Natural Training’s system helps individuals be themselves. Which works wonders.

‘Change that tries to make you act against your natural style doesn’t last,’ says Feena. ‘The real key is to be yourself. The more relaxed you are - and the more comfortable you are with your proposition - the more people are going to buy.’

But even the process of becoming more ‘you’ means change. And that takes time - and lots of interaction. And, of course, bandwidth. ‘We don’t just turn up and deliver a day of training. We’re engaged with teams while we’re designing the programme and then have constant contact afterwards. We’re sharing videos and other media to help reinforce and establish the new behaviours. Which makes us very dependent on the Internet.’

‘In fact, we’re a very cloud-based business across all our operations. Microsoft SharePoint for document sharing is quite heavy on internet usage. Then we’ve got backups and files syncing, plus our cloud-based CRM. And we use Smartsheet to manage all our projects. Which means ultrafast internet is essential to make everything work properly.’