Mentor is a software-training course, right?

Mentor is NOT training courseware. Mentor is a CLS (Communication, Learning, & Support) deployment tool that communicates an application's overall purpose and capabilities and gives the user one-click access to a comprehensive body of just-in-time, multimedia demonstrations on demand.

Mentor shows and tells you just what you need to know, just when you need to know it, so you can continue working. As a productivity tool, it is the opposite of training because it eliminates the need for excessive retention and memorization that training relies on.

What's the difference between Mentor and a CBT course?

Rarely is a CBT or Web-based Training course completed. In fact, studies from Forrester Research show that almost 65% of users who start CBT or WBT programs will abandon them. A lengthy course quickly moves beyond the viewer's desire to absorb and need to retain all they're watching. Why move to lesson five when it's not relevant to your needs? This is why people often say that CBT courses are boring; they're not motivated to watch them.

More important is the question of effectiveness. Studies from the University of Minnesota have long showed that a user retains about 10% of what they were taught only 30 days after they take a course. If end-user success relies on retention, then the drastic drop in productivity and rise in tech. support costs during migrations or rollouts of new software is proof that the current training paradigm is failing and knowledge retention is the wrong objective.

Mentor eliminates the need for retention by dividing the content into short multimedia demonstrations that show you just what you need to know, just when you need to know it. Mentor Conceptuals visualize and communicate the key functions and main topics - allowing the user to quickly understand key concepts. And a few JITs get the user started actually using the application. What they don't know they get "just-in-time", learning as they work, without ever leaving the application.

Example: Two months later, a user forgets how to change their password, they click the Mentor icon, watch a one-minute demonstration - "How to change your password", do it themselves and move on. No phone call, no asking for help, no reading obscure text help files, no playing a CD, no leaving the application to a book marked eLearning website to find the answer... very different from CBT, but very effective.

How is Mentor deployed?

Mentor's architecture allows for the ultimate in deployment flexibility. You can put it on your Intranet or Internet server and your organization can access it over the web at modem speeds as low as 28.8KBPS with no downloading. For mobile or remote workers, Mentor is so highly compressed; we recommend it be downloaded to the users hard drive - laptop or PC. No matter where a user is and whatever they're trying to do; they can do it immediately and without any outside help at the click of a button right in the application.

What is the Pre-Rollout Communications option?

Mentor's PRC option is an excellent change management tool that smoothes an enterprise-wide rollout of new applications or migrations. It begins the CLS process with a series of five e-mails designed to effectively communicate the coming change and ease the recipients into the transition.

The initial announcement links to an HTML page on your Intranet containing a Mentor Conceptual communicating the concept of the new application. Three subsequent e-mails link to Mentor JITs that familiarizes the users with the new functionality.

The final e-mail gives users the comfort of knowing all the content they previously viewed is from Mentor, and it will be at their disposal 24/7/365. It then links them to a Conceptual explaining all about Mentor, along with a JIT demonstrating how to use it. When the rollout or migration begins, users hit the ground running, having already begun the assimilation process.

How is Mentor licensed?

Mentor can be licensed to organizations with more than twenty-five users on a per-user basis. Multi-user "seat licensing" is cost effective; as the number of seats increases, the cost per seat decreases. Per-seat license pricing for all Mentor products is available by calling us at 203-855-9400 or e-mailing us at sales@trymentor.com.

How is it decided what content will be included in a Mentor?

Mentor Media's content development staff of writers performs the research-intensive process of identifying the scope of Mentor content. We consult subject matter experts, sometimes provided by the applications developer (e.g. Lotus for our Lotus products). We scour the application's documentation and help files. We do extensive web research of white papers, marketing materials and product reviews. We also draw on helpdesk data - determining which functions cause the most activity. Our content developers learn and use the application extensively; a common sense practice that reveals much of what needs to be demonstrated. For a custom application, the customer usually knows what content needs to be covered. This is augmented with our recommendations based on our experience, research and observations.

Why are communications writers better suited to develop Mentor content than educators, instructional designers and technical people?

Courseware developers, marketing communication writers and advertising copywriters have a similar task; to deliver information that motivates an action. A training course does it over a number of hours, with large volumes of content and text written by technical writers and instruction designers. A TV ad, brochure, poster, etc. communicate their message in seconds, using catchy phrases, graphics, animation, etc. Which are you more likely to read, the quick-to-the-point ad with an appealing photo, or the long, tedious 200-page training manual?

Mentor communicates the big concepts and demonstrates the small tasks one at a time in short multimedia segments. It speaks to regular people using humor, allegories and metaphors, and has its own personality. Writing talent is key in consistently producing Mentor's friendly, knowledgeable voice in a familiar tone that is neither assuming nor condescending. These features require a skill set unique to communications writers and attribute a major differentiator to Mentor.

What if Mentor's content doesn't match our specific needs?

On some occasions, an organization will roll out new software and choose that their users not have access to all its functions. In other cases, a company may modify the application for their own requirements. In these instances we custom edit the content for a fixed price, to cover just what you need.

Can Mentor replace training?

Yes, and in many instances it has. You can roll out new or upgraded software with a Mentor for that application and eliminate the need for training and the major associated costs.

How does it do this?

1. Mentor communicates a high-level understanding of the purpose and structure of new technology, while explaining it's features and benefits. These introductions remove apprehension and fear of the unknown.

2. Mentor's just-in-time learning is an easy source of knowledge in executing commonly used functions. It clearly demonstrates all the individual functions of an application, giving a full understanding of a system's capabilities.

3. Mentor JITS are easily accessible. This assures that immediate help is always available, and will always be right. The result is a full complement of communication, learning and ongoing support that end-users need to succeed with new technology.

Are Mentors only for software?

Mentor significantly accelerates end user success with any product, process or technology. Faster assimilation reduces support costs and produces a faster and greater return on technology investments. Mentor solves the end user problem for computer makers, device manufacturers, ISPs, system integrators and software suppliers. For a full explanation of how Mentor supports each of these, visit the "Partners" section of our web site.

Can we insure that our people have watched a predetermined sequence of mandatory content?

You can distribute a "mandatory watch list" of JITS to your users and determine who watched what with the Mentor Tracker, a database that keeps a record of all activity of any Mentor program on your servers. The Tracker is included as part of the enterprise license fee.

What makes Mentor so compelling that people will choose it over a helpdesk call?

You can never guarantee what people will choose. However, our experience - and that of our customers - reveals that people are likely to take the fastest and easiest route to get the answers they need, so they can get back to work. In Mentor's case, the results are a 20% to 45% reduction in Level-1 helpdesk calls, something that no ILT, CBT or WBT can achieve. To our customers, that's real compelling.

How will deploying Mentor save me money?

First, there's the initial savings of reduced or eliminated training. That alone usually justifies Mentor. Add to that, the salary you pay your people to train and Mentor becomes a no-brainer. Compound that with the lost productivity while your employee's train and Mentor is a home run.

Now, here's the real amazing Mentor ROI story. Add to those already impressive savings, a 20% to 45% reduction in helpdesk calls and it is not uncommon to realize a return on a Mentor deployment of 700% to 1,500% in the first year alone, and we can show you proof of these figures.

This is in addition to the significant and tangible benefits of eliminating the need for retention, enabling your people to learn as they work and providing ongoing instantaneous support on demand for the life of the application.

If you're interested in how Mentor can save you this kind of money, contact one of the Mentor representatives and ask them to do an ROI analysis of Mentor and a Mentor vs. Training comparison for your company.

Why can't I hire a Flash crew to make my own Mentor with animated screenshots?

From a technical standpoint, you could use programmers to mimic and reproduce the functions of an application. Ultimately, it is programmers and technicians who assemble Mentor and give it its functionality. But Mentor is more than a technical achievement.

Communication writers develop Mentor content through a research-intensive process involving subject matter experts, application documentation, web research, marketing materials, product reviews, training manuals, helpdesk data and hands-on experience. Equally, a great deal of care and expertise is devoted to the design, look and visual storytelling aspects of Mentor.

Of course, anyone can use these tools and techniques to develop content but technicians and programmers are not communicators. Mentor speaks to regular people in plain language, using humor, allegories and metaphors. It has its own personality, consistently produced in a friendly, knowledgeable tone that is neither assuming nor condescending.

Achieving all these production values requires a skill set unique to the writers, designers, production artists and programmers who produce Mentor.

So, here's a question for you. Why would you want to spend the money to reproduce something as effective and well produced as Mentor, when it costs less per user than a single helpdesk call?