YTB’s second weekend of the new RPM Training is now complete. The very first class was held just after Funshine in Orlando late last month, with the West Coast getting their first taste of YTB’s Regional Product Marketing this past weekend in San Fransisco and Irvine California. The remainder of the classes for the month of October have been posted in our weekly Newsletter for St. Louis and Kansas City, MO on October 17th – Atlanta, Detroit, Clearwater/Tampa, and Newark, NJ on October 24th – and the month will finish out in Dallas, TX on October 31st.

Additional cities will be announced for November as the company secures facilities to host it’s new training program. Plans right now include Las Vegas, Miami, Phoenix, and Denver, with additional smaller markets in the cities like Montgomery, AL.

As a reminder, RPM Training is designed for existing Reps with access to their back office, where you can find the exact locations for the training classes with instructions on how to register and pay for the courses. (A further review of the new RPM Training and what it entails can be found here.) It should also be noted that this training is for Associates and Reps, and not TSO’s. (TSO’s have First Class, E-Campus, and a plethora of supplier and industry association trainings they can register and participate in for travel related trainings.)

Here are a handful of comments received over the weekend surrounding the new RPM Trainings:

The RPM in Irvine was well worth the drive and the $ spent! Our Directors ROCK!
RPM was a one stop shop covering ALL our up-to-date and IMPORTANT INFORMATION!!!
~ Kathy and Robert V., San Diego, CA

So happy to see training for the REPs. Great Job!!
~ Tonia L., Austell, Georgia

I feel that all should enroll and complete this course. It means so much to know more about what we have to offer. How can we promote what we have if we don’t know ourselves.
~ Gloria E., Norfolk, VA

Being new to this business and still learning I found it to be very useful. I feel that any class I can take only helps. I look forward to more trainings. Very well prepared and presented by the 36 new Certified Trainers. Great training.
~ Angela D., Englewood, FL

I strongly feel that EVERYBODY, new or old, should take this course.
~ Barbara C., Hialeah, FL

I enjoyed this experience very much.
~ Debbie J., Anna, IL

Great course. Lots of good info. Would definitely recommend to team members.
~ Joseph B., Saint Petersburg, FL

Great training and very positive. Addressed the needs in getting on track and staying focused.
~ Gregory & Sandra N., Sherwood, AR

Thank you, thank you, and THANK YOU ONE AND ALL!!!
~ Sonya C., Raleigh, NC

The course was great! I kept saying how fast the time was going. It seemed like I just got started and before I knew it, it was over. It totally excited me all over again about the business that I have.
~ Mary V., Mays Landing, NJ

RPM Training Classes are taught by Certified Trainers who have been hand picked by YTB, bringing Reps the most updated, relevant information at the time. The curriculum includes a complete study of all YTB products, how to sell them, and how to build your YTB marketing business.

While it’s still too early to see any residual effects from a training like this, it looks to be a HUGE hit for those who took the time to invest in their business.

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After the close of Funshine last weekend, YTB launched a new training program on Sunday for Reps and Associates – Regional Product Marketing (RPM) Training. YTB is very proud of all the training programs they provide, as they should. The trainings I’ve attended and produced by YTB rivals any trainings I’ve ever participated in for content and curriculum in any industry let alone travel. I’ve been with YTB for several years now, and with every new training YTB creates, they take what they’ve been able to learn from the past to enhance the new trainings and curriculum with better features, content, and presentations to ensure what’s being taught is relevant, fresh and current.

The new RPM curriculum takes the best aspects of the live trainings such as the old CRTA that YTB once held across cities all over the country and has enhanced it’s mission and purpose.

The mission of this program is to educate and equip our Reps to effectively sell the YTB suite of products and to build a successful sales organization.

Don’t mistake this for another version of the CRTA however. There are several key aspects of the RPM Training that set RPM apart. With all the changes, enhancements, and upgrades YTB has experienced over the last two years the company has created a training program that provides information and how-to’s for YTB 2.0. What’s even more impressive, RPM is designed to be updated and enhanced on a weekly basis to provide the participants with the most relevant information available at that time. The only common thread between the CRTA and RPM trainings are they’re both live, and they’re both local.

There are four major categories with the new 4 1/2 hour RPM training that will provide a little insight into what this training program is all about.

1. What we sell – travel, shopYTB.
2. How to sell it
3. How to build a team
4. Compensation and how to get to Coach’s Corner.
   

With the advent of First Class Training last year, the completion of E-Campus this summer, supplier seminars provided at Funshine this past weekend, and the plethora of travel related webinars, Seminars @ Sea, and live trainings provided by the industry and various associations, RPM is designed for the new Associate and Rep in our business. While RPM provides an overview of hundreds of suppliers YTB partners with, this new training is not designed for the Travel Store Owner, but for the Associate and Rep.

Nor is RPM designed for anyone outside the company. In the past, the CRTA trainings were a great way to show prospects our product and company culture free of charge. Not so with RPM. For each RPM, participants not only need to register in their back office for the local Trainings, but also pay a $45 registration fee in advance for the 4 1/2 hour trainings. That being said – I can’t think of a better way to get a new Associate off on the right foot with a $45 investment to provide the proper product knowledge and effective marketing techniques.

The goal here is to provide current and relevant content for anyone who wants to learn how to build an organization. YTB will follow this new training program very closely, with pre and post meetings, participant surveys, and continued trainer and field input to ensure accuracy and relevancy. With YTB’s Franchise Model just over the horizon and the opportunity it provides, YTB has been proactive with RPM with this key component in the transition to a Franchise model. The new RPM training not only updates Associates and Reps about YTB 2.0, but is flexible enough to provide both effective communication tool and the proper training program as the Franchise model begins to roll out in 2010.

Case in point. The first RPM training course was held in front of 300 registered participants last Sunday in Orlando. Participants have already enrolled in two more RPM Trainings this upcoming weekend in Irvine and San Fransisco, California. Based on company, field, and trainer input, close to 20 slides have been updated with new information for the trainings this upcoming weekend. As YTB continues to roll out RPM later this month in Kansas City, St. Louis, Atlanta, Detroit, and Newark NJ, and additional RPM trainings scheduled for November in Tampa, Dallas, Las Vegas, Miami, Phoenix, and Denver, more changes will be made as YTB updates it’s systems and processes.

The best part about RPM…it’s live and in living color.

Don’t get me wrong, I love technology and how easy it is for us to learn and obtain knowledge remotely. The First Class Training launched in October of last year, The Academy’s E-Campus courses designed by industry veteran Marc Mancini, and the regular Thursday night Training Calls with suppliers were all designed to provide training for our Travel Store Owners. While I find each of these training modules both effective and well done, it can’t compare with “live” events YTB once held via the CRTA’s or currently do with YTB University or the supplier seminars conducted at both the YTB Convention and Funshine.

These live events provide interaction and the ability to ask questions that you just can’t get via the remote trainings. (Although there are ideas to address that shortcoming.) RPM will also provide participants with a class of Certified Company Trainers (48 currently) who have gone through a the proper certification process to ensure that RPM will maintain it’s high standards and mission as it moves forward. With all due respect the the CRTA trainings once held by YTB, some of the trainings provided by a few Directors were not up to company standards. I’ve seen a big movement in trainings across the board on what has become known as “Train the Trainer” and YTB has picked up on this idea for it’s own RPM trainings to ensure relevancy, accuracy, and the proper information designed for the field by the company.

I’m also looking forward to the smaller venues that should provide better retention and interaction between the participants and the trainers. While it’s impressive to see a room filled with 1000 people, the size of RPM has been shaved to possibly 100 registrants after this first wave of trainings roll out across the country. RPM will also look at a few secondary markets like Austin, TX and Montgomery, AL to provide easy access to these emerging markets within YTB.

My hats off the Founders and Executives in the company and especially Derek Avera for this new RPM training. Like most of the new trainings YTB launches, Derek was key in the design and launch of the new RPM training. He first came on the scene with a viable answer to our Travel Training with First Class for new TSO’s last year. With RPM now launched for Associates and Reps in the field with it’s new design and content, it should prove to be a major component in YTB’s dominance in the industry.

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