Why Should We Develop Pull-Through Training?

 

The Forgetting Curve:

The forgetting curve dates back to the 1880s but has been widely studied and still remains relevant today. The forgetting curve illustrates this sharp decline in retention shortly after learning new information. Learners may forget upwards of 90% of what they’ve learned within the first 7 days without a built-in retention method.

 

Pull-Through Training

The forgetting curve is just one of the many reasons why pull-through training is so important. Planning for how you will reinforce learning after a training event helps ensure that the resources and effort that went into the initial training are not wasted.

But even knowing the importance of reinforcement, pull-through training often remains an afterthought. There are some common reasons why this happens, including lack of time, money, formal approval, consensus on objectives, or a clear plan for implementation by managers.

 

Here are some quick ways that you can overcome these obstacles:

 

• Time: develop the pull-through design simultaneously with the design and creation of the other training materials. Building this in will ensure the pull-through materials are ready to go as quickly as possible.
• Money: include pull-through planning in your initial budget and always remember that this does not need to be a large expense. Plan for a couple of small resources that can have a lasting impact.
• Formal approval: reduce the time introduced by formal approval by developing and submitting pull-through materials at the same time as other materials. This will also help to decrease the potential of new or misaligned comments.
• Lack of consensus on objectives: ensure pull-through materials focus on identical objectives as the materials they reinforce.
• Lack of implementation by managers: make the pull-through training simple, focused, and easy to implement.

 

Types of Pull-Through Training

We at Whole Systems have found there are three main places where planning and implementing pull-through training is critical:

• After a New Drug Launch
• After an NSM or POA
• As ongoing training for a standing sales force.

 

Let’s review some different examples:

After a New Drug Launch:

After a new drug launch, the most important role for the sales force is to get out into the field and stay there! That means that the pull-through material must be something easy for them to use. Options include:

• A Manager Pull-Through Guide – This can consist of one workshop activity that can easily be run by the manager during weekly regional calls. Post launch, we focus on field application and how reps can help share what is working and what is not!
• Primers – Even after extensive planning there are usually one or two topics that pop up as extremely important once the reps get into the field. For this situation, we recommend a primer to add in additional content to the learning journey that helps with these gap topics. You can also repurpose this for New Hire training!

 

 

 

After an NSM or POA:

• A Manager Pull-Through Guide – While this guide is very similar to the one talked about post launch. We can use this to emphasize any new skills or knowledge covered in the live meeting. We see this as one way to combat the forgetting curve and remind salespeople how to continually integrate the new materials into their everyday lives.
  

  

• Pop Quizzes – Small and short quizzes about materials learned are the name of the game here! The great part about quizzes is that there are so many ways you can administer them! You can implement them as spaced learning, individual game quizzes, or as a group activity! This makes learning accessible to all regions!

 

 

 

As Ongoing Support for a standing salesforce:

• Patient or Provider Vignettes – These are highly stylized and focus on one patient or provider. They can cover the day in the life of the physician or the patient journey. This is a fantastic way to always bring it back to the patient!
• Podcasts – Salespeople are constantly in the car and on the road, so having something that meets them where they are, and gives them a chance to hear from their peers, is a win! Podcasts are a cultural hit and that makes them a hit in training as well. Pick topics that are relevant to your listeners. And include guests from across the company so that different voices can be heard!

 

Want to learn more about Pull-Through Training and how we have implemented it here at Whole Systems? Contact us here!