An entrepreneur today launched an e-learning platform providing affordable, practical access to top-level sales training, with the ambitious goal of helping over one million people worldwide within five years.
Targeting all industries, Make It Happen (MIH) is a Dubai based, online platform, which has taken over a year to develop and includes more than 400 videos, coursework, exam questions and certification for those who pass.
According to Docebo the global e-learning market, which was estimated at over $48bn in 2015, is expected to grow by 16 to 22 per cent annually, giving it the potential to exceed bricks and mortar university enrolments by 2020.
Make It Happen founder, Spencer Lodge, comments: “The launch of our e-learning platform promotes the idea that nearly everyone is selling something, whether it be themselves at an interview or a product or service.
“I firmly believe the standard of training that’s been available is either insufficient, not widely enough available or restrictively expensive, so this online university provides access for everyone to make a real difference to their professional performance – at their own pace.
“There’s no university or college we know of that does a recognisable degree or PhD in professional sales skills. Our own research shows annually there are more than three million people globally, actively searching for sales training and ways to improve their business development skills. This figure does not even include people who require sales skills but are still unaware of the importance of building a sales skillset. Therefore, we believe this fulfils a huge gap in the market and will help a vast number of people across most industries.”
With over 1,000 pre-registrations over a period of six weeks prior to the launch (27% UAE; 24% US; 19% UK; 15% Australasia; 15% elsewhere) Lodge has been impressed with the diversity of applicant.
“We’ve seen people from all walks of life sign up – across so many countries and with varying job titles, from entrepreneurs to clerks, sales people to lawyers,” he adds. “Everyone, everywhere needs to be able to sell. Whether it’s a service, a product or your own skills, it doesn’t matter. If you’ve ever had to convince somebody of something, you’ve used sales skills, and it’s often those skills which are the difference between good and great in the business world.”
A well-known leader in the international financial services and sales industry with over 23 years of experience, Spencer Lodge has personally trained over 5,000 people during his career and has helped build large and successful financial consultancies. Having dedicated his career to building businesses and training employees to achieve their full potential, in 2015 he decided it was time to make his lifetime of knowledge available to people who want to learn about the recipe to success. Since then, Lodge has spent an intensive year working with his team to design, write and film the course, which is focused on all aspects of sales, from creating prospects and negotiating multi-million dollar deals to manoeuvring potential customers into making a purchase and selling oneself at an interview.
Once a user visits the Make It Happen website, they have the option to enrol for an introductory fee of US$1,995, reduced from $3,499 for the first three months only. This is a lifetime membership that includes all current and future content. Once in the platform, there are various courses to choose from. Each course consists of lessons, largely video-based, with supporting curriculum documentation. At the end of each lesson, a short exam must be completed. When all the lessons and exams are satisfactorily completed for a specific course, the student passes and receives a direct sales qualification and certification.
