Why Not E-learning?

I don't call myself a salesman, but running GCPLearning, I am an entrepreneur - so I'm selling all the time. Evangelizing, really, in the direction of sales.

And of course, when I'm in a conversation that I hope leads to a purchase of our training content, I hear and respond to objections on a regular basis. I find out why companies aren't already doing e-learning, and sometimes, why they aren't considering doing e-learning.

Our top competitor is good old status quo. "We're doing what we're doing - we've always done what we're doing and we probably always will."

Our second-place competitor is fear of loss of control or esteem. "When my boss sees how efficient online training is, we trainers won't be wanted or needed anymore." Of course this one is rarely articulated with such brutally frank clarity.

Third place goes to budget concerns. "We'd love to do that. But we don't have enough left in the budget to take it on." (Alternative: "We don't have a budget.")

The next objection to e-learning is lack of technology infrastructure. "The folks on the line/in the field don't have computers."

What reasons do you hear for NOT adopting e-learning? How do you respond to those objections? Feel free to post in the comments below, or join the conversation on the GCPLearning Facebook page.

None of these objections are insurmountable, and if you're trying to get your company started with e-learning, GCPLearning can help. I'd suggest that you download our free workbook, Assess, Plan and Promote Your E-learning Business Case, to assist you in realizing the improvements in your training program that e-learning facilitates.

And stay tuned - I'll write soon about more reasons people use to argue against e-learning, and explain some compelling and effective counter-arguments.