USE THIS FOR THE INTRO

Q: I'm looking through the website going, what's something that's in here that is buried, that people should know more about.

… So this is my way of bubbling this content up. … So I'm not sure how customers actually find out about it.

Greg: I'm not sure either. I know the CSR has put it out there. … we in the apps team do. … don't know about the sales reps, how much they're selling it, but that,

Bob: well, if …someone calls for support, do you follow, is there like a standard follow up email that says, if you need more ...

Greg: There's no form per se, although we try to look for opportunities because the rule of thumb is if a customer needs questions answered, we answer them. If they want to talk to us, sure. Conference call, half an hour, hour, we'll do that for anybody.

Greg: If they need more than that, then we think about offering them a training. That's the kind of rule. Because, and I wouldn't quote me on this necessarily … I don't think there's a written policy on this, but we try to strike that balance of what do we give away?

Greg: Like, what's part of, what do you get for free from the apps team and what should you be charging for? And that kind of deep dive [intensive training, four-hour block of time is definitely something we want to charge for.

Bob: [Compared to other hardware on the market …] would you describe UEI's systems easier to work with? Are they harder?

Greg: We pride ourselves on making our products easy to use. But data acquisition is can be a complex topic. So as easy as we make it, there's still a lot to learn. And I think there's still a lot of value in training, even for people who are very experienced with data acquisition. (Maybe move this up closer to the beginning)

USE THIS FOR THE Q&A PART

Q: Explain what UEI Training is and how it benefits our customers.

A: Sure. The Training is effectively a session with an apps one of our UEI Application Engineers and we can cover anything from the bare basics of data acquisition to something a bit more advanced like how to write code using our API. We can also cover topics like how to harness the power of individual boards if they've [a customer] has a particular set up. But the trainings – with some notable exceptions - have been a general introduction, something pitched towards a new customer.

Q: Why?

A: Well, we’ve found the most important time [for training] is when customers are first getting started. The typical use case is when they first buy the hardware, they’ve never used it before and they want/need to get up to speed quickly. (* This repeats the previous answer a bit.)

It could also be really useful if they've got new people coming into a group or turnover in a group working with our hardware can be a really efficient way to get people up to speed.

Or maybe they've got experience working with UEI hardware, but they're starting a new project with some really different IO boards. Our IO catalog is pretty broad. So if they're really well versed with our analog input boards, and now they're starting a new application with one of our avionics boards it might be worth getting trained in that [particular] topic.

Q: Who is actually doing the training?

A: Our trainers can be either me or anyone from the UEI Application Engineering team. And we've all had between two and 16 years of experience working with UEI hardware. Every day we help customers get started with our hardware and answer their questions.

Plus, we’re backed by our hardware and software department. So if there's anything that comes up in a Training session - some really deep technical question that we don't know off the top of our heads we can talk directly to the engineers and get an answer.

Q: A customer might ask, why they’d need training in the first place? Shouldn't the UEI documentation cover it?

A: Of course, and it does. We have extensive documentation detailing how to use all our products – hardware and software. And if customers have any questions they can always talk to our applications team, but depending on the level of help they need that could take days or [even] weeks. The UEI Training acts like a shortcut. Basically, they (the customer) can get all of that time spent figuring it out on their own compressed into a half-day or full-day session.

Q: OK, but what's the difference between UEI tech support and UEI training?

A: Great question. Depth is the short answer. With tech support, we can answer the questions you ask us – either by email or quick conference call. But it's hard to answer the questions you don't ask … at least in that format.

With the Training … we're presenting directly (and frequently in person) to the trainee (or trainees) and we may cover things they wouldn't even know to ask about. It also gives them an opportunity to do a much longer Q&A. That’s why we build in flexible time so that whatever questions come up during the training we can answer. So, to sum it up – UEI Training is more open ended. It’s longer and provides the customer with deeper understanding.

Bob: How long are the typical training sessions? What about the format?

A: The format is pretty flexible. And [as I mentioned before] UEI Training can be in-person, in-person at the customer site … or virtual / online.

As for how long the Training takes … our standard offerings are half-day, one-day or sometimes even two-day.

The half-day is enough to cover a basic introduction to our hardware and our software. And then we can usually take a deeper dive into a handful of specific topics like synchronization or ???. At the end of the day, we'll work with the customer to figure out what format and what timeframe matches their goals and their applications.

Bob: How long has UEI offered training and what's the feedback?

Greg: So far, the feedback has been great. I think we did our first training over a year ago now. And customers have seen a lot of value in the program so far.

CONCLUSION

Bob: If a customer wants UEI Training, how do they get started?

Greg: They can email us, email customer service or one of our sales reps. I'll have them fill out a short survey so we have an idea of what kind of training they want. And then it's just about working with them to find the format that works best for them.

And from there we'll schedule it. And, that's it.

Bob: What else do you want UEI customers or potential customers to know about UEI training?

Greg: I think we've covered most of what I would talk to customers about. I think the key for me is that we're not offering anything they can't figure out on their own. It's really just a matter of time. We're offering a shortcut to getting them up to speed, getting their system going and getting the data they need.