Saffron celebrates the successes of 2006
Year ends on a high with a place on the IITT's "Training Company of the Year" shortlist.
For Saffron Interactive the bottom line of 2006 wasn't the 40% increase in turnover, but rather high client satisfaction ratings and the diversification of its product range. As the year came to a close, Saffron learnt that it had won a place on the shortlist for the IITT's "Training Company of the Year" Award - rewarding the company's focus on capturing client needs and learner interest.
Highlights of the year included the company deploying its technological expertise in a new area: i-Cast™ uses VoiceXML to put learning on the move. This form of mobile learning enables people to complete training courses using their phones. At the start of the year Saffron was asked how to train a workforce not based in an office. Six weeks later, the solution was being rolled out and Saffron was realising the potential of a phone-based delivery platform.
Saffron further expanded its range with the i-Capture™ construction kit, which has shown itself to be particularly adept at developing systems training. Delivery times have been cut, and instructional designers empowered, without sacrificing the individuality of each training package. What's more, the efficiency of the i-Capture™ development process means that clients can evaluate content and functionality much earlier in the development process.
The advent of i-Capture™ has made it possible for Saffron to increase its output by 50% over the past 12 months. The company has been able to undertake projects which would have been difficult for much larger businesses, and indeed, projects which in 2005 would have been impossible for Saffron. And now? There's no question about it - Saffron will take the client's requirements in its stride and design a training intervention which exceeds expectations in both qualitative and quantitative terms.
As Hanif Sazen, Chief Executive of Saffron Interactive, explains, "The really gratifying metric is the volume of repeat business we generate. From a qualitative perspective, clients feel secure in that they can rely on us to deliver innovative and creative solutions that meet real business needs. So 75% of our projects in 2006 were repeat business and a further 15% came to us because of a recommendation by clients and partners."
Technological refinement and innovation was complemented by Saffron's continued intellectual leadership. The Advance programme expanded its work with the new Masterclass series - the most recent workshop, 'Delivering on the e-Learning Promise', enabled participants to transform the learning culture of their organisation as well as run agile projects.
Furthermore, in order to highlight the fact that whatever aspect of itself and its people a company is looking to enhance - perhaps leadership, compliance or customer service - a training blend is likely to be the most effective approach, Saffron published The Blended Learning Cookbook. Co-authored with Clive Shepherd, the book showed that drawing on a mixture of training techniques was no barrier to clarity and simplicity in creating successful learning solutions.
Last year also saw Saffron express its client commitment in the ultimate way: the company now gives its people to those in need. Saffron was repeatedly asked by clients to provide team members on-site, to guide in-house teams in using off-the-shelf training packages, instructional design and rapid development processes.
As Hanif comments, "We're always trying to work in smarter and more efficient ways, and that's clearly coming across to our clients. We've obtained positive feedback on every project undertaken and customer feedback has shown that over 90% of clients gave us an approval rating of at least 4 out of 5 on a host of metrics." It's this satisfaction which explains the demand for the retaining facility in addition to the existing consultancy service.
At the end of 2006, Saffron could see that 95% of its projects had been delivered on time and within budget, without cutting quality. The achievement is due to the company's focus on the customer and the end goal - every time.
"We work hard to understand exactly what the client wants," concluded Hanif, "sometimes they have a clear vision, and sometimes it's about working with them to establish their ambitions. We then deploy our excellent instructional design capabilities, creative flair and technological savvy to deliver a high quality training experience. Our objectives in 2007 are to reinforce our successes, meeting and surpassing client requirements through greater creativity and continuing innovation and excellence."