Just to brag a little...

I was featured in my company's newsletter this week for one of my implementations. If only I was really famous from this...

"The walk to success: Pre-Sales through Renewal
A less than stellar history with PLATO Learning on an older platform, glitches in the initial start up of the new implementation, and a car accident that delayed the start of the first PD session... This is the profile of an implementation that, according to the Account Manager and the Educational Consultant, began under the shadow of Murphy's Law.
How did the PLATO Learning Team which included Amy Serrano, Mary O'Malley, Howard Sweet, Jessica Klippel, Pan To, and Anthony Canepa not only keep a series of unfortunate events from heralding full scale disaster but also win a 5-year, multi-site Credit Recovery renewal?"


Engagement Profile
The Effective Edge – June 2008
Product: Enhanced Secondary Library
Implementation: Credit Recovery
Sales team members
􀂃 Amy Serrano, Account Manager
􀂃 Wendy Cox, Account Representative
􀂃 Mary O’Malley, Curriculum & Instruction Consultant
Customer Name
Tucson Unified Public Schools
Technical Support
􀂃 Anthony Canepa, Field Engineer
􀂃 Tan To, Services Support Specialist
􀂃 Howard Sweet, Pre-sales Engineer
Customer History
Several years into a less-than-successful Credit Recovery/CHPWLN implementation at 5 campuses sold by former PLATO AM
Professional Services
􀂃 Jessica Klippel, Educational Consultant
Solution
Credit Recovery

The Sales Team credits Professional Services’ Educational Consultant Jessica Klippel with the outstanding success of this implementation.
The Secret to Our Success
Jessica credits the strong lines of communication between her and the Sales Team, and between the entire PLATO Team and the customer.
According to those involved in this implementation, the key words are PARTNERSHIP, PATIENCE, and PERSEVERENCE.
Amy says,
“Partnership with my Sales team members helped me lay out a clear plan for the phased approach; a plan that included specifics. It took patience to help the site see the potential, to lay out the vision for the future-state implementation while beginning in a fairly small way.
The engagement process for this customer came as a direct result of the high level of communication and strong partnership between Sales and Services. This as my first account that included a project manager. I was able to position this effectively with the customer by providing an outline of what the professional development would include. Jessica’s abilities and professionalism brought every aspect of the outline to life in a way that allowed the site to develop ownership and achieve success. She also laid the groundwork for the sites to use their data effectively. This was critical in winning the renewal.
And finally, but maybe most importantly, it took perseverance. From the beginning, there were technology issues including problems with bandwidth. Jessica encountered two major accidents on her way to the very first teacher-professional development session traffic. Once she “hit” the second one, she knew she would be late. When she did arrive, we found that the site sent the wrong people to the session. Needless to say, it began to feel as if everything that could go wrong would. But, patience and perseverance, addressing challenges diplomatically but head on, allowed us to effectively support each site in reaching their stated goals. This won us a long-term relationship that is profitable for everyone involved.”