Imagine, too, that industry regulations require the company to provide these salespeople with specialized training on a regular basis, even though they’re always on the go and don’t have much tolerance for personal downtime. Add the fact that the courses must be up to date because your industry and business are always changing.

One option might be to airlift a few hundred professional trainers to the company’s regional offices every two months. A more practical and less costly approach would be to use a Web-based training program. And more companies are doing just that.

Coldwell Banker Real Estate has turned to the online training specialists at University.com because conventional approaches to training couldn’t keep up with the company’s demands, says Rich May, vice president of education.

“Agents simply need more options for training,” May says. “People may not be able to attend the classes in their area at the particular time you’ve scheduled, and they may not have the time to travel to the place where you’re holding the session.”.