From £0 to £50 per user per month: why such differences?
Digital learning solutions for language learning are based on software in SAAS (Software As A Service) mode accessible via the Internet. One might legitimately consider that once the software is amortised, the publisher has a 100% margin and whether there is one user or 1000 generates no additional cost.
After all, so-called freemium (i.e., free) formulas support this hypothesis. Buyers keen to get the lowest price can be reassured: there are indeed free formulas available.
Does this imply that publishers of more expensive formulas are “lining their pockets”? The reality is a bit different.
What if we talked about price per hour of training… and progress made?
In the early days of e-learning, there were CD-ROMs or even simple manuals converted into web pages with a few interactive links. These formulas were very inexpensive, and the publisher generated a significant margin on volumes. But these solutions showed their limitations: only the rare extremely motivated learners used them for more than a month.
As a result, as small as it was, the client’s investment was not profitable. The effectiveness of language learning should, in theory, be measured in terms of results. For example: 60% of registered users moved from level 2 to level 3. An even simpler way is to determine the price per hour of training. We measure the number of training hours completed in digital learning and, relative to the price paid, we then calculate how much the hour of training costs. But here too, many players prefer to reason in terms of “licence price” rather than “price per hour of training”.
Human support at the heart of e-learning
After the failure of the first e-learning solutions where the user was left to their own devices, one fact became clear: e-learning, if not accompanied by human services, does not work. The attendance rate is then dramatically low. Blended learning emerged as an intermediate solution: punctuating the e-learning journey with a few individual courses. But the final cost rises, and this is only a palliative measure.
The success of e-learning training therefore implies human support integrated at the very heart of the formula. However, human services, if they are individualised and responsive, have a price and are rarely scalable without additional cost. In other words, if you get an almost identical price from a provider for 1000 users and for 500, it means that human services are not proportioned according to volume, or that they are almost non-existent: be wary!
Some tips for choosing a provider wisely
Remember that a learner costs your company an average of £35 per hour in salary. If they spend 40 hours of their working time in e-learning, this helps to put into perspective the price difference between formulas at £400 per year and those at £50 with which the learner risks wasting their time.
I’m not telling you to “pay dearly”, but I suggest you think in terms of “cost per hour of training” and especially “cost per level progression”. Very inexpensive formulas do not stand up to this measure of effectiveness. This is, in principle, the only one that should be considered to eliminate players whose promises are not followed by results.
How to protect yourself?
A “pilot” test of one month already allows you to compare two solutions and judge on which the enthusiasm and satisfaction of users are highest. Unfortunately, the loss of momentum is often observed after 1 to 3 months. Before making your choice, ask the provider to be able to contact several references similar to yours (same sector of activity, population to be trained, identical objectives).
The contacted training manager must give you the real results: for example, “I trained 100 users over 9 months, I know how many hours of training were provided for such a price and the users progressed by X points on average on such a scale”. This approach will allow you to break through the screen of opacity that benefits players whose offer is very inexpensive but whose actual training hour is much higher and whose progress is much lower.
And at 7Speaking?
As an example, some providers include substantial human services in their premium formulas: new lessons based on current events, social learning with experts, individual chat with teachers, pedagogical tutoring, technical hotline, regular user monitoring, team sizing according to volume, etc. These services allow for strong involvement of the learner and maintain their motivation. Digital learning then gives impressive results, sometimes superior to those of face-to-face learning in certain aspects.
To this are sometimes added R&D costs for innovative solutions and annual copyright fees for quality supports. This is not about advertising but highlighting the value of the costs included in each licence. Without these human and technical means, the probability that the learner will actually progress drops drastically, and the purchase, even if inexpensive, can turn out to be much more costly in the end.
