NTG (Nolan Transportation Group)
How NTG Transportation Cut Training Time by 75% While Delivering 10x More Practice Scenarios
Introduction
Nolan Transportation Group (NTG) had built a world-class sales training program that everyone loved – but it was killing their productivity. Their intensive one-week, twice-yearly training events required managers to spend weeks away from operations, and new sales brokers could only practice 1-2 scenarios due to manual limitations.
When the pandemic hit, NTG faced a choice: abandon their proven training approach or find a way to make it scalable and virtual.
The solution: SymTrain’s automated role-play platform transformed their training from a logistical nightmare into a competitive advantage, reducing manager time by 75% while delivering 10x more practice opportunities.
CHALLENGE:
NTG’s sales training program was effective but unsustainable. Twice a year, they gathered new sales hires from across the company for an intensive one-week, in-person training event in Alpharetta, Georgia.
The program delivered real results – new hires loved the hands-on approach, built strong peer relationships, and gained confidence through role-play exercises. But the manual nature of the training created serious operational challenges.
The Hidden Costs: Managers spent 12+ hours per training cycle on structured activities, plus additional weeks on preparation and follow-up. This meant senior sales leaders were constantly pulled away from revenue-generating activities and couldn’t provide adequate coaching to existing team members.
Limited Practice Opportunities: Despite the week-long format, new hires could only attempt 1-2 practice scenarios due to the time-intensive nature of manual role-play exercises. Everyone knew more repetition would improve outcomes, but there simply wasn’t enough time.
Scalability Problems: As NTG grew, the training program became increasingly difficult to manage. Coordinating schedules across multiple teams, booking facilities, and ensuring consistent delivery became a logistical nightmare that impacted normal operations.
When COVID-19 made in-person training impossible, NTG realized they needed a fundamental transformation – not just a temporary virtual solution.
SymTrain Implementation
NTG partnered with SymTrain to digitize their proven role-play methodology while preserving the collaborative culture that made their training special.
The Ambitious Goal: Reduce structured manager training time from 12 hours to just 3 hours per cycle while maintaining the same high-quality, personalized experience. The solution needed to work for both their main operations team and Transportation Insights division.
The Digital Transformation: SymTrain’s platform allowed NTG to convert their manual sales scenarios into interactive, AI-powered role-play exercises. New sales brokers could practice handling difficult customers, complex pricing negotiations, and challenging logistics scenarios repeatedly until they achieved mastery.
Preserving the Culture: Rather than replacing their team-building approach, SymTrain enhanced it. The platform freed up manager time for strategic coaching, mentoring, and relationship building – the high-value activities that truly required human interaction.
The Technology: New hires could access unlimited practice scenarios from any location, receiving instant feedback on their performance. Managers gained real-time visibility into each person’s progress through detailed analytics, knowing exactly where to focus their coaching efforts.
Remarkable Results: 10x More Practice in Half the Time
The transformation exceeded expectations. New hires at NTG Alpharetta could complete 10-15 comprehensive exercises in just 30 minutes—compared to only 1-2 exercises in the previous manual system. This represented a dramatic improvement in training efficiency and effectiveness.
SymTrain’s platform provides unlimited repetitions for situational training from any location. Managers can now dedicate their time more strategically, reducing their pre and post-training commitment from weeks to days. This enables them to balance support for new sales brokers with ongoing coaching for existing team members.
The results speak for themselves: NTG freight and TI maintained the positive social impact of team building while significantly increasing new hire confidence and skills development. Enhanced engagement led to better performance, faster onboarding, greater job satisfaction, and improved retention rates.
As SymTrain’s exercise library continues expanding, the impact grows each quarter. New digitized situational training modules are regularly added, making NTG group’s world-class training program even more effective.
“With SymTrain as a partner, our world-class training only got better. As their library increases, the impact is increasing with each quarter as new, digitized, situational training exercises are added.”
—Natalie Cook, VP of Talent Development, Nolan Transportation Group
About Nolan Transportation Group
Nolan Transportation Group is a leading logistics and freight company based in Alpharetta, Georgia. NTG specializes in comprehensive transportation solutions, combining innovative technology with industry expertise to deliver exceptional service to clients nationwide. Through their commitment to continuous improvement and employee development, NTG has established itself as an industry leader in transportation and logistics services.
Ready to transform your training program like NTG did? Contact SymTrain today to learn how digital role-play exercises can reduce your training time while improving results.