Steve Bentley – CEO of Sofema Group of Companies, explains how we have grown into the largest provider of Regulatory Training worldwide with over 550 Classroom and webinar Courses and over 200 Online Regulatory Compliant and Vocational Training. Steve is pleased to provide answers to your questions:
Q – Why Do More Companies Not Offer So Many Online Courses?
A -The Simple Answer is Return on Investment, it takes around 1 Day to develop 1 hour of material so to provide a full 1 day Course typically takes around 7 – 8 Business Days (Which of course has to be funded either directly or indirectly). A further 5 Days is required to configure the course for inclusion on the online platform.
The Day Course is offered online for 75 Euro and needs to be viewed approximately 300 times to break even – This is the primary reason Sofema Online has very few competitors and none with our volume of activity. (For “niche” courses breaking even can take several years!)
Q – So How Does Sofema Online Make the Business Model Work?
A- The answer is economy of scale – currently we have over 3000 clients working online – but it was not always the case, for the first 4 years of operation SOL operated at a loss (This is a serious barrier for any business to spend 4 years building a business to be able to break even).
Q – So Why Not Raise Online Prices?
A – Our Pricing model is very carefully developed with our online courses costing approximately 20% of the cost of Sofema our Classroom Training and 10% of the cost of our competitor’s classroom training.
We see no reason to raise prices and we are looking at ways to reduce even more our costs by packaging groups of training together, for example, our Part CAMO Transition Package – Consisting of 3 individual 1-day courses available for 145 Euros (Consider 3 Separate Days Training in the classroom with our competitor is almost 2000 Euro).
Q- What do you see as the Primary Role of Sofema Online Training?
A- To enable the delegate to cover the material in a structured way and on completion to pass an online test. Passing the test will result in the issue of a certificate (SAS has issued over 30,000 Certificates since launch). The certificate demonstrates that our client has achieved a standard of competence. Our business model focuses on providing this opportunity across the largest range of courses at the most cost-effective price.
Q- Why Do you not provide the soft material with the online course?
A- We can but it has to be costed into the business model, having understood that our business model is focused on providing you the lowest possible price in a market with very thin margins (and just like you expect to pay more on an aircraft for a premium economy seat) We offer the relevant material in two different ways – Free & Paid:
Free – If 7 persons or more enrol for the same course they receive our appropriate discount of 15% and in addition as a bonus they receive also a soft copy of the material without further cost.
Paid – 125 EUR / Full Day Equivalent Classroom Training (Note 25% Discount is available when selecting this option during enrolment – please email team@sassofia.com)
Q – Is there any other way I can gain again access to the material after completing the course?
A- Courses may be re-opened for 50% of the initial fee and will provide 6 months of access to the material – This may be considered as a further option to gain access to the material.
Q – If I cannot have access to the Soft Copy I do not want to take the training.
A- Of course we understand your point of view (If I cannot travel premium economy for the price of economy then I do not want to Fly!)
The team at Sofema Online will continue to offer the best value product we can and to build market share – we hope that our clients will recognise this value and continue to use Sofema Online.
Q – Is it possible for an organisation to gain a higher level of discount?
A – Sure please see our Privileged Training Partner Program and a list of current partners here.
Browse through SOL’s online training portfolio at www.sofemaonline.com or email Team@sassofia.com for further guidance and assistance.
Tags:
aviation, Aviation Training, Classroom courses, Discounts, EASA, Online courses, Regulatory Compliance, SAS blogs, Sofema Online, Soft Copy, Training Material, webinar
