It may seem obvious, but in order to get a reasonable estimate of the likely cost of a project, there are a number of things that the potential vendor needs to know:

Overall Training Goal
You should start with the business goal(s) or performance objectives which need to be met by the proposed project. This might have come from a training needs analysis or maybe a planned change in practice.

The Audience
Here you need to describe roles of the potential audience, including details about any changes in responsibilities after the training is introduced. It's helpful here to know the number of people in each job, where they are located & the way they're currently trained. (You can save a good deal by providing an existing powerpoint presentation with notes as an intial draft 'storyboard' which can be worked-up into the real thing)

Training Objectives

Objectives need to specify what the person will be able to DO after the training. All too often, even experienced trainers fudge this issue with statements like "After this module the successful trainee will understand X..." This isn't an objective because it can't be directly measured. So, for example, this needs turning into something like: "After this module, the successful trainee will be able to list 5 critical aspects of X, using the handouts supplied, under exam conditions..."

Project Specification

You'll need to describe the content to be taught, how long you anticipate it to take & the way you'd like it delivered (CD/DVD/LAN/WEB). For computer based training it's helpful to know the platform - Almost all of our pure e-learning work is on the Windows platform & so developing a program for Windows & MAC might be considerably more expensive.

Knowing if you have specific graphics or video content requirements is also crucial. A great deal of money can be saved by providing these from existing sources where you hold copyright. However, you may need to check with your supplier that the material you have is suitable. For example, a bit of video from an old VHS tape you have isn't going to get you broadcast quality results.

You should also consider the voice-over (if required). If you need a specific type of voice talent, particularly a famous name, this can add considerably to the cost of a project. However, there are many very skilled voiceover artists who will work for reasonable fees & most production companies will be able to supply short examples of voices they'd consider using.

You should also give some thought to who will act as Liaison/Project manager at your end & if you can supply any necessary subject experts or other material.

Project Schedule
You need to provide some guidance on your expectations for final delivery & the stages & processes you'd like in place during development. For example, if you supply a script, we'd normally give you a sample voice-over at at early stage for approval or if you wanted animation designed, we'd normally liaise with you closely as it's developed.

It is vital to get a clear understanding of the process that will be used and to be clear about approval stages - and particularly what changes are likely to be possible once an approval stage has been passed. For example, if you commission a film, then once filming has commenced it is very unlikely that you will be able to make any significant changes to the script. Some minor changes are usually expected by producers - such as the font or colour of titles for example but anything beyond this might require additional filming or extensive edit work which you havent paid for! To avoid additional costs, ensure that you understand what "approval" means.

Budget
Although you might prefer not to specify a budget, giving a ball-park figure will help us to suggest what is feasible within budget & time constraints.

Whilst we are pleased to come up with a creative solution for you based on the information above, it helps if you can also tell us the flexibility we would have in content development.

Most Production companies quote for the supply of a single master copy, which you can then arrange to be duplicated. If you want duplication included, the supplier will need to know the quantity & type of printing for any discs and the type of packaging you require.

T4B- Who are we?

• People with experience of actually working in industry
• People with a pragmatic approach
• People with broad development & software solution knowledge
• People with around 20 years experience of teaching adult learners
• People dedicated to leveraging CBT, Multimedia and Video Production technology at the service of the learner