Own The Room

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of training and enablement for Pandora, the radio company. We’re a subsidiary of Sirius XM.

What challenge were you trying to address with Own The Room?

We’ve worked with them on several different challenges, but our primary focus has been on improving our employees’ public speaking skills.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve worked with them annually for the last few years, but have also brought them on for one-off engagements. Before this year, we did a bunch of live workshops with them. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, they’ve led virtual instructor-led training as well.

What is the team composition?

We work directly with a representative who handles communication between us, project managers, and facilitators.

How did you come to work with Own The Room?

My predecessor managed the relationship with Own The Room before I came on board. Our sales team raved about them and I thought that even our employees who didn’t interact directly with customers could use some of the same strategies to improve their internal communication.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $150,000 over the years. This year alone, we spent $30,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with them in March 2015 and we still work with them consistently.  

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

They’re the best at what they do. They set the standard for all of our partnerships.

They know our team well and what has worked in the past, so their solutions are exactly what we need. Our employees keep attending their workshops year after year because they always take away something new.

Own The Room is very good at establishing one or two things for a person to work on. Then after they’ve practiced some of their strategies, clients want to come back and work on other skills.

This year in particular, our employees have appreciated their tips on how to present over Zoom or WebFX. We’ve had several people say that they feel more confident going into meetings and plan use their techniques in sales calls.

A few years ago, I went through their coaching program and learned how to facilitate their training when they were presenting on the T3 Framework for Innovation. During that workshop, I saw the care they put into their curriculum and how methodical they are. That’s what makes them so successful and why they’re our favorite organization to work with.

How did Own The Room perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve been working with them for so long that we can just tell them what we need and they can turn it around pretty quickly. They’re on top of deadlines and are easy to work with.

At this point, their core offerings are seamless. There have been a few times when we’ve tried to do something more custom, and their workflow hasn’t been as smooth.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have excellent facilitators. They take a lot of time to ensure that their representatives are well-trained to deliver high-quality work. They always demonstrate their techniques so participants understand the material well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wish they would do more custom content because we would be able to do more with them. It would take them to the next level.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

New clients should make sure they have a good relationship with their representatives. When I took over the partnership, we started working with a new representative. The person that we work with now really understands our culture and our team. She attends some sessions so she can see how our team interacts and engages with the facilitators. That made our partnership even stronger.