Comparison · Last reviewed by the Quinn implementation team
Quinn vs ride-alongs and shadowing
Does Quinn replace ride-alongs and shadowing?
No. Ride-alongs are the most common way field teams train, and they work. The problem is that every new hire gets a different version depending on who they ride with. Quinn gives every new hire the same foundation before and during ride-alongs, gives trainers results to focus each one, and gives managers assessment and practice results to decide when someone is ready to run calls alone.
Ask a field leader how they train new hires and you'll usually hear some version of this: "They shadow them for 10 days. And after that, it's into the trenches you go."
How long it takes depends. Shadowing "can last anywhere from two to three weeks to three months depending on the individual," and "each department head has kind of put their own thing together."
The short version: Ride-alongs teach what your trainer knows. Quinn makes sure every new hire learns the same thing.
At a glance
| Ride-alongs only | Ride-alongs with Quinn | |
|---|---|---|
| What a new hire learns | Whatever their trainer does | A consistent foundation built around your standards |
| Ramp time | Depends on the individual | A set path, with practice in between |
| Trainer's role | Teach everything on the truck | Coach the gaps the results show |
| What managers see | "He's doing fine" | Assessment scores, practice results, and field sign-offs, by new hire |
What a new hire learns
- Ride-alongs only
- Whatever their trainer does
- Ride-alongs with Quinn
- A consistent foundation built around your standards
Ramp time
- Ride-alongs only
- Depends on the individual
- Ride-alongs with Quinn
- A set path, with practice in between
Trainer's role
- Ride-alongs only
- Teach everything on the truck
- Ride-alongs with Quinn
- Coach the gaps the results show
What managers see
- Ride-alongs only
- "He's doing fine"
- Ride-alongs with Quinn
- Assessment scores, practice results, and field sign-offs, by new hire
What ride-alongs do well
- Real jobs, real customers. Nothing beats time in the field.
- Relationships. New hires learn from people they'll work beside.
Where teams get stuck
- It depends on the trainer. Ride-along trainers are "just technicians" taking someone along, as a pest control company put it.
- It depends on the person. Some ramp in weeks; some take months.
- Every department does it differently. No one standard across branches.
When Quinn may be the better fit
- New hires at different branches learn different things.
- Your best techs are spending their days training, not running calls.
- You need more than "he's doing fine" to decide who goes solo.
The payoff: a shorter, more predictable ramp, with less time pulled from your senior techs.
Around the ride-along
1. Before the truck
2. Before the next ride-along
3. The manager view
How Quinn fits in
Before
During
After
Questions to ask in your evaluation
- “Would two new hires at different branches learn the same thing?”
- “How do you know when someone is ready to go solo?”
- “What does a trainer focus on during a ride-along?”
Map your ride-along program
Tell us how new hires ramp today, and we'll show you the path Quinn builds around it.