Empower & Enable
Make learning flexible
1. Types of learning
- Brand your onboarding program
This helps jump-start customer engagement and ensure they are getting the most from the product.
- Online training
Today, there are a multitude of learning platforms available that create real-time product training. There are also digital adoption platforms (DAP) that guide customers through products in real-time as a customer uses a product. Take advantage of them! Both self-paced and real-time training help customers learn at their own pace and better retain information.
- Ongoing continuing education
Product training webinars should be short, on-demand, building on each other and interactive. NO one wants to be preached to…zzzz.
- Networking community
Beyond the classroom, create a way for customers to connect with one another to trade ideas and solve challenges together.
2. Program features
Offer clients a tiered approach to learning that gives them more or fewer features, depending on needs. Customer success programs should offer varying levels of access to self-help and more customized engagement with a product expert. That way, customers can choose how much one-on-one support they want. But don’t just stop there. Find out who uses your product or service, and cater your learning to them. For example, a company may have two distinct customers (agencies and direct), both of which have varying degrees of marketing knowledge. Your company, as a result, should have traditional and accelerated learning for each type of customer. A standard onboarding program should typically be 30 days or less to show product impact, but clients can go faster if they want to. Tailoring the pace of the program and using different tools to cater to the client’s knowledge is key to keeping customers engaged, long after they have completed onboarding.
Want to learn more about the factors involved in crafting a successful onboarding experience for your customers? Stay tuned for Part 2 next week!
Emilia has been named one of the top 2018, 2017 & 2016 CS influencers & strategists by Mindtouch and received a 2016 Stevies Award for Customer Service. She is a customer success consultant with over 20 years of experience in both working with and designing world-class customer-facing groups. Emilia is passionate about helping companies grow and focuses on developing people, building processes, and scaling systems.