We’re all familiar with training programs designed for employees, used to improve the relationship between a brand and its customers, in addition to increasing the productivity of the employees. But not all people have heard about customer training programs; mainly because it’s relatively new. What does it mean to provide training to customers? The extended enterprise system of many modern companies involves the education of several entities outside the business structure. Customer training is amongst other types of training these companies provide, such as reseller and partner training. These courses were the product of the increasingly complex nature of software services. Customers aren’t always able to plug-and-play certain services that they purchase, which made a lot of tech-related companies seize the opportunity and started to educate their customers.
The value of the services and products you provide is significantly increased when you take an active part in educating your customers. It takes time for customers to realize the significance and importance of certain services, and if the concept eludes them early enough, they won’t be your customers. Customer training is a catalyst for such a process; it helps them arrive early enough to the conclusion that your services make their life easier.
Training your customers on how to engage your products will make them less frustrated, which in turn will increase the likelihood of them staying loyal to your brand. As mentioned in this article, the complexity of tech services requires extra focus on existing customers. You aren’t just helping them resolve a technical issue, but rather aiding them to be more knowledgeable about the subject as a whole.
A lot of services provide a certain onboarding duration that allows them to determine whether the customer is interested in purchasing their products for real or not. Customer training gives you a chance to improve the process by putting your products in the spotlight. The true value of the products can be seen as you guide the customer through the lineup.
The competition in certain industries is quite intense, and leaving a big room for your competitors to come and sweep your customers will put you at serious business risk. Customer training programs are becoming an efficient tool for polarizing the competition. The value provided by educating customers is beyond troubleshooting. The augmentation of the engagement dynamic helps increase the loyalty of customers. The effect of customer training can be linked directly to metrics like CSAT and NPS.
No matter how great a company is, it can’t guarantee that there will never be points of friction with the customers. Customer training is a very direct and straightforward way to interact with the problems that could cause a drop in the retention process. If the slope of the learning experience is too high for the customers, you’re bound to notice a significant drop in the retention rates.
If you’re in the tech industry, support tickets are bound to be created. Resolving support tickets doesn’t only take time but also money. Your employees’ time is worth money, and resolving tickets diverts their focus from other major problems. If your users are trained, the frequency of support tickets will drop because the customers will be able to resolve a big portion of their problems on their own.
If you provide software services to your customers, you probably offer upgradeable packages to your customers. Naturally, customers who don’t know a lot about software and other tech-related concepts aren’t going to take your most advanced and inclusive packages. Utilizing customer training programs means your customers will be able to unlock the full potential of your services, which will translate to higher sales. Having enough knowledge about your products will increase the selection scope of customers.
The Net Promoter Score is a metric and a tool that’s used to measure the loyalty of customers to a certain company, and it’s believed to be directly related to revenue growth. If you’ve heard the question “how likely is it for you to recommend our company to others?” then that was an NPS question. If you ensure that your customers are satisfied by utilizing training and education, then those customers will promote your company through word of mouth and referrals.
There is no shortage of tech companies that provide their customers with great services, but not all these companies work on the education of their customers. Gaining an edge in a competition-filled industry with plans like customer trainer programs means that companies have to go the extra mile to ensure that their customers are knowledgeable enough to use their services.
