Developing and launching a training program to help solve the challenges associated with managing a channel partner network is a major feat and a positive step towards business growth.
However, many businesses attempt to launch without futureproofing their program.
So, before you start developing your program or try to find a way to deliver your training, we want to discuss the common challenges that can occur before and after launch and use our experience to help you avoid these pitfalls.
Your Audience Isn’t On Board And Engaged With Training
If you don’t involve your target audiences in the planning stages, it’s likely your training program will not help them to meet their goals. In turn, this means that you may have a hard time launching the program and getting your audience to fully engage, resulting in failure to meet the overall program objectives.
By the time you have launched your program, a lot of time and money has been invested in it. The last thing you want is for it to fail to engage your audience.
How do we help solve this issue?
From day one, we encourage you to talk to your audience. Asking for feedback is crucial. For your customers and partners to engage with your training program, it’s critical to communicate the benefits it is designed to bring to their role in the pipeline. They should understand how the program will help them meet the goals of their organisation.
At Wahoo Learning, we create high-quality learning course material that brings any topic to life. Our team of Instructional Designers ensure that the needs of your learners and the learning objectives are met.
Related resource: 8 tips to improve your LMS course completion rates
To further encourage engagement, we can incorporate certification and badging schemes as well as gamification. Regular knowledge checks ensure learning is on course and allow the viewing and analysing progression.
Related resource: How to operate a successful channel partner certification program
Program Data And User Feedback Is Not Utilised
Your training program is running, but you are doing little to make improvements. Growth opportunities are being missed and learners are receiving outdated information.
Without data, reports and feedback, it’s impossible to pivot your training program at the right time.
As time passes, knowledge advances and new customers or partners are gained, enhancements need to be made to ensure the program continually meets its objectives.
How do we help solve this issue?
The WahooLMS offers the added benefit of in-depth analysis such as course completion rates, top courses, revenue gained per course and learner tracking is invaluable. Reports should be customised for your organisation so the most vital statistics can be regularly reviewed. Every organisation is different and has different objectives. The range of reports should reflect this.
Going one step further, Wahoo Learning’s managed learning services mean reports are produced and supplied on your behalf, without the need for any input from internal teams.
Related resource: Everything you need to know about our Managed Learning Service
Learners Are Not Receiving The Correct Level Of Support
Learners need a smooth learning journey. Businesses often overlook the importance of providing professional learner support. Without support services, learning journey’s rarely run smoothly.
For learners to remain engaged and to continue learning, the right level of support should be offered. Some of the most common support requests are password reminders, advice on course selection and user-based technical enquiries.
Another factor to consider is who is best placed to offer support. If your internal team is using new software and don’t have training program expertise, will they be able to support learners in the right way?
How do we help solve this issue?
The key is to offer support whenever or wherever it’s needed. At Wahoo Learning, we offer dedicated multi-channel support from real people.
Our support specialists know our platform inside out and are always up to speed on customer and training program requirements to enable them to offer the highest level of support.
Having our support team in place enables our customers to focus on strategy and execution while we take care of the time-consuming process of solving learner and technical issues.
There Are No Internal Experts To Run And Manage The LMS
Time and time again, we hear of businesses implementing a new LMS but never get to grips with its endless capabilities. This often leads to a lack of satisfaction and wasted budget.
Although the chosen LMS may come with all the bells and whistles, do internal staff have the knowledge to use it to its full potential?
Before you choose an LMS, take time to carefully consider the functionality you know your learners require and what they don’t. You want to ensure the LMS isn’t cluttered with unnecessary options that can overwhelm a learner. You also need to consider how and who will take on the administration of the LMS. Many LMS vendors sell you a ‘set and forget’ product that includes low levels of ongoing support and this may not be enough for an inexperienced team.
How do we help solve this issue?
Wahoo Learning has the experience and expertise to fully manage your training program. Having built it in-house, from scratch, we know the WahooLMS inside out and are best placed to optimise it to meet the required outcomes.
Beyond optimising your LMS, our management solutions take into account the entire program. It includes reporting and monitoring, creation of hierarchies and learner pathways, course bookings, and all other administrative functions.
We support, customise and coordinate everything from a few modules of eLearning, through to a blended learning approach which includes eLearning, classroom or on-site training.
The end-to-end service takes the hassle away from sourcing new internal teams or working with consultants, keeping the entire training program management under one roof.
There Is No Budget Available For Ongoing Program Updates
The initial set-up of a training program is one thing but keeping on top of updates is another. For a program to have longevity and consistently meet its objectives, keeping course content, new product information and other updates fresh is essential.
Many organisations need to communicate information to customers and partners quickly and easily and access to an additional, ongoing budget can be difficult.
How do we help solve this issue?
Your training courses have value to your audience. If communicated effectively, your customers and partners will understand the value your training program brings to them.
Our eLearning content production service, part of our managed learning services, ensures your course content is of premium quality, is continually kept up to date and offers high value to your audiences.
The WahooLMS includes an integrated shop function that allows your learners to easily purchase courses without the need to leave the platform. Our eCommerce service includes full management, making it simple to run, with very few internal resources required.
To incentivise your audiences, you can offer discounts and bulk-buy offers. You can also offer incentives attached to tiers and statuses, for example, silver partners receive a certain percentage discount on training courses. This helps drive learning and program engagement.
Related resource: Want to create a training program but have a limited budget? Here’s how…
Summary
Don’t rush into thinking you have everything in place to successfully develop, deploy, administer and manage your training program and LMS. The likelihood is that you will need some support, whether that’s fully outsourced management services or part management.
The important thing here is to consider how your program will remain effective in the weeks, months and years after its launch.
We’d love to hear from you! Talk to one of our highly-skilled team about your plans and requirements so we can discuss any potential challenges and how Wahoo Learning’s specialist services overcome them. Contact us to learn more.
