What is Customer Training?

16th March 2023

Businessman in Control of White Rock: A Promising Startup Concep

Table of Contents

According to a report by Training Industry, Inc., B2B companies that invest in customer training programs have 24% higher profit margins than those that don’t. This shows that customer training is not just a nice-to-have, but a critical element in driving business success.

A well-designed and executed training program can lead to increased customer satisfaction, improved product adoption and reduced support costs. However, despite its importance, many businesses struggle to create effective customer training programs that engage their customers and deliver results. 

In this blog, we will explore the concept of customer training in B2B businesses, its benefits, and how to create an effective training program. We will also discuss the challenges businesses face when implementing customer training programs and how to overcome them, providing you with insights and strategies to create impactful customer training programs that drive business success.

What is Customer Training?

Customer training is the process of educating business customers who have purchased a product or service from another business. The primary objective of customer training is to help customers promote, market and sell the product or service effectively and to help them reach their business goals. Customer training can cover a range of topics, including product features and functionality, best practices, troubleshooting, and support.

By investing in this type of training, businesses can provide a valuable service to their customers and differentiate themselves from their competitors.

Customer training can be used to:

  • Increase customer satisfaction
  • Reduce support costs
  • Drive product adoption
  • Improve customer retention
  • Advance business growth

Types of Customer Training

Customer training can take many forms, but it generally falls into three categories:

Product Training

Generally focusing on specific features and functionality, product training ensures partners understand the entirety of the product, allowing them to convey the benefits successfully to their end-users.

Product training can take the form of online tutorials, webinars, a combination of both, or in-person training sessions.

Sales Training

The goal of sales training is to help customers become more knowledgeable and confident. It helps improve selling skills, from lead generation and prospecting to negotiation and closing deals. It’s aimed at aiding partners to become more effective at driving revenue, removing friction from sales scenarios and closing deals.

Industry Training

Industry training focuses on educating on broader industry trends and best practices. The objective is to help customers stay up-to-date with the latest developments in their industry. Often included in industry training is localised training based on the particular area or market the customer is selling into.

These types of training are delivered throughout the customer lifecycle and can also be classified into onboarding, ongoing and advanced. 

Onboarding training is focused on teaching customers the basics of using the product or service, ongoing training is designed to keep customers up-to-date with new features and best practices, and advanced training offers further training to customers who are already experienced and are looking to deepen their knowledge. 

The Importance of Customer Training

Customer training is critical as it enables customers to use products and services effectively. When customers lack proper training, they may struggle to understand how to use the product, resulting in decreased satisfaction and revenue. 

Offering structured training can increase sales and revenue by enabling customers to sell products and services more effectively. Added benefits include increased brand advocacy, reduced support costs and enhanced product adoption.

When businesses don’t invest in customer training, losing customers due to decreased satisfaction and lack of adoption of their products or services is a risk. You could find yourself with increased support costs as customers and end users struggle to understand how to use the product. In extreme cases, this can lead to reputational damage and loss of market share.

The Benefits of Customer Training 

Effective customer training programs offer several benefits, including:

Increased revenue

When customers understand how to use products and services effectively, they are more likely to sell the product effectively and champion your brand against others. This leads to increased sales revenue and a higher return on investment (ROI).

Decreased support costs

Poorly trained customers are more likely to require support and may submit more support tickets, leading to increased costs for the business. By providing effective customer training, you can reduce support costs by enabling them to solve their problems and end-user issues themselves.

Increased engagement

Training builds familiarity and customers that are familiar with your products are more likely to engage with your brand. Engaged customers are more likely to become advocates for a business and will naturally help promote it to others. 

Improved retention and loyalty

By using training to address pain points, customer training programs will help build trust and lead to long-term relationships and loyalty. It also opens up a direct line of communication and support which help support broader engagement objectives. 

In addition, training offers an opportunity to reward and incentivise partners, making them feel supported and encouraging them to feel like part of your business. 

Building brand advocacy

Giving your customers what they need to understand your products and brand will build a powerful, strong and knowledgeable network of brand advocates. These valuable resources will champion your brand to the masses, building trust and helping to build further brand awareness. 

How to Create an Effective Customer Training Program

To create an effective customer training program, follow a structured approach considering business and customer needs. Here are some key steps to follow:

Understanding the Target Audience

The first step in creating a customer training program is understanding the target audience. This includes their demographics, job roles and their familiarity level with the product or service. This understanding will help create targeted training programs that meet customers’ needs.

Identifying the Key Learning Objectives

The next step is to identify the key learning objectives for the training program. This involves determining what your customers need to learn throughout the program to achieve the desired outcomes.

Choosing the Right Format for Training

There are a variety of training formats available, including online courses, webinars, in-person workshops, and one-on-one coaching sessions. Most of the time, a combination of each is needed for the program to be effective. The best format for training also depends on the target audience, the complexity of the product or service and the resources available.

Developing Engaging Content

Customer training requires engaging and informative content that helps them achieve their learning objectives. This content can include videos, interactive quizzes, case studies, and other types of multimedia.

Establish KPIs Measuring the Effectiveness of the Training

Establishing KPIs in the planning phase of your program is key to enabling effective measurement. Some examples of KPIs to measure include engagement, retention, satisfaction or customer spend. 

Reviewing this data gives an insight into the program’s effectiveness, allows knowledge gaps to be spotted and enables businesses to pivot the program when needed. Without clearly defined objectives, success can’t be tracked and data-driven improvements can’t be made. 

Related resource: 4 Examples of Successful Customer Training Programs

As well as the benefits to your business, it’s also important to consider the advantages training brings to your customers. They include:

  • Faster, more efficient onboarding – allowing them to get up to speed and start selling more effectively.
  • Improved understanding and utilisation of products and services – enabling them to differentiate your product from your competitors.
  • Reduced frustration and support requests – having the ability to access in-depth knowledge that helps them to quickly solve their customer’s issues. 
  • Increased confidence in your brand – feeling supported, involved and part of mutual success. 
  • Access to valuable resources – with a focus on solving their challenges and delivering the best service to their customers.

Challenges in Customer Training and How to Overcome Them

While customer training programs can provide numerous benefits, several challenges can hinder their success. Here are three common challenges in customer training and strategies for overcoming them:

Lack of Engagement from Customers

One of the biggest challenges in customer training is getting customers to engage with the training program. This can be especially difficult if the training program is mandatory or if customers perceive the training as irrelevant to their needs.

Strategy for overcoming this challenge

To overcome the lack of engagement from customers, use a variety of strategies, such as gamification, personalisation and incentives. Gamification involves incorporating game-like elements, such as rewards or badges, into the training program to make it more engaging. Personalisation involves tailoring the training program to the individual needs of the customer. Incentives can include rewards or recognition for completing the training program.

Resistance to Change

Another challenge in customer training is resistance to change. Customers may be comfortable with their current processes or tools and may be hesitant to adopt new methods or technologies.

Strategy for overcoming this challenge 

Resistance to change can be overcome by providing a clear value proposition for the training program. This can include demonstrating the benefits of the new processes or tools and highlighting the potential risks of not adopting them. Businesses can also provide ongoing support to customers during the transition period to ensure a smooth adoption process.

Limited Resources

A common challenge in customer training is limited resources, such as time or budget. Businesses may struggle to allocate sufficient resources to develop and deliver high-quality training programs.

Strategy for overcoming this challenge

To overcome limited resources, prioritise training efforts based on the needs of their customers and their business goals. This can involve developing targeted training programs for high-priority customer segments or leveraging existing resources. Another option is to outsource the administration, support and management of your program to a third-party provider. 

By prioritising customer training and continuously improving training programs, businesses can set themselves apart from competitors and create long-lasting relationships with their customers.

Now you know the basics of customer training, learn how to avoid common pitfalls in designing your program. Check out our blog ‘4 Common Problems You May Encounter When Designing a Customer Training Program‘ for expert tips and strategies.

Share

Get the latest news

For all the latest news and industry insights simply sign up today - it’s spam free!

Related Posts

You may also enjoy

impart-product-knowledge-elearning

How to Improve Product Knowledge Training with eLearning

In this blog post, we explore how you can harness the transformative power of eLearning to ensure your team has a comprehensive understanding of your products.
Keep Learning written on desert road

Using Learner Pathways to Design Impactful Educational Journeys for Channel Partners

online exam, choose correct answer in test

How Assessments Can Enhance Your Channel Partner Training Program

Having a bespoke training program in place is essential for channel businesses that want to reach their full potential. But how do you ensure that learners are engaged and taking the information on board?  The effective use of assessments is one of the best strategies you can employ to maximise the ROI of your training program. From maximising learner engagement and tracking knowledge to increasing retention rates and the impact on revenue, there are a wealth of benefits to including assessments in your training program. However, they must be used strategically.
AdobeStock_13420126

Managing Competitive Pressures to Stay Ahead in a Crowded Marketplace

With manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers and retailers, channel businesses have to manage many moving parts, but this becomes even more difficult when the marketplace is saturated with competitors. When dealing with overcrowding, companies need to understand how they can stand out from the crowd.
how to manage your training programme successfully

A Guide to Managing Your Channel Partner Training Program

A strategic training program requires continuous and consistent management to succeed. Following a step-by-step process will benefit the development of your customers, channel partners and your entire organisation. Highly effective training program management takes time and care, but standing out against the competition and bringing value to your customers and partners will be worth the effort. Whether you’re looking to outsource to a team of experts for support or just reviewing your in-house approach, we’re here to guide you with your training program management every step of the way.
Surreal landscape with a split road and signpost arrows showing two different courses, left and right direction to choose. Road splits in distinct direction ways. Difficult decision, choice concept.

Resolving Misalignment Between Organisational Objectives and Partner Strategy

Here, we look at how partner strategies and organisational objectives can become misaligned, what impact this has on the businesses, and why it is important to realign your strategy and prevent future deviation.

free download

Unlock the Power of Channel Partner Training with Our Comprehensive Beginner’s Guide