One of the golden rules of growing a business is customer retention.
That retention is based on a two-step process: onboarding and product upskilling which may require ongoing training. Both can be promoted and measured. An LMS training platform company based in Seattle, Skilljar, has published some tips to keeping both those retention processes humming along from a dollars-and-sense perspective.
First cab off the rank: How much will it cost to put the training together? These costs include hiring the content makers, the architects of your platform and paying for the technology you are using to deliver the training. If your training is based on blended learning with a classroom training component, you then have to calculate the cost of hiring a classroom (if needed) and providing a trainer.
Computer Training room at Fox School of Business Temple University
Once those fixed costs are established, you then come to your next cost—the initial onboarding process of your customers. There are certain metrics that are used to measure customer onboarding. They include revenue from training, if the training add-on is part of the product package. Many companies will use training as a revenue generator by offering a faster path to implementation and follow-up training as a paid service.
This revenue strategy is often based on a “free” training service bundled with the product, such as You Tube video tutorials as a type of on-demand training; or embedding the training in a learning management system where self-paced skills are administered online.
Another important metric is the time it takes to implement the product. This is a big one because you want your customers up and running as fast as possible. If the implementation takes too long, it costs everyone in the process. Companies don’t want their training to result in lost productivity; and you can risk negative market feedback, such as “too difficult to use” and implement.
To maintain customer success, your clients also need to be posted on updated features of the product and how they can be implemented. This may require further training, certifications, and best practice examples. Training, as it turns out, is the best way for your customers to realise the value of their product or service.
It is important to measure the effectiveness of training on downstream retention and building ongoing value into the product.
My Learning Space offers expert advice on strategies for assuring customer engagement.