Real Thoughts  

A.K.A… our blog.

A Guide to Budgeting for Customer Education

Launching a structured customer education program can be daunting for growing software companies. This guide breaks down the essential costs, from hiring key roles like Directors of Customer Education and Instructional Designers to choosing the right technology.

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Customer Education, Instructional Design Vicky Kennedy Customer Education, Instructional Design Vicky Kennedy

Reference or Competency-Based Education: Which Should You Offer?

Struggling to decide the best approach for your customer education program? Explore the key differences between reference-based and competency-based learning, and discover how to tailor your strategy to meet your goals and your learners' needs. Find the perfect balance to enhance your customer training and achieve impactful business results.

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Customer Education, EdTech Vicky Kennedy Customer Education, EdTech Vicky Kennedy

Are you Ready for an LMS?

Is your company ready for a learning platform? Before diving into this significant investment, consider these crucial steps to ensure you're maximizing the potential of a learning platform. From crafting a program strategy to honing in on audience segments and personas, this checklist will guide you through the essential preparations needed for a successful LMS implementation. Don't get lost in the features; get prepared with a strategic approach!

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Customer Education Vicky Kennedy Customer Education Vicky Kennedy

Why Your Business Needs a Unified Education Strategy

Discover why education strategy is the missing piece in your business puzzle. Uncover the dimensions of a holistic approach and learn how to align your content, delivery, audience, measurement, and communications strategies for maximum impact. From mapping existing programs to avoiding common pitfalls, elevate your education initiatives to drive business success.

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3 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Launching Your First Customer Education Platform

What does it take to launch a customer education initiative from the ground up? Where should you start, and what pitfalls can you avoid? Here are three of the most common mistakes companies make when it comes to launching their first customer education platform.

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Customer Education Vicky Kennedy Customer Education Vicky Kennedy

The Myth of the "Trained Customer": Embracing the Fluidity of Competency

The term "trained customer" stems from a traditional on-the-job training approach where employees are expected to perform specific functions accurately. This concept originated from the binary distinction of trained versus untrained in contexts. However, in the modern customer interaction landscape, the idea of a "trained customer" is a myth as customer behavior has become nuanced and spans a spectrum of competencies rather than a binary distinction.

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Customer Education, Certification Vicky Kennedy Customer Education, Certification Vicky Kennedy

6 Places Education Shows up in a Technology Company

The word ‘education’ carries a heavy context, as it’s commonly used in reference to formal schooling. Yet the practice of education can be highly valuable outside of the academic classroom. Education is unique, and when leveraged as a unique discipline, it can contribute to a business’ success in quite a variety of ways.

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Customer Education, Product Training, EdTech Vicky Kennedy Customer Education, Product Training, EdTech Vicky Kennedy

How to train your customers and partners using adaptive learning experiences

Personalized learning is an effective approach to tailoring learning experiences to the level and abilities of each of your learners. It has powerful implications for large-scale enterprise learning programs like customer academies, partner training, and product education. Yet, it’s underutilized in these areas. This article dives into the requirements necessary to make adaptive learning technology work for you, including tips on leveraging frameworks for adaptable content structure.

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What’s in a Team? : A breakdown of roles and reporting structures for customer education teams

Maybe you’re an executive who realizes it’s time to bring on a dedicated education and training team, or maybe you’re an education lead who’s been assigned the task of building your own team. In any case, you may wonder where to start. This article provides an overview of common roles and commons structures to get you moving forward.

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