Real Thoughts
A.K.A… our blog.
Should Learning & Development Oversee Your Company’s Education Strategy?
Who should own your company’s customer education strategy? While it might seem like a natural fit for Learning & Development, the reality is more complex. Discover the key differences between learning and education strategies, and why finding the right home for customer education could be the strategic game-changer your business needs.
"Making a List, Checking it Twice" An EOY Checklist for Customer Education Program Managers
Closing out the year with a solid plan is essential for customer education leads and program managers. This post provides a practical end-of-year checklist, helping managers wrap up key tasks like auditing course content, reviewing engagement and performance metrics, gathering stakeholder feedback, and setting preliminary goals for the coming year.
Organizational Design Strategies for Effective Customer Education
Where should your customer education team sit within your organization? From customer success to marketing, the right placement can significantly impact business outcomes. Discover key strategies for designing an effective structure that maximizes ROI and drives cohesive learning experiences
14 Top Features to Look For in a Customer Education Platform
Are you searching for a customer education platform? Whether this is your first time buying one or looking to switch to a better solution, this post has you covered!
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.
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.
Could You Benefit from a Measurement Framework?
Struggling to prove the impact of education and training on your company's success? You're not alone! Dive into our guide and learn how to connect the dots between learning initiatives and business outcomes with ease. Say goodbye to guesswork and hello to measurable results!
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!
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.
Leveling Up Your Customer Education With Advanced Gamification
Discover how advanced gamification is revolutionizing customer education, transforming traditional engagement tactics into strategic tools for driving revenue and fostering true learning.
5 Interview Questions for Your First Customer Education Leader
Interviewing your company’s first customer education leader can be daunting if you’re coming from a non-education background. Here are 5 questions to help you focus the interview on the right skills, each with green flags and red flags to watch out for.
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.
5 Signs It’s Time to Refresh Your Customer Education Strategy
A proactive approach to refreshing your customer education strategy is essential for staying ahead in a dynamic business environment. Here are 5 signs it’s time to revisit your strategy.
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.
How to Choose Optimal Content and Delivery Formats for Customer Education Programs
With so many different options for developing and delivering content, how can you determine the best approach for your customer education programs that will provide a positive ROI? Let’s dive in to find out.
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.
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.
Why you should educate your customers before they become customers
Educating your market early can be a game-changer and enable you to build trust with a large target audience, giving you a competitive advantage. In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of educating your customers before they become customers and how you can do so strategically to see real results.
Can GenAl Completely Revolutionize Customer Education?
Recent advancements with GenAI unlock an entirely new dimension of adult learning. One where we not only offer personal recommendations, but also create new content that is relevant, timely, and meaningful to the individual.
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.