As more brands become aware of the importance of training for their business, customer training is being seen in a fresh new light. The presence of complete product knowledge, combined with the availability of affordable and accessible e-learning tools has enabled brands to look at customer education as an investment and not an added cost.

However, simply because developing course material is easier, does not make customer education an investment. So what are the benefits of such an initiative? Why are more businesses finding themselves compelled to invest in customer training? Let’s find out:

1. Customer Training Enables Users To Make The Most Out of a Product

This one is a bit obvious, but it is still worth mentioning. With thorough customer training, you can ensure all your customers know how to make the most of your product.

As mentioned earlier, more often than not, products have unique features added to them to help them stand out from the crowd. Truly unique features often go beyond the set industry standard and thus, end up being ignored.

One of the best examples of this can be drawn from the retro video game Duck Hunt. Even today, a lot of people that played the game as kids are unaware that the game had a multiplayer mode. That’s right! By plugging in a regular controller along with the gun, the second player could control the birds in the game.

Another example of the same is an iPhone feature we discovered not long ago. The feature was available in older iPhones (the ones with Touch ID home buttons) and switched the phone’s interface to “one-handed mode” by tapping the home button twice. 

If that information is just as shocking to you as it was to us, we recommend saving your customers from this feeling and start eLearning authoring tools comparison to determine a tool for your customer training course.

2. Take Customer’s Investment Beyond Money

In most cases, the customer’s investment in acquiring a product is limited to the money they spend. In such cases, the customer’s engagement with your brand is at a bare minimum. 

On the other hand, when a customer is trained to make the most of the product they are purchasing, their investment is that of money and time. 

This is especially advantageous for complex products as the customer will be hesitant to go through a complex (and possibly time-consuming) training process again, when it is time to repurchase.

Even for businesses dealing in simpler products, enabling your consumers with training will help you communicate the notion that your brand cares about its customers. Feeling underappreciated is the number one reason for customers to switch brands. Investing in training that enables customers can make all the difference when it comes to making them feel appreciated.

Moreover, if you have spent resources and money in developing a unique feature for your product, it only makes sense to enable your users to take advantage of this feature. Who knows, your innovative feature might turn out to be the USP that takes your business to the next level.

3. Helps In Customer Retention and Builds Brand Advocates

Finally, when customers are able to comfortably use your product, understand its features, and are able to benefit from it without facing issues, they grow to love your product. As a result, you can expect to see improvements in your customer retention numbers.

This isn’t an assumption. Studies support the fact that consumers that consider themselves “satisfied” with the customer experience are more likely to make a repeat purchase than their dissatisfied counterparts. Not to forget, retaining customers is five times as cost-effective as acquiring new ones.

Moreover, when customers love your product and drive genuine benefits from it, they are more inclined to recommend the product to their friends. 77% of “satisfied” customers are likely to share their positive experiences with their relatives, colleagues, and peers. 

In other words, quality customer education will help your business drive customer satisfaction and positive word-of-mouth and as a result, more referral business.

Conclusion

Investing in customer education and training is no more a matter of staying ahead of the curve. In 2020, it has become a necessity in order to be considered at par with other successful names and competitors in your niche.

With the abundant availability of affordable e-learning technology, there is no reason your business shouldn’t start working on a customer education initiative of its own.

Read More