How to Train Your Customers to Master Your Software by lisafugere

[Doha]

How to Train Your Customers to Master Your Software
by lisafugere

Training your own team to do something is hard enough, so how do you get your customers to do something? These 8 tips will ensure that the end users of your products are masters by the end of a training session.

Create Realistic Expectations
Set realistic expectations as you move through the training. Divide it into sections, and set goals for your customers at the end of each section. Use specific and attainable plateaus, and be clear about what they are. For example, let them know that by the end of part one, you expect them to have memorized and understood your proprietary 3-pronged sales call.

Set Success-Measurement Metrics
Set metric-based goals so both you and the customer has a tangible method for measuring training success. Test-based metrics ensure that your trainees are paying attention. Just think back to grade school, as soon as your teacher said ?this will be on the test,? you took down notes like a court stenographer.

Do Hands-on Training with Real-World Examples, Data and Scenarios
Tests ensure that your trainees are paying attention and taking notes, but hands-on training brings the material to life and provides the type of practice that most people need to truly grasp a concept. This can come in the form of acting out scenarios, or from asking customers to accomplish a task using your product, which forces them to learn the features.

Reinforce your Business Processes
Ensure that once they've gone through your training, your customers will be able to glide easily into your solution as soon as you end the training.. The best way to do this is to incorporate your actual software, and the best practices for how to use it, in your training (as opposed to simulations).

Teach the Jargon (both Good and Bad)
Your product likely has specific jargon that you use regularly. Your customers don't necessarily know that lingo. Create cheat sheets of the lingo used regularly, especially the lingo associated with specific sales processes and software. A quick guide of all the terms you use in regards to your products can go a long way.

Use Incentive-Based Lessons and Testing
We all like incentives. Incentivize your lessons, training and testing by offering tangible rewards. Give something special to the first individual to accomplish a certain task using your product. For example, Dropbox, Inc. incentivizes users to adopt new features with additional storage space in their content management system. If you want more space, you can use a new feature. It's a great way to encourage customers to learn the ins and outs of your products.

Ask for Feedback
Show your customers that you value their advice by asking for their feedback on your training throughout the process. It will also help you improve your future trainings if you listen to what they have to say.

Follow-Up on Training
Training doesn't stop after you leave the classroom. To ensure that your training is effective?and by effective we mean increasing user adoption and success with your products ?in the long term, schedule follow ups a few weeks after the initial training. These are critical in not only ensuring that your trainees have implemented the training but also in ironing out any glitches in the training as well as the product.