 I eagerly anticipated this Spring's CEdMA Training Leadership Conference, with a theme of "Driving a Learning Journey for the Subscription World." CEdMA is the Computer Education Management Association, "the premier organization for training executives, managers, and professionals on a management path in technology companies." In preparation for attending the conference, I set up notes for each conference session in an Evernote notebook so that I could already have a place to log my thoughts about what I learned. I made arrangements for my schedule to be off for a few days. And I made my travel plans... As I prepared to leave Dallas for San Francisco the day before the conference, I had an experience that was a perfect example of how the right customer education at the right time can impact a company's bottom line. I missed my flight. And for a completely preventable reason. For those of you who don't know, Dallas has two airports. Dallas Love Field has its origins in World War I (around 1917), but starting in 1979, was governed by The Wright Amendment, which limited flights outside Texas. It just wasn't big enough to handle lots of flights. DFW Airport first opened in 1973 and is the hub for American Airlines. How these details relate to my story is that in practice, I'm used to Southwest Airlines (and almost no other airlines) flying out of Love Field, and all other airlines flying from DFW. Even though The Wright Amendment was fully repealed recently, as a Dallasite, that news didn't seep into my consciousness enough to question my assumption that my April flight would leave from DFW. So I scheduled my shuttle to pick me up at my home and drop me off at DFW. Unfortunately, my Virgin Airlines/Alaska Airlines flight was scheduled from Love Field. In some ways, I was lucky. Since I'd taken a shuttle, I didn't have to worry about my car. I grabbed a cab and headed straight for Love Field. The traffic gods were smiling on me, and we actually got to Love Field in about 20 minutes. The mistake at this point was a cost I could swallow: a $45 cab fare. When I checked my bag, the ticket agent informed me that boarding was starting in 5 minutes. "I made it," I thought. And then I got to the security line. It was not five minutes long. There were two announcements while I sweated in the security line. "Passengers for flight blah blah blah to San Fransisco should make their way to gate blah blah blah," the announcer said. "Lots of you are missing." I wondered if I should ask to cut in the security line, or if that would just cause problems with TSA. I decided the best plan was to be patient. I watched the clock and the progress of the line. I thought it would be close, but I would be okay. When I got to the gate, moments after they'd closed the doors, I found out that 13 other people had also missed the flight. (The gate agent had told me that passengers went to the wrong airport EVERY DAY.) Now, I'm not one to find someone else blame when things go wrong. I take full responsibility for my mistake as my mistake. You know what they say about assumptions. (In case you don't: "It makes an &#! of u and me.") I should not have assumed. But in all fairness, it was a fairly valid assumption. Everything worked out okay in the long run. I was able to get on a flight early the next morning, which worked, but made for a long first day of the conference (and I missed the first/keynote session). But I had to get ready super early in the morning, without any of the clothes, makeup, etc. that I'd packed for the conference that left without me in the checked bag. But I also had plenty of time to ruminate on how this could have been prevented. Where in my ticket purchase or even on the check-in email that arrived several hours before my flight could I have challenged the assumption that I was flying from DFW? I went back and looked at my interactions for the flight purchase. And the only thing I found anywhere was the airport code. Dallas Love Field is DAL, whereas DFW is obviously DFW. I should have seen it and known. I never would have goofed had it been reversed. But honestly, that's a difference that's easy to miss, and for someone who doesn't know (maybe some of those 13 other people who missed the flight), a pretty subtle distinction to expect travelers to get right. So where could education play a role in preventing this mistake? Again I'm making an assumption that the airline would want to prevent the mistake: while it was marginally expensive and annoying for me, I'm imagining that several people missing flights on a regular basis (if my experience is common) is less profitable than operating with full flights. Not to mention the indirect costs and potential loss of future sales. And this is the real lesson from this story. Look at this line in the email I received to check in for my flight FROM Dallas. Pay attention to the part in yellow.
Customer education can be as simple as including one sentence in an email to help make sure that passengers have made the appropriate plans to get to the right airport.
And in one of my favorite sessions from the CEdMA conference, Donna Weber shared her insights on how having the right content is not enough. You need to connect the dots for the customer. In my next post, I'll be sharing other key takeaways from the CEdMA conference on additional ways that education can play a role in both your customers' success and the company's success.
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I read David Allen's Getting Things Done in about 2006. I didn't implement it all at first. In fact, as a perfectionist, I mostly dropped it when I didn't have the perfect system. But somewhere in the back of my mind, I kept coming back to it when I felt overwhelmed by all I had to do. Though I tried different apps and approaches, it took some time before the system I use today evolved into what it is. It is by no means perfect still. But I've let go of the perfectionism enough to see the benefits I get in using this workflow to manage my tasks, complete projects, and work toward my goals. Today, I'd like to share an overview of how the tools I use fit into that workflow. The benefits are lowered stress, increased productivity, and greater creativity.
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| 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. | The first phase is to collect all of the reminders of what you need to do in one place. The second phase is to process those items to figure out what exactly is the next action. Then you can organize the reminders to help you take the right action at the right time. Phase four is to review your reminders and your overall system on a regular basis. Finally, take action on those reminders to get things done. |
Collect Phase
 | I've written before about the problem of having too many inboxes. But I'd like to explain what my task collection process looks like in practice. |
| Nozbe is my trusted system for everything I need to do, and my number one answer for where to include a reminder of something I need or want to do. As GTD seeps into how you do things, you'll understand that you can think of something, immediately store it in your trusted system, and not have to think about it again until you are focused on the other phases of the workflow. |  |
| When I get emails that represent a task, I forward the message to my special Nozbe email address that adds the item to my to-do list. |  |
I have a physical inbox - usually for forms to sign or store or bills to pay - and I schedule regular time to process it. When I do, some of the items in the box also get added to Nozbe because they are tasks that need to be done and I only want my list of tasks that need to be done in one place.
I have a reminder to check my voicemail every day, because I rarely get important messages that way, but I handle it the same way if an item in that inbox represents something I need to do.
I have a reminder to check my voicemail every day, because I rarely get important messages that way, but I handle it the same way if an item in that inbox represents something I need to do.
| Evernote is my final important inbox. I use Evernote for storing resource information, brainstorming and draft writing, and managing the big picture of my projects and weekly schedule that Nozbe and my Calendar can't quite do alone. But if something in Evernote represents a task, I add a reminder, and its integration with Nozbe makes that note show up in my Nozbe inbox. |  |
Process Phase
The lightbulb moment for me in using GTD was in realizing this separation: capturing the thought that I needed to do something, figuring out what to do, and actually doing the task are all separate steps that do not have to happen at the same time. In fact, it's more efficient to not do them at the same time, unless the task would take 2-5 minutes or less to do.
When I process my Nozbe inbox, I think about what actually needs to be done. What project is the task related to? How long do I think it will take to complete? Is it really the next task, or a multi-task project for which something else really needs to happen first? This separation of clarification in this step, from the capturing process in the previous step, was key to reducing much of the stress that I felt about what I needed to do on a day-to-day basis. I could capture a thought without having to figure out what it meant, and I could later figure it out what it meant without having to rely on my memory that something needed to be done.
When you clarify (process), you are attempting to make it as easy as possible for your future self (or a person to whom you delegate the task) to understand what exactly needs to be done. Answer the question "what is the exact action that this reminder represents?" Give it an action verb and move on to the next item.
When I process my Nozbe inbox, I think about what actually needs to be done. What project is the task related to? How long do I think it will take to complete? Is it really the next task, or a multi-task project for which something else really needs to happen first? This separation of clarification in this step, from the capturing process in the previous step, was key to reducing much of the stress that I felt about what I needed to do on a day-to-day basis. I could capture a thought without having to figure out what it meant, and I could later figure it out what it meant without having to rely on my memory that something needed to be done.
When you clarify (process), you are attempting to make it as easy as possible for your future self (or a person to whom you delegate the task) to understand what exactly needs to be done. Answer the question "what is the exact action that this reminder represents?" Give it an action verb and move on to the next item.
Organize Phase
I generally do my task organizing at the same time as I'm processing my inbox. The importance of the organizing phase is to get the reminder into the right context for when and where you will do the task, or act appropriately for items that are not truly actionable.
There are eight possibilities when organizing the "stuff" that comes your way:
There are eight possibilities when organizing the "stuff" that comes your way:
| 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. | Trash - Let it go if it's not something you need or want to actually do. Someday/maybe - if you've come up with a good idea, but it needs to incubate a while, you'll need a place (you regularly review) to hold on to that idea. While I do have a Someday/Maybe project to store these tasks in Nozbe, I also have Evernote notebooks for specific someday/maybe ideas where I can continue to collect thoughts and brainstorm. I may or may not ever act, but I have a safe place for those ideas to take root. Reference - if the inbox item represents something that you want to keep, but doesn't represent a task you need to do, then store the item. I love Evernote for storing many types of things. I do still also have a physical file cabinet for items that I haven't digitized. Project plans - if the task is part of a bigger project, I add it to the task list for that project in Nozbe. I spend time on managing projects that includes figuring out what the very next action is to move a project forward. In Nozbe, starring an item from the project list gets that item on my Priority (or next actions) list (see number 8). Do it - as I mentioned, if the task is quick enough that it won't throw off your organizing workflow, go ahead and do it and get on with your life. Delegate it - If the task needs to be done, but not by you, you'll need to have some method of delegation and follow up with that person. My task manager, Nozbe, allows you to invite team members to your Nozbe projects and then have an option to delegate the task to that person.
Defer/Next Actions - Most all of my actions that are not done, delegated, or added to the calendar get put on project lists. But the Next Action list (which is called Priority in Nozbe) represents the tasks that I need to do as soon as possible. While I'm organizing, I can also add context to the task, such as if it's an errand or phone call. These contexts help me identify tasks that are better suited for some times of day or circumstances better than others. |
Review
You'll want to review your calendar and next actions list as often as needed to get tasks done. When I have a very long next actions list, I like that in Nozbe, I can filter this list in different ways to help me focus.
I review project plans in two different ways. When I'm working on a project, I may plan out the next several tasks that need to be done. I may even turn the project into a template if it's something I'll do again. But I also need to do an overall review of my projects so that I remember what projects I have in order to reach my goals and so that nothing falls through the cracks.
It's also important to review someday/maybe and reference information occasionally.
The reviews are the part of this system that I still have the most trouble implementing. It's hard when I'm busy to set aside time - and of course, the longer I wait, the longer it takes to get through everything. But I also know that when I neglect my reviews, the uncomfortable sense of unease creeps back into my life, generating the stress of not knowing exactly if I've forgotten anything.
It's also important to review someday/maybe and reference information occasionally.
The reviews are the part of this system that I still have the most trouble implementing. It's hard when I'm busy to set aside time - and of course, the longer I wait, the longer it takes to get through everything. But I also know that when I neglect my reviews, the uncomfortable sense of unease creeps back into my life, generating the stress of not knowing exactly if I've forgotten anything.
Engage
This part of the process is when you take action. If you regularly work through the first four steps of this process, then you'll know with 100% confidence that the things on your next actions list are the things that you need to do to make solid progress toward achieving your goals. And if you've done a good job of clarifying and organizing the reminders, you can use your mental energy on creating and solving problems instead of figuring out what to do.
Start Small
Don't be overwhelmed by this process. You can add it to your life a little at a time, as it makes sense to you. I highly recommend giving Nozbe a try if you don't currently have a task management system that's working for you. I highly recommend giving Evernote a try if you want easily searchable storage for resources and drafts. Both tools are very flexible, so experiment with different ways of using them that make sense to you.
 | Snagit 2018 |
| I've captured over 2000 images in the past several weeks and have grown quite dependent on a new workflow for automatically saving my library of images. Today, I'd like to share how I built up that library of screenshots and how I organize them for easy use in my content. |  |
The project I'm currently developing is for training on Office 2016 products and includes instructor guides, student training manuals, PowerPoint slides for instructor use, and self-paced eLearning, which includes some presentation-style slides, interactive practice slides, and review questions. For different projects or deliverables, like user guides and online help, I might choose a slightly different settings and outputs for this automated workflow.
I normally like to capture my images as I'm writing content to have the words that go with the picture and the picture that goes with the words. I love that SnagIt has made that process so friction-less.
When I first started freelancing, I used Adobe Technical Communication Suite for FrameMaker and Robohelp, and I really liked the simplicity of the RoboCapture tool that came with that suite. I kept using it long after I moved on from FrameMaker/Robohelp. Once Office added the ability to insert a screen clipping for Word and PowerPoint, I often used that. So it's only been recently that I've really embraced Snagit as my capture tool of choice. But I mentioned last post, I'll never go back!
When I first started freelancing, I used Adobe Technical Communication Suite for FrameMaker and Robohelp, and I really liked the simplicity of the RoboCapture tool that came with that suite. I kept using it long after I moved on from FrameMaker/Robohelp. Once Office added the ability to insert a screen clipping for Word and PowerPoint, I often used that. So it's only been recently that I've really embraced Snagit as my capture tool of choice. But I mentioned last post, I'll never go back!
In order to have a frictionless workflow for capturing images to build your library, you need to do a few things to set up your system ahead of time. While this is true with many tools, with screen captures, I had never found the need to use these features until I was staring up a mountain of work with similar content in different forms.
So here are the steps for setting up your capturing environment for use in the automatic workflow that I'll share.
| 1. 2. | Open the Capture tool to the Image tab. Indicate the type of Selection from the drop down list. |
| The setting I chose allows me to draw specifically a portion of the screen (at the time of capture), but I like that you can also hover your mouse over a portion of an app to capture that frame. It gives nice, clean lines. Select the gear icon to choose whether to Select region at capture or use a Fixed region. The Fixed region might be useful if you want to quickly capture many images of the same spot on your screen. |
I like to have a thin black border around the images for documentation, for use on PowerPoint slides and for use in self-paced eLearning materials. You can have SnagIt add this border automatically.
| 3. | Select Border from the Effects drop down list. Select the gear icon and choose a color and line width. |
Note that there are several other effects that are possible to add at the same time, like adding edge effects, shadow, or scaling the image. I don't use any other effects at this time, but it's good to know that they exist, and that you can apply more than one effect at a time. With my next project that requires tons of images, I will definitely investigate applying some of those other effects automatically.
| 4. | Now choose your Share setting from the drop down list. There are several choices and integrations for how to share your capture. For this project, though, I chose File. |
| 5. | This is the real magic for me. Using the File setting (from the previous step), I can choose to add an automatic file name and fixed folder location. No matter which option you choose, select the gear icon to customize the setting. |
| When you select the Automatic naming settings... button, you can choose components, text, and options for how to name files. It's worth thinking about this a little bit. In the example below, I'm working on a topic about columns.* All I change is the text in the Prefix text: field and let the defaults handle everything else, but you could get much fancier. Select OK to apply your settings. |
| There's a second setting you need to think about under Share for this workflow. Under Fixed folder, select Browse to choose the location for storing your images. |
| I always set up an Images folder for each project. Within that images folder, I create folders that depend on the project. For example, in this case, I have a folder for each module/chapter. Within that, I have another folder for each lesson. Each lesson folder has 4-6 topics (and those ideally have a separate name).* |
Now, your capture settings are ready to roll, and the workflow is really easy.
- While writing, I set up the screen I want to capture.
- I press the PrtScrn key and hover over/draw around the part I want to capture.
- I select Finish in the SnagIt Editor window.
However, if I wanted to further modify the image (such as by taking out personal information in an example screen or add a highlight of some type, I can do that in the SnagIt Editor before I select Finish (see below). Note that the Copy to Clipboard option doesn't capture any editor modifications, so you would need to copy the final version or use the saved file if you do make changes.
Now, even though I make heavy use of copy and paste to shortcut work, I have the files saved when I come back to them in a different context.
*But I want to be completely honest about this workflow, so here's my confession. I planned to place each section in a separate folder and change the automatic name for each topic. But I sometimes forgot to change either name or folder as I was working, and I would end up with 30 or more files in one folder an hour or two later. They weren't as well-organized as I would have liked. However, it was still the quickest and most efficient way of capturing and storing images than anything I've previously tried.
I can think of some great applications for this workflow, especially when combined with single-sourcing. In the meantime, I'll keep writing and capturing those images as I go.
P.S. Here's one more caveat: SnagIt is not great at capturing itself. This blog post includes captures from both SnagIt and Word, with some additional editing done in SnagIt Editor.
 | Train Your Customers is now The Customer Education Toolbox to focus on the tools and strategies for content development, especially for customer self-serve educational content. Content development is what I do best. In fact, for this post, I'd like to take a look back at the content I developed in 2017 and share the tools I use to make that happen. |
Between instructor guides and student training manuals, I wrote approximately 1400 pages of content (or about 200,000 words) in 2017. To support those workshops, I developed over 400 PowerPoint slides and several quick reference guides. For self-paced training, I developed a total of about 800 eLearning slides, evenly divided between presentation style, interactive and review questions.
I produced 110 minutes of tutorial videos, and between the videos and eLearning, recorded approximately 210 minutes of narration. I wrote another 6000 words of new knowledge base content across four different software products.
After working as a localization specialist on other authors' single-source documentation for several years, I also authored my first massive single-source documentation project for both user guides and online help for a multi-module SaaS product.
In addition, in my own business as a freelancer, I wrote proposals, blog posts and even a start to my own course content.
It all feels like a pretty good accomplishment, so now I want to share the strategies and workflows that help me stay super efficient and productive.
In this post, I'll introduce you to my technology stack. What I've learned in 12 years as a freelancer, is that one tool does not do it all. I'm a big believer in using the right tool for the job, and these are the tools I've invested in on a regular basis to help me create effective content.
I produced 110 minutes of tutorial videos, and between the videos and eLearning, recorded approximately 210 minutes of narration. I wrote another 6000 words of new knowledge base content across four different software products.
After working as a localization specialist on other authors' single-source documentation for several years, I also authored my first massive single-source documentation project for both user guides and online help for a multi-module SaaS product.
In addition, in my own business as a freelancer, I wrote proposals, blog posts and even a start to my own course content.
It all feels like a pretty good accomplishment, so now I want to share the strategies and workflows that help me stay super efficient and productive.
In this post, I'll introduce you to my technology stack. What I've learned in 12 years as a freelancer, is that one tool does not do it all. I'm a big believer in using the right tool for the job, and these are the tools I've invested in on a regular basis to help me create effective content.
 | Words |
Words are the basis of any customer education project, whether they are delivered as guides, instructor-led training or scripts for narration work.
 | Evernote - Even before I went through the Evernote Certified Consultant training program, I was storing lots of content in Evernote. Now I use it for almost all of my first drafts, as well as collecting thoughts and notes about particular projects. I love that I can access these notes from anywhere and create content without any fuss. Plus, it's easy to copy and paste into another application when I'm ready for fancier formatting. |
 | Word - I've used Word forever, as many of my clients have long preferred it for user guides and manuals. Since I've developed Word Essentials, Advanced, and Expert courses, and produced hundreds of pages of manual content, I feel it's safe to say that I'm a Word power user. As a power user, I know that most people don't use a fraction of its capabilities, many of which I leverage for "intermediate packets" of work for content that will eventually end up in another platform. |
 | Flare - I first started using Flare about 5 years ago for doing localization work and quickly came to prefer it over Robohelp. It's a powerful application, and is the best I've seen at developing topic-based authoring for single-source documentation and delivering those docs over multiple outputs and audiences. When there are hundreds of pages of content to maintain, Flare is my tool of choice. |
 | Images |
Images are an absolute must for technology documentation and training.
 | SnagIt - Since upgrading to SnagIt 2018 at the end of October 2017, I've taken over 1500 screen shots. It's never been so easy to grab a shot and organize it for later use. The new features of filling the background and editing text are exciting, even if they don't quite work as seamlessly as promised. I will never go back to another tool for screen shots. |
 | PowerPoint - PowerPoint is sometimes the right tool for putting together a simple visual. Although I learned Photoshop and Illustrator way back in the 1990s, I haven't kept up and would never consider myself a graphic designer. But I can put together shapes and other visuals to communicate a message, and sometimes PowerPoint is the right tool for that. |
 | Video |
A video of under three minutes can teach a basic skill exponentially better than two or three pages of text with visuals. No one reads documentation, but as long as you keep videos short, your audience will watch and learn what they need to know.
 | Camtasia - Camtasia is better at screen recordings than the other tools in my stack, though sometimes I use them in combination. |
 | Captivate - Captivate is the first modern eLearning tool that I used, but I also use it to develop videos in a flash. You can swap out the narration and images to have two different versions of your video in minutes. |
*I have also used Adobe Premiere Pro, but find it way more power than I need for tutorial videos.
 | Narration |
Video is just not the same if it doesn't include narration.
 | Audacity - I've only used Audacity as a recording and editing tool. I've tried the in-product audio recording and editing tools for other tools, including Camtasia, Captivate, Storyline and Adobe Premiere Pro, but I prefer Audacity. Maybe if I was a narration/voice over specialist, I would use a more sophisticated tool, but as it is, it gets the job done and has some nice features to keep me efficient and productive. |
 | eLearning |
I worked in Authorware for a couple of years before my extended family leave from the workforce, so I was excited when I got the opportunity to add the rapid development eLearning tools to my skill set.
 | PowerPoint - I leverage PowerPoint to get content into the other programs quickly. |
 | Captivate - While Captivate rocks a quick video creation tool, I find it clunky to use for eLearning. Still, hundreds of slides later, sometimes it's the right tool for the job. |
 | Storyline - Storyline 2 is the newest tool in my toolbox. I love how easy it is to develop interactions and review questions. But even though it tries, it doesn't do other jobs as well (or at all) as some of my other tools, like software screen simulations and output as video for YouTube. I've tried Storyline 360, but haven't found a motivating reason to upgrade yet. |
Project Management and Beyond
I'd be remiss if I failed to mention that all of this content takes planning and project management to stay on task and get things done. I use a combination of Evernote and Nozbe to manage tasks and projects. I also have other tools that help me run my business, including Toggl, Excel and Quickbooks, but I'll focus on content development in this blog.
Coming up, I'll be doing some deep dives about specific workflows that help me take advantage of each tool's strength, while staying efficient and effective with the task at hand.
Coming up, I'll be doing some deep dives about specific workflows that help me take advantage of each tool's strength, while staying efficient and effective with the task at hand.
 Who writes and develops your articles, tutorial videos and interactive content? | I called what I did "customer education" before I knew that was an actual thing. A little over a year ago, I looked at the freelancing projects I liked most and start blazing a trail to a career with growth potential. I knew that end-user enablement was somehow different than employee learning and development, without quite being able to explain what was different or how what I did fit in. Then, at a conference, I met Adam Avramescu, Customer Education Leader at Optimizely, and started to think that I was on the right path. |
I've read, listened, followed, and learned quite a bit since then, improving my skills and tracking down "the right" kind of projects. There is a Customer Education revolution about to explode. But the idea of customer education is far from universally accepted.
Part of a technology company's success is created through providing top-notch educational content for customers and potential customers. Rob Castadenda, founder of CEO and ServiceRocket, said at the Business of Customer Education track at Gainsight Pulse in May 2017 - "Customer education is a proactive way to help customers be successful with your products from the start." A recent job posting by Box explains the current customer education revolution so well: "The emergence of the Customer Education field is the result of the pervasiveness of SaaS businesses and their need to prove their products' value to customers. The old Learning & Development parameters are no longer sufficient to drive product adoption."
The right content (delivered live or online) can bolster a customer's successful onboarding and engagement with the product, so customers can get maximum value from your product. That also means expansions or referrals, as well as the renewals a subscription-based company needs to thrive.
But it may be hard to find the right person who can create this content, especially in a way to leverage similar content for different purposes or stages along the customer journey.
In an ideal world, you've got your Customer Education role(s) reporting under Customer Success, and Customer Success in constant communication and alignment with other areas of the company that use customer-facing educational materials, like Sales and Marketing. You'd have a repository of knowledge and content ideas shared across the company, such as in Evernote Business shared notebooks, which could quickly and easily be re-purposed for different needs with a single-source mindset.
But we don't live in an ideal world.
I've been monitoring the types of jobs that incorporate customer education since I put that stake in the ground for my own career, and am amazed at the inconsistency in what I find in this exploding discipline. Recently, over a period of two weeks, I identified 29 different titles (for 35 different current job postings available on LinkedIn, both entry-level and leadership levels) that included developing customer education content as most of or a significant portion of the job responsibilities. These range from the more obvious "Customer Education Specialist" role to various sales, success, and product-related titles. Some companies graft titles from the learning and development world, like instructional designer, but I suspect those are more mature companies with the need for specialized roles. Other companies seem to create their own titles that incorporate the shared responsibilities and blended roles required in a fast-paced tech company.
It's a wonder that tech companies find the content development skills they need in potential hires, and that people with those skills find the companies who need them.
Julia Borgini had a great article to help with identifying what companies should look for in the person who develops the content for the customer education building the foundation of customer success. She calls the role "Learning Designer." To summarize, her top recommended skills and competences are:
Julia closes by saying it may be difficult to find one person who demonstrates all of these skills (though, to toot my own horn a little, I know it's possible). Make sure to evaluate your goals to determine what kind of content you need for where you are in your company journey.
Adam Avramescu says "I like to say 'we are all educators' when it comes to making customers successful." But he believes that Customer Education is the in title that will stick as time goes on - be it Customer Education Content Developer or Director of Customer Education - and that some existing L&D titles like instructional designer will stick around as specialty roles.
If you haven't already, make Customer Education a part of your organization's plans for obtaining, onboarding and retaining customers with the content to help your users succeed.
Part of a technology company's success is created through providing top-notch educational content for customers and potential customers. Rob Castadenda, founder of CEO and ServiceRocket, said at the Business of Customer Education track at Gainsight Pulse in May 2017 - "Customer education is a proactive way to help customers be successful with your products from the start." A recent job posting by Box explains the current customer education revolution so well: "The emergence of the Customer Education field is the result of the pervasiveness of SaaS businesses and their need to prove their products' value to customers. The old Learning & Development parameters are no longer sufficient to drive product adoption."
The right content (delivered live or online) can bolster a customer's successful onboarding and engagement with the product, so customers can get maximum value from your product. That also means expansions or referrals, as well as the renewals a subscription-based company needs to thrive.
But it may be hard to find the right person who can create this content, especially in a way to leverage similar content for different purposes or stages along the customer journey.
In an ideal world, you've got your Customer Education role(s) reporting under Customer Success, and Customer Success in constant communication and alignment with other areas of the company that use customer-facing educational materials, like Sales and Marketing. You'd have a repository of knowledge and content ideas shared across the company, such as in Evernote Business shared notebooks, which could quickly and easily be re-purposed for different needs with a single-source mindset.
But we don't live in an ideal world.
I've been monitoring the types of jobs that incorporate customer education since I put that stake in the ground for my own career, and am amazed at the inconsistency in what I find in this exploding discipline. Recently, over a period of two weeks, I identified 29 different titles (for 35 different current job postings available on LinkedIn, both entry-level and leadership levels) that included developing customer education content as most of or a significant portion of the job responsibilities. These range from the more obvious "Customer Education Specialist" role to various sales, success, and product-related titles. Some companies graft titles from the learning and development world, like instructional designer, but I suspect those are more mature companies with the need for specialized roles. Other companies seem to create their own titles that incorporate the shared responsibilities and blended roles required in a fast-paced tech company.
It's a wonder that tech companies find the content development skills they need in potential hires, and that people with those skills find the companies who need them.
Julia Borgini had a great article to help with identifying what companies should look for in the person who develops the content for the customer education building the foundation of customer success. She calls the role "Learning Designer." To summarize, her top recommended skills and competences are:
- Understanding of how people learn
- Passion for knowledge and learning, while focusing on the outcome for the learners
- Ability to communicate complex topics in terms people can understand
- Knowledge of the latest tools for developing educational content
- Skills to manage projects through the development and delivery process
- Design skills to create visually appealing content
- Ability to create meaningful assessments
Julia closes by saying it may be difficult to find one person who demonstrates all of these skills (though, to toot my own horn a little, I know it's possible). Make sure to evaluate your goals to determine what kind of content you need for where you are in your company journey.
Adam Avramescu says "I like to say 'we are all educators' when it comes to making customers successful." But he believes that Customer Education is the in title that will stick as time goes on - be it Customer Education Content Developer or Director of Customer Education - and that some existing L&D titles like instructional designer will stick around as specialty roles.
If you haven't already, make Customer Education a part of your organization's plans for obtaining, onboarding and retaining customers with the content to help your users succeed.
| Single-source documentation is a concept that has been around for some time, if mostly championed only by the technology providers and practitioners who already know it's power. I got interested in the concept early in my career, back B.K. (before kids) in the mid 90s; and for the last 12 years as a freelancer, I've applied the principles whenever and where ever I can to improve my own personal productivity and efficiency. |  Write once, publish in different formats for different audiences |
But with the coming “knowledge tsunami,” the time has come for single-sourcing to be applied to content creation everywhere. Marc Rosenberg reports in his October 17, 2017 article in the Learning Solutions Magazine on an IBM prediction that “by 2020, knowledge will likely be doubling every 11 to 12 hours.” He says: “Establishing processes and priorities for curating and managing knowledge within and outside your organization will help you become more efficient and your knowledge products...become more effective and valued.”
Single-sourcing is one of the most powerful processes available to prepare you for riding this wave.
Single-sourcing is one of the most powerful processes available to prepare you for riding this wave.
“Establishing processes and priorities for curating and managing knowledge within and outside your organization will help you become more efficient and your knowledge products...become more effective and valued.”
Marc Rosenberg*
The existing definitions of single-source publishing are often dry, nerdy and use complicated words. You can get explanations from Wikipedia, MadCap Flare (one of the providers of technology supporting single-sourcing), or this one by the CEO of another technology provider, Paligo. These definitions will probably make your eyes glaze over if you're not a nerdy technical writer type.
I used this utility to make sure I could explain single-source publishing as simply as possible.
To boil it down to the essence, single source publishing is a way of writing once for many uses. It takes a bit of work up front to write in a way to use it again, and another bit of work to store the content in a way to make the pieces easy to find later.
But the payoff for the added set up is an exponential increase in efficiency and productivity. You can maintain the content pieces in an agile way to keep up with your product changes, and assemble deliverables ranging from white papers to knowledge base articles to training materials in minutes.
I used this utility to make sure I could explain single-source publishing as simply as possible.
To boil it down to the essence, single source publishing is a way of writing once for many uses. It takes a bit of work up front to write in a way to use it again, and another bit of work to store the content in a way to make the pieces easy to find later.
But the payoff for the added set up is an exponential increase in efficiency and productivity. You can maintain the content pieces in an agile way to keep up with your product changes, and assemble deliverables ranging from white papers to knowledge base articles to training materials in minutes.
Single source publishing is a way of writing once for many uses. Writing and storing the content takes a little extra work at the beginning, but pays off in increased productivity, with more efficient updates across multiple outputs and audiences.
Though write once for many uses takes some up-front work, the techniques are not complicated.
A good overview starts with a summary of Anders Svensson's 5 principles*:
It is possible to over-complicate the design for reusing content. I once had a client who wanted user guides for multiple modules of multiple products with multiple licensees. As I implemented his requests one-by-one over time, the documents I'd inherited ended up getting so complicated that maintaining what amounted to hundreds of pages of content needed to be a full-time job rather than a once-every-update outsourced project.
However, in the new subscription service landscape, these principles of single-sourcing are vital not only to documentation, but to every aspect of an organization’s content creation, from customer education and success to sales and marketing.
The most successful companies will master these methods of reusing and sharing content across their organizations.
A good overview starts with a summary of Anders Svensson's 5 principles*:
- Don't repeat yourself (instead of repeating the same content in multiple places, reuse it)
- Keep it simple and straightforward (the simplest way is usually the best)
- Aim to make topics stand alone
- Each topic has only one job
- Avoid specifics or use simple strategies for dealing with them (like variables or conditional text), which must be balanced with the “keep it simple” strategy
It is possible to over-complicate the design for reusing content. I once had a client who wanted user guides for multiple modules of multiple products with multiple licensees. As I implemented his requests one-by-one over time, the documents I'd inherited ended up getting so complicated that maintaining what amounted to hundreds of pages of content needed to be a full-time job rather than a once-every-update outsourced project.
However, in the new subscription service landscape, these principles of single-sourcing are vital not only to documentation, but to every aspect of an organization’s content creation, from customer education and success to sales and marketing.
The most successful companies will master these methods of reusing and sharing content across their organizations.
* Rosenberg, M. (2017, October 17). Marc My Words: The Coming Knowledge Tsunami. Retrieved from Learning Solutions Magazine: https://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/2468/marc-my-words-the-coming-knowledge-tsunami
* Svensson, A. (2016, January 13). The 5 Principles of Single Sourcing in Technical Documentation. Retrieved from LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-principles-single-sourcing-technical-documentation-anders-svensson/
* Svensson, A. (2016, January 13). The 5 Principles of Single Sourcing in Technical Documentation. Retrieved from LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-principles-single-sourcing-technical-documentation-anders-svensson/
You know you need to create content for your customers to train them on your product. But where do you start?
 | Your company may need to create self-service resources, training, and even marketing/sales content with an educational slant. It would be great to wave a magic wand and have all of that appear instantaneously. Or to hire an army of qualified helpers and start seeing an amazing return on your investment. |
But instead, you've got limited resources.
While a long-term strategy can connect and reuse content for different purposes, it's best to determine your main goal to help set priorities on where to start and how much you can tackle now.
There are number of common goals that companies have when they want to create self-service content. I polled my colleagues on The Customer Success Forum on LinkedIn and got some some feedback that mirrors what I've found in my consulting work with software companies.
While a long-term strategy can connect and reuse content for different purposes, it's best to determine your main goal to help set priorities on where to start and how much you can tackle now.
There are number of common goals that companies have when they want to create self-service content. I polled my colleagues on The Customer Success Forum on LinkedIn and got some some feedback that mirrors what I've found in my consulting work with software companies.
Reduce Support Costs
"Of course they want to reduce support tickets. Support is expensive...you want as much self-service knowledge as possible."
Scott Hopper
Goal Number one for many companies is reducing support costs. Scott Hopper, an IT Software Technical Support Engineer says, "Of course they want to reduce support tickets. Support is expensive. Unless, you are trying to grow your support team, you want as much self-service knowledge as possible."
If this is the issue you want to start with as you embark on creating your content, make it a specific, measurable goal, like "I want to reduce the number of open support tickets each month by 10%." That way, you can get a clear financial impact that shows the value of your time spent writing and maintaining online help or a knowledgebase.
Brooke Harper, a Sales Development Representative, clarifies the purpose of content like this. She says "As a consumer, I usually look for a quick answer to basic questions or quick actions to simple tasks."
Scott Hopper mentions a couple of other goals you might have as you develop content. "Onboarding customers and converting trial users, puts money in [company's] pockets."
Let's look at these goals separately.
If this is the issue you want to start with as you embark on creating your content, make it a specific, measurable goal, like "I want to reduce the number of open support tickets each month by 10%." That way, you can get a clear financial impact that shows the value of your time spent writing and maintaining online help or a knowledgebase.
Brooke Harper, a Sales Development Representative, clarifies the purpose of content like this. She says "As a consumer, I usually look for a quick answer to basic questions or quick actions to simple tasks."
Scott Hopper mentions a couple of other goals you might have as you develop content. "Onboarding customers and converting trial users, puts money in [company's] pockets."
Let's look at these goals separately.
Convert Trial Uses
One of my clients with a microniche software company wanted to improve the conversion rate of his trial users. He had a conversion rate that hovered around 20% of potential users who downloaded the trial version who became paid customers. The product had a fairly steep learning curve, and he gave 14 days of use on a lite version of the product for potential customers to make a decision.
He wanted to give the potential customers enough self-service information in a Quick Start Guide to help those customers make a decision about purchasing the product. For him, we determined that his goal was to have an increase of 5 sales a month, which was worth thousands of dollars a year, for an investment of a couple of weeks of focused effort.
He wanted to give the potential customers enough self-service information in a Quick Start Guide to help those customers make a decision about purchasing the product. For him, we determined that his goal was to have an increase of 5 sales a month, which was worth thousands of dollars a year, for an investment of a couple of weeks of focused effort.
Improving Onboarding Process
Another one of my clients has a very technical product that requires a lot of customization. Their account executives spend several hours with new customers helping with a new implementation. But I helped them create some videos that explained concepts that are important for the customers to understand in order to use the product. This saved about 1/2 an hour of the implementation consultant's time for each new customer. That may not sound like a lot, but when you multiply it by every new customer over the months and years that they may use it, it adds up to literally thousands and thousands of dollars a year. And this is just the start for them. When you want to climb a mountain like this, you still have to take it one step at a time.
Adoption
"One goal is to facilitate adoption for large accounts, where a CSM could have a hard time delivering high-touch assets for every user. This helps deliver product and support updates to all customers with just a link."
Sebastian Cabrera
A similar goal is clarified by Sebastian Cabrera, a Customer Success Manager. He says, " One goal is to facilitate adoption for large accounts, where a CSM could have a hard time delivering high-touch assets for every user. This helps deliver product and support updates to all customers with just a link.
This is closely tied to a goal of providing self-serve education for customers. Self-serve education can be anything from basic 1-2 minute YouTube tutorials on how to complete specific tasks, to much more elaborate academy course offerings that go beyond using the tool into industry best-practices, as well as preparation for high-stakes proctored exams (certification).
All of these are good goals, and you can find evidence in the Customer Education discipline of how beneficial each can be to your bottom line. Once you start developing your content, you will find that much of what you develop can be tweaked to serve more than one purpose including in sales and marketing where the financial return is more obvious.
But when you are starting out, focus on one very clear, specific goal. It's great to think long term about how that project can scale along with your company. You need to have that laser focus on what you are trying to accomplish. Otherwise, you may end up with lots of help, but find that your customers don't find it very helpful.
This is closely tied to a goal of providing self-serve education for customers. Self-serve education can be anything from basic 1-2 minute YouTube tutorials on how to complete specific tasks, to much more elaborate academy course offerings that go beyond using the tool into industry best-practices, as well as preparation for high-stakes proctored exams (certification).
All of these are good goals, and you can find evidence in the Customer Education discipline of how beneficial each can be to your bottom line. Once you start developing your content, you will find that much of what you develop can be tweaked to serve more than one purpose including in sales and marketing where the financial return is more obvious.
But when you are starting out, focus on one very clear, specific goal. It's great to think long term about how that project can scale along with your company. You need to have that laser focus on what you are trying to accomplish. Otherwise, you may end up with lots of help, but find that your customers don't find it very helpful.
*This post is an excerpt of an upcoming course I am developing on creating customer-focused content. Stay tuned to hear updates on the course development and release date.
Michael Sliwinski's upcoming "10 Steps to Ultimate Productivity" book
I'm excited to be one of about 100 people on the launch team offering suggestions and real-life examples related to productivity for Michael Sliwinski's upcoming publication of 10 Steps to Ultimate Productivity. The launch preparation includes team challenges sharing real experiences related to productivity, and I decided to post an article related to the first challenge here on my Train Your Customers blog.
The challenge is to write something related to the topic of the current chapter we are reviewing within the group, which for this week, has to do with productivity myths.
My own myth was that I believed that I just needed the right tool or process. I could get things done - and not feel overwhelmed - if I just had the right system.
The challenge is to write something related to the topic of the current chapter we are reviewing within the group, which for this week, has to do with productivity myths.
My own myth was that I believed that I just needed the right tool or process. I could get things done - and not feel overwhelmed - if I just had the right system.
"It’s hard even for a naturally organized person not to get lost without a good productivity system." #10stepsbook
I read an earlier edition of David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) back in 2006 around the time I first started doing freelance projects. I had already dabbled with a number of different productivity approaches - both analog and digital. Something clicked when I read this book, but I definitely didn't implement everything overnight. At that time, my children were still quite young, and some days it felt like a win just to get dinner prepared and the dishes washed.
I forgot about GTD for awhile, but every time I started feeling especially overwhelmed, I came back to the practice of emptying my head and thinking through the next steps for each of the goals I hoped to accomplish.
As my freelance career expanded, I found that I had to get very good at project management because I often juggled up to 7 or 8 direct client and subcontracting projects in different phases at once. I used a few different digital tools to help me stay on top of things, and even started and stopped with Nozbe a few times before coming to the regular practice I have now (which still has lots of room for improvement!).
I forgot about GTD for awhile, but every time I started feeling especially overwhelmed, I came back to the practice of emptying my head and thinking through the next steps for each of the goals I hoped to accomplish.
As my freelance career expanded, I found that I had to get very good at project management because I often juggled up to 7 or 8 direct client and subcontracting projects in different phases at once. I used a few different digital tools to help me stay on top of things, and even started and stopped with Nozbe a few times before coming to the regular practice I have now (which still has lots of room for improvement!).
| The truth is, that for me, no matter how I set up the tools that help me keep on top of my projects, I sometimes found myself using my to-do-list as a way to keep me occupied on tasks that needed to be done, without making progress on my bigger personal goals, especially when they don't have an immediate economic payoff. This is why I still don't have a finished novel (although I do have a memoir ready to be published!). And why I have a number of ideas for business-related books and/or courses yet to complete. You can even see this mentality in my current project lists. Is the color coding a subconscious message? The top projects (in green or gold) are client projects that make money more or less immediately. Those tasks get done. The tasks for personal goal projects (especially those in pink, purple or blue) are more likely to languish in those projects for weeks or even months without making any progress. |  |
I still have to work on my implementation of productivity practices every day and every week, refreshing, refining, and adding to how I approach what I want and need to do. The system and the tool aren't enough, and even though the principles behind GTD are simple, the implementation takes (a little) time and practice.
 | One of those personal projects that's been on the back burner is my new blog (in addition to this one - Train Your Customers isn't going away anytime soon). I'm taking this challenge as the opportunity to get it going, even though I plan to start publishing posts on a temporary Weebly site before the new blog finds its permanent home probably early in 2018. |
I'll add the link here once I have it published, but the plan is to have regular posts on ways to use my favorite digital tools like Nozbe, Evernote, Toggl, Google Calendar and more to implement your own productivity practices. I've been wanting to do this since I finished the Evernote Certified Consultant training back in May, along with offering one-on-one coaching in Nozbe and Evernote. I'm calling the blog Michele's Productivity Practices. I hope to see you there soon!
Please. No more mind-numbing webinars passed off as learning.
 | I love learning and I love the technology that has made it possible to connect with learners anywhere, anytime. I regularly consume content in the hopes of improving my skills and expertise. Apparently, I was onto that technique of the world's most successful people long before it was cool (read "The 5-Hour Rule" here about spending 1 hour a day on learning). |
Because I'm in the training industry, I'm exposed to LOTS of content. I'm interested in some other aspects of my business as well, so I join a lot of webinars. Some are for running a freelance business, some are for online course development, and many are related to the emerging Customer Success philosophy. I also want to learn about specific tasks I perform in my job as a Customer Education consultant, so that I can improve my eLearning and video tutorial design and development skills.
And what I can tell you after dozens of webinars in the last year is that not everyone is good at training virtually. Sometimes I find the learning worth my time investment, but just as often, I don't.
Not long ago, I found myself on a webinar that I quit before it was over. Ok, I admit that I'm a little OCD, and quitting early is just usually not something I consider. I might do something else of low cognitive load (like checking email or cleaning out my physical inbox) while I listen. But this one was poorly done and poorly matched to its promotional materials, and I realized that I was getting no value from it.
It wasn't that the presenter wasn't a skilled trainer. If the content is good, I'm usually willing to overlook a lack in presentation or training skills. What frustrated me is that the webinar completely failed to deliver any of the value I had expected.
I'll try to be better at evaluating content before I sign up. But I also dream of a world with better webinars.
So here are my suggestions to webinar presenters, in three simple rules.
And what I can tell you after dozens of webinars in the last year is that not everyone is good at training virtually. Sometimes I find the learning worth my time investment, but just as often, I don't.
Not long ago, I found myself on a webinar that I quit before it was over. Ok, I admit that I'm a little OCD, and quitting early is just usually not something I consider. I might do something else of low cognitive load (like checking email or cleaning out my physical inbox) while I listen. But this one was poorly done and poorly matched to its promotional materials, and I realized that I was getting no value from it.
It wasn't that the presenter wasn't a skilled trainer. If the content is good, I'm usually willing to overlook a lack in presentation or training skills. What frustrated me is that the webinar completely failed to deliver any of the value I had expected.
I'll try to be better at evaluating content before I sign up. But I also dream of a world with better webinars.
So here are my suggestions to webinar presenters, in three simple rules.
1. Don't Mislead Learners
Yes, you want to use a catchy title for your content. But make sure that it really represents what you plan to teach. The title of the webinar I mentioned above was a little too general, but even the description of the planned webinar made it sound like something of value from my standpoint. However, ten minutes into the presentation, it became clear that the presentation was really about a very specific aspect (localization) that wasn't addressed in the title or the description. I think what made me so angry wasn't the fact that the person talked about a topic that didn't interest me*. I was actually angry because he DIDN'T talk about what I was expecting and hoping to learn, based on the description. I was disappointed that something I'd been looking forward to for a week completely failed to deliver any value.
It goes without saying that your webinar should be thoroughly planned. You've taken the time to promote it, so hopefully you've taken the time to put some instructional design into it, as well as some practice presenting. If you've really done these things, coming up with a title and description that accurately reflects the content shouldn't be too difficult.
It goes without saying that your webinar should be thoroughly planned. You've taken the time to promote it, so hopefully you've taken the time to put some instructional design into it, as well as some practice presenting. If you've really done these things, coming up with a title and description that accurately reflects the content shouldn't be too difficult.
2. Respect Learner's Time
Who decided that webinars should last an hour? That's 5 minutes of introduction and chit-chat, 30-40 minutes of actual content, and the rest for questions. Boring. No engagement. Here's my dirty little secret. I usually sign up for the webinar, watch at a later time because I've had something come up or don't want to disturb a deep work session, and if the platform where the recording is hosted allows it, watch it at 1 1/2 times the normal speed. I almost never have to slow down to catch what the presenter has said, and I get done with an hour webinar in about 40 minutes. Shame on those platforms that don't allow speed-watching.
Your audience has taken time out of their day to listen to what you have to say. Don't drag it out for the sake of timing. Don't waste time on trivial matters. And plan, prepare, and practice to make your content as valuable and engaging as possible.
Your audience has taken time out of their day to listen to what you have to say. Don't drag it out for the sake of timing. Don't waste time on trivial matters. And plan, prepare, and practice to make your content as valuable and engaging as possible.
3. Help Learners Be Better at their Jobs
No matter what type of content you are delivering, the purpose is not about you. It's about the people listening and participating. What valuable processes, procedures, or expertise do you have to share? If you are just showing one or more features, you're not helping your audience be better at their jobs. If you are doing an information dump, you're not really helping your audience be better at their jobs. You can't just provide information that your learners haven't heard before. You have to make sure that you are fundamentally improving their skills, decision making capabilities, or knowledge in a way that will make them rock stars at what they do.
Always make sure you consider your audience and make sure you are providing valuable information.
Here's to many improved webinars from following these rules!
* I almost always find something about a webinar interesting, even if it's only one small tip I haven't heard before. But the misleading title webinar was about localization. I've spend a fair chunk of my time on localization projects over the last six years, and didn't need a beginner's guide.
Always make sure you consider your audience and make sure you are providing valuable information.
Here's to many improved webinars from following these rules!
* I almost always find something about a webinar interesting, even if it's only one small tip I haven't heard before. But the misleading title webinar was about localization. I've spend a fair chunk of my time on localization projects over the last six years, and didn't need a beginner's guide.
In a previous article, I mentioned Learndot, ServiceRocket, and Donna Weber of Springboard Solutions as providing some helpful resources as you start thinking about creating your customer education strategy. They've teamed up together and recently launched the first run of Customer Education University (CEU).
They plan to run this Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) several times a year, and today I'd like to present it from two different perspectives.
It is a great resource for customer success professionals who want to focus on customer education and need to learn the vast amount of details to consider in training customers online. I learned quite a bit in the course, some of which I will share throughout the article.
However, what I find even more valuable is how we can learn from it as an example. There is value in providing self-serve education on product features - and the return for an investment in that kind of content can easily be measured in reduced support costs, easier customer onboarding, and more renewals and upsells. But the value of also educating potential users within the industry on how to do their jobs better goes well beyond reduced support costs and into a realm of marketing and scaling in an exponential way.
They plan to run this Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) several times a year, and today I'd like to present it from two different perspectives.
It is a great resource for customer success professionals who want to focus on customer education and need to learn the vast amount of details to consider in training customers online. I learned quite a bit in the course, some of which I will share throughout the article.
However, what I find even more valuable is how we can learn from it as an example. There is value in providing self-serve education on product features - and the return for an investment in that kind of content can easily be measured in reduced support costs, easier customer onboarding, and more renewals and upsells. But the value of also educating potential users within the industry on how to do their jobs better goes well beyond reduced support costs and into a realm of marketing and scaling in an exponential way.
Overview
Many of the CEU lessons spend time discussing why it is worthwhile to invest time and resources into customer education. But the course also has a nice mix of 101-style high-level conceptual overview along with specific tactics you can implement as you move through the process of educating your customers in a scalable way.
The course runs for six weeks and consists of a live one-to-many webinar each week, plus additional assignments of reading and watching related recorded webinars. I'll give a high level overview of what the course covers.
The course runs for six weeks and consists of a live one-to-many webinar each week, plus additional assignments of reading and watching related recorded webinars. I'll give a high level overview of what the course covers.
Getting Started - Week One
The Getting Started week presented learning and best practices that ServiceRocket has gained through their partnership with Gainsight, their integration with SalesForce, and their work with their customers as they measure the value around customer education. Their experience consistently shows that better educated customers make better, more informed buying decisions and have higher conversions. When customers are more successful at achieving their business outcomes from increased product utilization, they have an increased Net Promoter Score® (NPS) and ultimately provide greater revenue for the company. Donna Weber's addition to what ServiceRocket has learned comes from her years of building and managing successful customer education programs for companies. (Donna ran the webinars starting in week two for this first cohort of the course.)
Defining Your Strategy - Week Two
Week two was all about defining your strategy. Where is your company on the maturity model? What types of courses would best link what your customers most need with what will best support the company goals and is actually something you can do, given current skills and resources? I had seen before many times the Enterprise Software Training Maturity Model, with its phases of reacting, performing, scaling and optimizing, but during this week, I had one of those "aha" moments that goes hand in hand with an agile methodology of course development. Get something your customers can use out there, even if it's rough around the edges, and iterate and improve from there. It's good to have a strategy for where you'd like to be, but don't let that ideal version keep you from starting wherever you are with what you can provide right now.
Building Your Offering - Week Three
The third week of CEU focused on defining and building your offering based on what your customers need and balancing that with the reality checks on build ratios. Instructor-led training (classroom, even if it's online) can take between 20 and 60 hours to develop and deliver the content for 1 hour of learning. The ratio for eLearning is even larger, depending on the quality of the visual media and complexity of the interactions. This week's webinar included lots of practical tips including recommendations to talk to your customers, create a minimally viable product, using a phased approach, communicating with stakeholders, repurposing content in different formats, curating content and scheduling update cycles.
Go To Market Plan - Week Four
The Go to Market Plan module of the course stressed strategies for pricing, marketing and selling your customer education offering. Even if you plan to make your training available to customers for free, you can position your efforts within the company so that the value of those offerings are identified. Otherwise, you won't get the resources needed to be effective or the program is vulnerable to being cut altogether. The business model of your customer education team generally aligns with the company maturity model. Wherever you are, it's important to track the costs of development and delivery and if possible, the money coming in not just as sales for the training itself, but the savings and sales indirectly associated with the training.
Metrics and Technology - Week Five
Week five - metrics and technology - discussed technology categories, like the learning management system (LMS), course development and authoring tools and other needs for training your customers. That week's webinar also addressed measuring the impact of learning as well as the impact of business. While Excel can be a good tool for tracking in the beginning, you'll quickly want something a little more sophisticated. Don't build your own system - there are plenty of tools out there (including Learndot, and I was impressed that this week didn't turn into a sales pitch).
Moving to the Next Level - Week Six
| The final week was about moving to the next level. It's important to stay agile as you scale and move through the maturity model. In the beginning (reacting phase), you may be building everything from scratch. Outsource to help catapult you to the next level, and focus on moving as much as possible to a one-to-many model that is repeatable, role-based and hands on. The course culminates in a final exam. The questions were challenging enough that you have to have paid a certain level of attention throughout the course to pass. And in the end, successful participants receive a certificate and a t-shirt. Conclusion |  |
I'm proud to share my certificate from the first cohort of students, and will refer to the lessons when I come across different scenarios with different clients.
And that's what I mean by a good example. It wasn't a course about how to use Learndot. But it didn't have to be. I'm sure they will iterate and make the course better each time they run it. And for companies who are a good fit, Learndot can use this course to generate some well-qualified potential customers.
And that's what I mean by a good example. It wasn't a course about how to use Learndot. But it didn't have to be. I'm sure they will iterate and make the course better each time they run it. And for companies who are a good fit, Learndot can use this course to generate some well-qualified potential customers.
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