In this blog series, we’re drawing on the expertise of Skilljar’s very own Customer Success team. They’ve helped countless teams launch successful customer training programs, and have some great insights to share. Stay tuned for new Q&As each month!
First up: “What do customer training teams overlook when planning a launch?”
1. Time for content creation
According to Sara Robba, Manager of Customer Success at Skilljar, training teams often underestimate the amount of time it will take to create content. Many training teams have limited resources to start off with, and don’t account for how long it will take to build out content. This is a common and very easy thing to do that can significantly delay the launch process, which is why we suggest launching with your minimum viable product (MVP). You can then build from there when resources are more readily available.
If this is the case at your organization, Dean Spalding and Matthew Allen, Customer Success Managers at Skilljar, recommend using the extra time while you’re building content to think about your training program strategy. Remember: just because you have a roadblock in one area, it doesn’t mean you can’t make progress elsewhere.
2. Internal resources
Hong Chau, Customer Success Manager at Skilljar, pointed out that training teams sometimes struggle with proper resource allocation. For example, they may not know who to talk to internally if they need help procuring a domain name.
Other questions to consider:
- Do you have someone who can help with theming?
- Who can provide a single sign-on (SSO) certificate?
- Is there an admin who can work with you to set up an LMS-Salesforce integration?
- Will your Marketing team even let you use Marketo for training purposes?
These may seem like simple questions, but if unaddressed, they can lead to issues later down the line. For this reason, Pam Dodrill, Skilljar’s VP of Customer Growth, emphasized the importance of getting the right stakeholders in the room early on.
3. Project management
On a similar note, Sara Robba said it is not always clear who is responsible for what. If you haven’t already done so, you may want to find someone who can hold your internal teams accountable.
Rather than asking us to follow up with their team, our most successful customers usually have a project manager in place, whose job it is to ensure everything stays on track. Also, utilizing a project plan that all teams have access to is a great way to keep everyone aligned and on track to achieving your launch goals.
4. User testing
Our fourth and final piece of advice: don’t forget about user testing. Before you launch, it’s crucial to conduct a full beta test. Essentially, you should allow different audiences to move through the entire process, from registration to completion of a course.
This is another place where you’ll want to pay attention to timing. If you wait until the day before your launch to gather feedback, you may be left with too many last-minute changes to meet your deadline.
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In this blog series, we’re drawing on the expertise of Skilljar’s very own Customer Success team. If you have a question you’d like them to answer, let us know in the comments!