By Anders Willumsen, Eurekos
When it comes to finding an LMS that caters to customer education, there are six specific factors you should consider. These key points will help you evaluate your current infrastructure and choose technology that meets your customer education needs both now and in the future.
1. Begin with your learning objectives, not the technology
Many make the mistake of starting their search for an LMS by solely focusing on the technology itself. While technology is important, it should be viewed as part of a broader approach encompassing learning, development, communications, and performance. Start by assessing your business goals and the role learning will play in achieving them.
2. Take a holistic approach to change
To ensure successful implementation, it is crucial to take a holistic approach to change. Simply changing your technology without considering associated processes, team skills, and learning and content development strategies often leads to failure.
Your learning technology project should align with your overall customer training strategy and involve all relevant team members. Neglecting to bring them along on the journey may result in resistance and hinder implementation.
3. Engage and involve your stakeholders
In addition to gaining buy-in from your immediate team, involving and engaging stakeholders early on is critical. Failure to include stakeholders adequately can derail or delay a project later.
Identify your stakeholders, which typically include your customers, team/partner functions, budget holders, and gatekeepers. When approaching these stakeholders, keep in mind that they have competing priorities. Here are a few tips:
Customers
It’s crucial to elicit feedback from your customers regarding their likes, dislikes, engagement factors, and sources of frustration. As the ultimate beneficiaries, their opinions should be your top priority.
Engage in Open Dialogue: Encourage customers to share their thoughts and experiences related to your current customer education program and learning system. Create opportunities for them to voice their preferences and challenges, enabling you to gain valuable insights.
Identify Engaging Factors: Pay close attention to the aspects of your learning system that capture customers’ interest and keep them engaged. Understanding what resonates with them will help you refine and tailor your LMS requirements.
Address Turnoffs and Frustrations: Equally important is uncovering the aspects that act as turnoffs or sources of frustration for your customers. By addressing these pain points, you can improve the learning experience and ensure customer satisfaction.
Customer Feedback as Top Priority: Recognize that the feedback provided by your customers holds immense value. It reflects their unique perspective and needs, allowing you to align your customer education program and learning system with their expectations.
Other Stakeholders
Collaborate with L&D, Sales, Marketing, Business Development, Customer Success, IT, and other relevant functions to create a shared vision. This can be a bit like herding cats, but the value of investing time in this is enormous and will ensure you’re not forced to go through the same process a year or two from now.
Budget Holders
Develop a compelling business case that transcends initial implementation costs, ensuring alignment between your goals and the objectives of the business.
Remember, the focus should not solely be on the number of customers trained or their course satisfaction. Instead, prioritize customer success, overall satisfaction, and long-term retention as the true measures of your program’s effectiveness.
Gatekeepers
Involve functions such as finance, procurement, and IT early in the process to turn them into partners rather than obstacles.
4. Define the desired outcomes for your learning technology
Engaging with a diverse set of stakeholders will provide a comprehensive understanding of the outcomes you aim to achieve. Like buying a house, focus on what is most important to your business to ensure you select the right technology. Emphasize outcomes over features to truly determine your LMS requirements.
5. Seek expert assistance for selecting the right options
Consider seeking support from an external source to guide you through the selection process. They can assist with a formal procurement process (RFP) or other methods. Their expertise will help showcase different options, highlight strengths and challenges, and ensure a clear understanding between you and the vendors.
The LMS market can be confusing due to the abundance of suppliers, jargon, and rapidly changing landscape. Partnering with an expert can save time and prevent confusion.
6. Establish a partnership with your LMS supplier
The best relationships with learning technology vendors are built on partnerships. Look for a supplier who will work closely with you, understand your organization’s needs, and provide honest discussions about customization options.
A trusted partnership offers benefits like tailored onboarding, alignment of values, cost optimization, and ongoing customer support. Eurekos, for example, is a partner rather than just a vendor, offering comprehensive support throughout the entire process.
Key Takeaway
Selecting the right learning technology for customer education is a significant project that can greatly impact your desired outcomes.
By investing time and effort into assessing your needs, involving stakeholders, and seeking expert assistance, you greatly increase the likelihood of success, while optimizing resources.
About the Author
Anders Willumsen is the visionary leader and CEO of Eurekos. His knack for innovation is evident in how he elevated Eurekos from a training and consulting firm to a top-tier LMS provider for customer and channel partner education. For more information about Eurekos, visit eurekos.com.
