Educated customers become empowered and this makes them the BEST customers! There are many reasons why a solid education strategy is worth the investment. Educating customers, not just educating new customers but existing customers on new features and updates as well.
If it is a new concept to your customer then it’s going to require some type of education from your team. Expecting customers to research or stumble upon new features is just crazy — and in general, won’t happen. If they aren’t aware of features, they won’t be able to utilize the product to its full extent. Thus, not fulfilling our motto “ iorad saves you time to get you back to the work that matters most.”
Let’s take a look at some key benefits to a quality customer education program. As stated previously, it is important to include current customers in this education strategy. These benefits will both directly & indirectly connect to customer satisfaction.
1. Customer Engagement
When customers are engaged in the product they become power users. Power users are great, they know the product inside & out, they seek out new features and actively use them. When the number of power users increases the level of trust rises. When continuously seeing a brand on the tv, news, blog post, social media, etc it continues to build trust with your brand. Trust creates loyal power users who will spread the word. That’s how it comes full circle.
2. Loyalty
Google has done studies on how increased exposure creates trust with a brand & decreases the sales cycle timeline. This is why social media & any type of print/digital marketing is so valuable.
Loyal educated customers will share the product with colleagues & friends. They may even offer testimonials as marketing content just because they believe in the product so much.
3. Increased Satisfaction
It’s never a good feeling when you log into a product for the first time and you’re lost or confused about what to do. It could be great software but if you aren’t sure how to use the features or tools. This is the importance of having training accessible alongside the customer at key points of their journey. This will not only guide them but also help them take advantage of all the awesome features, without having to fumble through the product leaving them frustrated.
4. Top-Notch Customer Support
Good customer education equates to fewer support tickets and therefore frees up the support team. This allows the team more time to spend on higher priority issues or even better the ability to give a high-touch experience to those few tickets that do come in. As a result, creating more trust in your brand & product.
5. Trust in the Product & Brand
Trust in your brand is crucial for longevity. Customers who promote and back your product are priceless. This is what we all work so hard to build. Word of mouth is the best; ultimately increasing renewals & new purchases. This gives customers a sense of relief knowing that so many others trust the brand — and not just “others” but people they know & trust which means so much more than some “Joe Schmo”.
To recap, valuing and investing in a quality customer education strategy will empower your customers as well as increase engagement, loyalty, trust, and satisfaction in your product. Therefore, it’s important to value the little things, they do add up. This includes making sure training is easily accessible & understandable. Training is the key that can make or break the user experience of the product.
