Providing Effective Training - Part 3

In Providing Effective Training - Part 2 I focused on training measurement and offered specific suggestions such as:

• Beware of training measurements that claim outstanding business results
• Provide measurements that show how training contributed to business results
• Provide a report to the business leader that details the learner’s performance

In this article I will focus specifically on how to provide training to your customers for a competitive edge in the marketplace.

We have all seen customers reluctant to change to a new type of technology or a new type of service because of the fear that learning something new will be difficult. As a former trainer of custom applications, I understand the customer’s reluctance to change, because they are usually right. They are not normally offered the user training they require.

To stand out from your competition and use customer training as a sales advantage, try these suggestions:

Study your product or service for ways to provide customer training

• Does your product or service offer the opportunity to educate your customers? If you are selling any kind of technology or related service, you are a prime candidate to implement customer training. I am working with a technology provider that knows their technology is so user friendly that training is not required. However, they now recognize that by offering customer training, their sales will increase because of the added comfort their customers gain when comparing their products to the competition.

Promote the fact that you provide customer training

• If you do offer customer training, promote the fact that you offer it. I recommend you charge your customers for the user training you provide. If you “throw in” the training, your customers will not value the training and not take the training you provide seriously.

Use customer training to indirectly sell your product or service

• Customer training is a fantastic opportunity to learn more about your customers and outline the next steps for a long term mutually beneficial relationship. This will require you to learn more about how to design and deliver training that is an interactive experience and captures critical customer information. However, your extra effort will pay off with future sales opportunities and long term relationships.

In summary, customer training can offer you a significant edge in the marketplace and help you generate more sales opportunities while learning more about your existing customers. If the product or service you provide is the least bit complex, you have a tremendous opportunity to provide customer training that will remove many of the barriers between you and your customers.

In my next article, I will discuss ways for EVERYONE in your organization to work together to increase the number of sales opportunities for your organization.

Bob Riess is the President of The Customer Connector and can be contacted through www.thecustomerconnector.com or at (859) 240-2550.