39 © FORRESTER RESEARCH, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Create a formal education strategy for your business. Companies with less formal, ad hoc education programs see substantially lower benefits from education efforts than those with formalized programs. Set clear goals for what you want to achieve with customer education, and use that as a roadmap for developing and delivering educational content in a methodical way. Start with strategy — don’t piecemeal your program. Look for vendors who can be a true partner — and use them that way. Creating a customer education program requires substantial effort and planning, but don’t try to reinvent the wheel. There are several players in the education market that have the tools — and more importantly, the expertise — to improve your education programs. Companies with the most successful education programs are intentional about seeking about the right trusted partner and use outside vendors to learn best practices and optimize their strategies. Align customer education to the customer journey. While most programs make education resources available to all customers, not every customer takes advantage of those resources. Take time to understand your customer’s purchase journey, and identify key pain points in both pre- and post-purchase activity. Then, align customer education to the customer journey to ensure customers have visibility and access to educational materials. Break down internal silos that impact measurement. As customer education expands to impact more of the business (marketing and sales, as well as customer success), it’s critical to connect systems to tell a unified story about the impact of education. Silos hurt the quality of the education you create and also make it far harder to measure the impact of these programs Invest in upskilling your team. Like any other team, customer education professionals need learning and development. Invest in upskilling through industry conferences, mentorship programs, and other resources to future-proof their skill set. Key Recommendations
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjE3NDkyOQ==