Investing in customer training is key to success

Buying new equipment can require quite a considerable investment.

And providing training to customers can ensure that they are more efficient, as well as keeping them loyal to the brand. A consistent customer enablement strategy can be the turning point of a sales policy.

For a long time, the industry has been promoting capacity building to engage and train customers and operators in the use of its solutions. However, the scope of these actions is limited due to the fact that the appetite for training is much greater than the capacity to deliver.

To complement the face-to-face actions, there were online training courses, which allow the delivery of learning opportunities wherever and whenever the student wishes, on the scale required. Delivering an online course to 100 or 100,000 people requires an additional investment that makes it feasible to train large numbers of people easily and at low cost.

Through usage reports generated by the training management systems, it is possible to know which customers participated in the training, main needs and difficulties in the field, in addition to allowing the calculation of the return on investment.

As? Do trained customers buy more or less than those who haven't taken any courses? Do they more or less call your support area? The fact is that, in different sectors of the industry, organizations are increasingly investing in offering training to customers. Probably because the results pay off.

Five reasons to invest in customer training:

Regardless of the size of the company, whether it is a large company or a startup that is new to the market, they all have customers and need to engage them in the use of the new technology developed. If you're an entrepreneur and haven't thought about investing in training, we'll give you five reasons to start using this strategy.

1) Higher revenue and profitability

The most effective way to make a new sale is to an existing customer, rather than acquiring a new, unknown customer. Happy, “educated” (mean “trained”) customers who are able to successfully use all the technology they have acquired will likely buy more from you.

2) Shorter sales cycles

When customers are engaged in learning how to properly use equipment and realizing the technology's full potential, they generally purchase other products more quickly. And the way machine builders do this is by providing more knowledge than is required, including about other technologies and products.

3) Lower support costs

Every time a customer contacts your support area, it represents a cost for the company. But it is possible to greatly minimize the volume of occurrences of basic support through training modules that provide the learning of the knowledge necessary for the customer to start using the equipment.

4) Increased customer satisfaction

Even with the best call center or customer support, usually, when a customer seeks the support area, he has already tried several other options and is already annoyed with the fact that he has a problem with the use of the equipment. By delivering training alternatives to customers, you will give them a way to find the answers they are looking for, on their own, quickly and simply.

5) Brand Strengthening

Through the use of technology for enablement, companies can put their courses on mobile devices, allow downloading for future use, create games, real-time interactions and much more. The chances of engaging customers are endless, regardless of where they are or what their preferences are.

Future

Smart companies encourage their customers to learn and provide opportunities for that to happen. The watchword today is collaboration. “We have to think that investing in our client's growth results in success for both those who sell and those who buy”, comments Valter Henke, CEO of Werkey, a portal for on-site and online training for agribusiness and heavy construction.

“The technologies available today for a rural producer require constant training so that he can translate his investment into real gains in efficiency and productivity. You need to ensure that employees on a farm make the best possible use of a machine or digital solution. There is no miracle, technology will always depend on people capable of controlling it”, completes Henke.