Pulse 2024 in St. Louis is in the books—and what an experience! The first dedicated track to Customer Education sparked a ton of lively discussions and thought-provoking questions from the audience. 

Here are some of the most popular/common questions—and my answers: 

1. How can a Help Center and Knowledge Base complement an educational academy?
 

Think of your Help Center and Knowledge Base as the go-to spots for quick help and deep dives outside formal training. They're great for reinforcing learning and answering those middle-of-the-night "how do I..." questions. You can also build upon your help center content by including thought leadership angles and use cases that add extra value. Meanwhile, direct users to your academy for detailed courses and learning paths when more structured, in-depth learning is needed.
 

2. How should training be tailored for users of a complex, niche product with various configurations?
 

When training customers on complex products, customization is key. Create different learning paths—often starting with the basics—that cater to various roles or skill levels within your academy, ensuring everyone gets what they need without feeling overwhelmed. The key is to use real-world examples and scenarios that resonate with your customers' natural workflows and make the complex feel more approachable and relevant.
 

3. How can you convince CSMs that manual onboarding isn't always optimized?
 

Show your CSMs how automating onboarding can free them up for more complex tasks. Data often speaks louder than words, so use it to highlight improvements in efficiency and customer satisfaction.
 

4. What should you do if customers aren't engaging with your training programs?
 

Not seeing engagement? It's time to play detective and ask your customers for feedback. Understanding their barriers will guide you to tweak and tailor your programs more effectively. You should also look for patterns in the data—what's being ignored, and what's catching interest?
 

5. How can you implement customer education mid-journey to make it less reactive and more proactive?
 

Make education an integral part of your customer's onboarding and continuous learning journey (in a way, potentially making it "required"). From there, use analytics to understand where customers typically encounter issues and introduce targeted courses before these issues occur.
 

6. How can you engage customers who aren't taking advantage of the available educational resources?
 

Personalized recommendations work wonders. If you notice a customer hasn't explored a resource that could benefit them, a well-timed email highlighting its value might be just the nudge they need. 

Also Read: Gainsight CE FAQ Series: How to Increase Learner Engagement?
 

7. How do you keep LMS content updated in a rapidly evolving SaaS environment?
 

Regular audits are key. Schedule them quarterly or semi-annually, and always after major product updates. Also, stay in constant dialogue with product teams to anticipate changes that will need new or updated training materials.
 

8. How do you cater education to a product that serves various sectors?
 

Create a core set of materials that apply across the board, then sprinkle in customized content for specific sectors. This way, you can address the unique challenges of different industries without reinventing the wheel.
 

9. How should a customer education team partner with customer/technical support?
 

Keep in close communication with your support teams. They're often the first to know where customers stumble and can provide invaluable insights into where your educational content might need to be beefed up. For example, what topics or questions are most asked in Support? Can we create a digital resource/course about it?