4 Client Training Videos All Software Companies Need

Taking a new client from brand new user to confident product evangelist is much easier said than done. And ultimately it takes more than just the right training videos to produce that result.

However — the right client training videos can make a significant difference by helping you scale the expertise of your best trainers, re-allocate your team’s time to more high-value work, and ultimately keep your clients happy, informed, and re-signing.

Think of each client training video as falling into one or more of the 4 categories covered below. This framework will help you clarify your message, focus only on what’s important, and better serve your clients while taking back some of your own time.

Onboarding Videos

What are the 3 - 5 things that all new clients need to know?

Welcome them to your company, then give them a few tips that will help them get off to a fast start. You should have at least one of these videos, but likely don’t need more than three. Beyond three videos you’re probably talking about specific use cases that are not going to be relevant for your whole audience. It’s best to save that sort of education for the third type of video we cover — goal oriented courses.

The best way to distribute these videos is through a series of emails that welcome your new client over the course of their first couple days. The videos will most likely live in either your help center or the third party video hosting service you are using (Wistia, Vidyard, Vimeo, YouTube). Be mindful of where you’re client will watch these videos, as usually the point of the video is to get them into your product. You can include the thumbnail in an email and even embed it, but most email providers don’t allow for in-email video playing, so your client will likely click the thumbnail and watch the video at some URL that you will determine. Hosting the video in your help center and / or including clickable links to login to the product are two best practices.

How To / Explainer Videos

In most b2b software platform there are a wide variety of tasks that one can complete: run a search, pull a report, file a report, customize a view, track an event, the list goes on and on.

Taking the time to make short, to the point, 1 - 3 minute videos that demonstrate how to accomplish these common tasks can save you dozens of daily support requests that put a strain on your team and prevent them from doing more complex work for higher value accounts.

These videos should be easily searchable in your help center, and include the scripts in written form for clients who prefer to read and scan the information rather than watch a video on it.

Every b2b software company can think of at least 5 major tasks that nearly all clients need to do a some point — for some businesses that number could be 10, 20, 50 it depends on the complexity of your solution, the value of your contracts, and other factors.

Goal Oriented Courses

Your clients have goals they need to accomplish, and your solution is simply a means to that end. That’s not a bad thing, in fact it’s important to understand when you’re scripting more goal oriented videos and courses.

Instead of starting from a tactical perspective of; “here’s how to do X Y Z in the platform, start here…”

We start from a client goal oriented perspective of; “I am a (insert your client’s persona here) and I need to (goal your client must accomplish) — how does (insert your company name)’s solution help me do that?”

These videos and short video series are great for firms that serve multiple industries or have multiple ways that their product can be used. It allows you to give customized instruction to different segments of your clientele. And it can be done in a single video, or as part of a 3 - 5 video series that expands on a topic. For example, if you solution helps sales professionals uncover pain points in their target accounts — you can create a short video series showing a few way clients can use your solution to uncover pain points in their target accounts.

Certification Courses

Give your clients the opportunity to market themselves as experts in your product by producing at least one certification course.

Consolidate all the information you think clients will need to know to really be able to call themselves “experts” in your product, and develop a 8 - 20 video certification course that educates them on your full solution. Some of the content for these videos can even be lifted from how-to / explainer videos you’ve already made.

Certification courses are an opportunity not only to teach your clients how to fully use your solution, but they are also an excellent branding opportunity for your business. You want job seekers to be able to say “I’m certified to use this company’s (your company’s) software and here’s my certificate to prove it.” Having a professionally produced certification course accomplishes the both the goals turning a portion of users into experts, and positioning your solution as a must have tool for your market.

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