With so many similar or identical products available in the market, it can be a real challenge to convince your target audience to buy yours. You need to ensure your potential customers are aware of your product’s unparalleled value and how it solves real problems. And for this, you need a lot more than shiny marketing campaigns or exceptional customer service skills.
It calls for equipping your sales force with the right knowledge about your product so that they can make an amazing pitch, resulting in higher conversion rates. That’s where a product knowledge training program comes in handy.
As the name suggests, it is a comprehensive training program delivered through a Learning Management System that equips the team with essential information about a product, such as features, solutions, benefits, and use cases, to help them sell or promote it effectively. When the team is equipped with in-depth knowledge, they are in a better position to explain its utility to end-users, leading to happy, satisfied customers – the ultimate goal of every organization.
So, if you’re wondering how to improve product knowledge, conducting training programs is the key. Continue reading to learn more about product knowledge training programs and how to create one!
Key Players In A Product Knowledge Training Program
The following are the key players in a product knowledge program:
Human Resources: The HR department may use a product knowledge program to train new hires on the company’s policies for products offered, as well as any related safety guidelines or legal requirements
Product Developers: The training program for product developers may focus on technical aspects such as product design, manufacturing, and use
Sales Team: Sales reps may benefit from training programs to gain detailed knowledge about product features. Once equipped with this knowledge, they are better able to sell products to end-users
Customer Support Team: These programs also train customer support teams to handle and resolve customer complaints, leading to satisfied customers
Marketing: Product knowledge training programs for marketing teams may focus on successful product launches or crafting effective marketing strategies
Customers: These programs focus on teaching customers how to optimally use products to gain better value from them
What Is The Process Of Creating A Product Knowledge Training Program?
Be it product knowledge in sales or any other department, it offers maximum value only if it is effectively created and deployed. Here’s how you can do it!
The first step is to define your target audience for the training program. Now, the question arises: why should you have different product knowledge training for employees in different departments? The answer lies in the material used in the program.
To further elaborate, sales reps may need different training materials than new hires or product developers. Therefore, identifying the target audience is crucial. You can conduct a skills gap analysis for this purpose. This practice assesses employees’ current skills to identify where they lack in relation to product knowledge.
Once you have identified your target audience, the next step is to set goals and objectives. Ideally, you should set SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals that perfectly align with your business’s objectives.
The following examples demonstrate the goals and objectives of product knowledge learning programs:
For sales reps – creating talking points for demos and ideal pricing tiers
For customer support – understanding customers' common pain points and possible solutions
For the marketing team – understanding features and characteristics that can impact lead generation
Absorbing a lot of information in one go may not be as effective as bite-size chunks of the material. Therefore, the right approach is to take each aspect of the product and turn it into smaller training materials. This will make it easier for learners to effectively understand the material and improve the completion rate.
Additionally, this practice enables management to track and measure learners' performance.
Different training programs for different teams may make the process more challenging. To overcome this challenge, create a centralized knowledge base. You can use a learning management system (LMS) for this purpose.
The use of such a platform can streamline and simplify the entire process. It provides easy and quick access to learning materials for both the learners and management.
Sticking to one training method may not always produce fruitful results. Consider experimenting a little by incorporating different training methods. This can make the entire process more interactive and add an element of fun to the training regime.
Some product knowledge training examples and training methods you can consider include:
Role-playing scenarios
Hands-on demonstration
Online courses
Interactive quizzes and games
Product demonstration video
Once the training program is ready and employees are participating in it, the next step is tracking their progress. This will help you understand the training program's efficacy.
The traditional method of tracking the progress of a training program is to use feedback from employees and reports from employers. However, this method can be tedious and time-consuming and may not always present a true picture.
The use of an LMS can help in this regard. One glance at the popular learning management system examples will tell you that they come with advanced reporting and analytic features, making it easier for managers to track progress and evaluate employees' performance.
You can then use these insights to further optimize the learning track and make it more effective.
What Are The Benefits Of A Product Knowledge Training Program?
Wondering why is product knowledge training important and how do sales people benefit from product information? We have you covered. This section covers the main benefits of a product knowledge training program. Continue reading!
Simplified Training Process
Conducting a training program simplifies and streamlines the entire process. Instead of training employees individually, it enables managers to train all the employees in a particular department together, saving valuable resources and time.
Provides Prompt Access To Product Information
No matter how well-trained your salesforce or employees are, recalling certain information can be challenging at times. This, however, will not be a problem if you have an internal knowledge base that is used for product knowledge training.
This way, all the concerned people will have access to the required information whenever needed.
Improves Sales
As established, a product knowledge training program provides marketers with all the information required to present the product in the best way possible. Similarly, it equips the sales team with all the material they need to pitch the product to potential customers, resulting in more leads and better chances of conversion.
Improves Product Adoption And Retention Rate
With a well-structured product knowledge training program, employees become well-versed in the product’s value, benefits, and features. When they effectively communicate this information to potential buyers, it fosters confidence among customers, resulting in increased satisfaction. Furthermore, this also helps reduce customer churn and nurture long-term relationships.
This deepened knowledge drives higher adoption and retention rates, eventually contributing to the product’s success.
Optimizes Customer Support Efforts
Even if you offer the most innovative or problem-solving product, you wouldn’t be able to succeed without exceptional customer support services. And do you know what makes your customer support service exceptional? A well-structured product knowledge training program.
With this training, your customer support representatives are in a better position to resolve customer queries. This helps to retain them, and your customers may also become your brand’s advocates.
Best Practices For Effective Product Knowledge Training
If you want to experience the benefits mentioned above, you must incorporate the following product training best practices:
Provide tailored and ongoing learning opportunities. Ensure the content is relevant to each department/team and covers everything they should know about the product
Establish protocols through manuals, checklists and standardized processes
Make sure the content is accessible to all the teams at a time that’s convenient for them
Make the training sessions engaging and interactive to avoid monotony and tedium
Merge theoretical and practical knowledge as part of the training sessions
Use feedback and analytics to improve product knowledge training initiatives
There you have it! We hope this detailed guide will help you successfully create and deploy your first product knowledge training program. Remember, the key lies in thoroughly understanding the product and then tailoring the training material to meet the specific needs of your employees and customers.
