7 Customer Education Metrics to Measure the Success of Your Program

If you truly want to know how successful your training program is, you must know which customer education metrics to track. 

As you get your customer education program up and running, methods to measure the value and ROI will be different. Understanding what and how to measure customer education metrics will enable you to report results to key stakeholders and help you get buy-in for additional program resources. 

How do you measure customer education?

To determine the ROI of your customer education program, calculate the difference between the benefits and the costs invested in the training. Then, divide this by the cost of your training program. 

Unlike other success metrics, however, measuring the effectiveness of your customer education program doesn’t always come down to numbers. Below, we’ll examine key customer education metrics you can measure at various stages of the onboarding process to help you measure the success of your program.

Spoiler alert: You won’t be able to tie improved retention rates or customer expansion back to the program during the first six months of launching. Getting to long-term business impact results takes time, but you can prove value fast and early.

So, how should you think about validating the value of the program? Picture it as a “crawl, walk, run” approach. 

Months 1 to 6: crawl

In the first six months of the program, it’s all about getting customers engaged and knowing what’s resonating with them.

• How many customers register for your program as a percentage of total customers in your base?  
• Which courses are your customers taking? And, how many courses per customer?

Keep in mind that the types of courses customers are taking can give you insight into any knowledge gaps or areas where they need more help. This can help you tailor your approach to fit their needs and prompt future engagement or lead to upsell opportunities.

Are customers satisfied with the content they’re consuming?

In addition to the volume of courses taken by customers, satisfaction with the content is another great place to start measuring success. Ask customers to rate each course upon completion to get a sense of how useful the content is for your audience.

Are support tickets decreasing for customers engaged in your program?

As customers leverage your program to onboard, measure the volume of support tickets coming in from those accounts. Is it less than customers who didn’t go through this onboarding experience? If so, that’s a positive sign that your program is having an impact.

Months 6 to 12: walk

Months 6 to 12 are all about understanding shorter-term Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which help measure account health and customer satisfaction.

What are NPS scores telling you?

Tie NPS scores back to those engaged in the academy to show a high correlation to happier customers. You can aim to measure NPS at every touchpoint to move beyond legacy customer feedback collection and start conversations via more interactive mediums such as email, SMS, chatbots, and personalized service—depending on your company’s resources.

Has product adoption risen for customers who are engaged?

Engaged customers are happy customers—and they are far more willing to use your company’s products or services repeatedly. They also often respond to upselling and cross-selling, generating more revenue and being more loyal and forgiving.  

Show your customers how to get the most out of your technology. Make sure you’re measuring metrics like the increase or decrease of active users on the platform and the average time spent interacting with the product. Also, track the percentage of users performing key actions for the first time. With this, you’ll be able to calculate how engaged your customers are and open opportunities for them to provide valuable feedback about how your business can improve its offerings and the overall customer experience. 

Month 12 and beyond: run

Months 12+ show long-term business impact and customer lifetime value and retention.

Do customers who have engaged in your program have higher retention rates? Have you seen higher upsell or cross-sell rates?

After a customer has engaged in the program for a longer period, you’ll be able to tie retention and expansion rates back to engaged customers. If those who engage in your program have higher retention and expansion rates, you know you’ve hit a winning formula, and you’ll be able to show the program’s ROI clearly.

Are customers advocates for your brand?

The ideal state for any business is for customers to become long-standing partners and advocates for your brand. In the long-term, measure if the customers engaged in your program talk to others about their experience. You’ll gain valuable insights into how you’re performing.

Want to learn more about designing, implementing, and measuring a customer education program? Download our free eBook 4 Steps to Creating a Succesful and Empowering Customer Education Program to get an easy-to-follow guide to creating a successful customer training program for your organization.