The focus of corporate learning and development is typically solely on staff training. However, as the market gets more cutthroat, companies that want to stay ahead of the competition are also including partner training in their strategy. Partner training’s goal is to instruct franchisees, vendors, stakeholders, consultants, and other external business partners on the ins and outs of your goods or service.
The LMS can be used to deliver partner training. The #1 LMS for partner training will make it possible for learners, in this case, the partners, of all levels to access personalized information pertaining to the company and their role wherever, whenever, and on any device. You should read about these 9 strategies to deliver successful and effective partner training if you are just beginning your partner training journey.
Analyze your partner’s training needs and goals
Get a clear understanding of what your partners need first. Some associates, like vendors or franchisees, could require general training in promoting your goods. More hands-on product training, such as instruction on how to use the product’s various capabilities, may be required for sales reps and distributors. Discover the training that will best help your channel partners by conducting regular surveys to identify the most common issues.
For effective training programs, objectives offer crucial direction. Learn what your channel partners need to know so that you can set those learning goals for them. This may differ based on a variety of criteria, including how well-versed they are in your network, their position in your supply chain, and a lot of others. Product and market training are necessary for product launches and plans to enter new markets. Partner onboarding necessitates general education about the principles and procedures of your company. Let the requirements of your partners direct the creation of your program.
Harmonize partner KPIs with corporate objectives
You won’t have any hard evidence that your training programs are effective without KPIs in place. However, having KPIs for your partners is not sufficient. They must coincide with the objectives of your business. You should clearly communicate to your partners that the goal of their participation in your training program is to boost client retention.
Find the most effective training strategy
There are various approaches to channel partner training, but they may be distilled down to offline and online approaches. The dynamic in-person interactions that make conventional learning so effective cannot be fully recreated, but bringing together big groups of individuals with diverse skill sets and work schedules for conferences and classroom instruction requires a lot of resources.
Divide topics into manageable chunks of information
Instead of launching numerous full courses at once, you can gradually release little doses of training content that only covers one aspect of your business at a time to your partners. They too run full-time enterprises with strict deadlines. Microlearning can more readily fit into their timetables while emphasizing the key ideas they need to remember.
Determine which people require training.
Knowing your audience is important once you’ve identified the knowledge and skill gaps. Depending on the degree of expertise of the target partner who is getting the training, even one topic must be explained in a different way. Are you creating a program for the front-facing sales department? Who provides technical help, exactly? What about a certain channel partner’s marketers? Each individual, partner, and department inside a corporation is knowledgeable about a certain topic, learns in a particular method, and employs new knowledge and abilities in a particular way. Take into consideration all these while engaging in partner training in order to deliver successful and effective partner training.
Utilize the proper LMS
Make sure you select an LMS that makes training possible even during the pandemic or any other similar situation. Not just any LMS will do, though. You’ll need certain capabilities in a decent LMS for your partners’ training. It ought to be prepared for many platforms, including tablets and smartphones. An LMS that is cloud-based is the best option because it must scale properly with the scope of your company network. If you want to accurately assess the training compliance as well as the performance of your partners, robust reporting and tracking systems are essential.
Keep updating the training curriculum
No matter how great your partner training program is, you can’t just set it and forget it. Your partners may need to be made aware of changes to your products or regulatory changes. Industry standards may rise as a result of technological progress, and in order to compete, technical capabilities must be created. Update the training programs for your partners on a regular basis to maintain their relevance and success.
Gamify the instruction
We are aware that gamification can effectively motivate learners to engage in the training sessions. Gamification aspects, such as scoreboards, medal and leveling systems, and digital badges for accomplishments, are made possible by online learning, particularly when done through a learning management system (LMS). By adding enjoyable rewards and friendly competition, gratifying courses encourage the learners, and here partners, to get vehemently involved in the training process.
Promote your brand-specific programs
You have a great opportunity to strengthen your brand through partner training. You can customize every aspect of the learning environment by developing your course on an LMS. Add your corporate logo and use branding-consistent themes, colors, and fonts. Create a unique voice for built-in communications. The benefit of course branding is that it makes it easier for partners to remember your firm name and emblem. Being recognizable increases your power and widens your network. More people will hear about your business in the sector, and forming new collaborations will be simpler. You need this, regardless of how big or small your business is.
Conclusion-
The keys to business excellence are diligence, planning, and consistency. Like anybody who interacts with clients, your business partners have the power to either raise or degrade your brand. As a result, your partner integration strategy should include partner training to help you reach your business objectives and grow your organization. You can easily construct and update your courses with the aid of an LMS created for this purpose, and you can ensure efficient training for all of your business partners throughout the world.