The Role of Customer Training in Customer Success

Empowering Customers for Success

Customer success isn’t just a buzzword – it’s a strategy focused on ensuring customers achieve their desired outcomes and derive real value from a product or service. One of the most powerful (yet sometimes underappreciated) drivers of customer success is effective customer training. By educating users on how to best use a product, companies empower their clients to succeed. This not only leads to happier customers, but also delivers tangible business benefits in return. For instance, acquiring a new customer can cost 5× more than retaining an existing one, and even a modest 5% increase in retention can boost profits by 25–95%. Well-trained customers are more likely to stay, use your product successfully, and become loyal advocates. In today’s competitive market, organizations across industries are recognizing that customer training is integral to customer success and long-term business growth.

This article explores how customer training contributes to customer success. We’ll define the concepts, discuss key benefits backed by data and real-world examples, and outline best practices for building effective customer training programs. The goal is to provide HR professionals, business owners, and enterprise leaders an educational, practical overview of why investing in customer education pays off in stronger customer relationships and sustained success.

Customer success is the business function and philosophy of helping customers achieve their goals and derive maximum value from a product or service. It goes beyond reactive customer service or support – instead, it’s a proactive approach that often involves onboarding guidance, ongoing check-ins, and ensuring the customer is realizing promised benefits. The end goal is to increase customer satisfaction, retention, and lifetime value. In many organizations (especially in software, technology, and B2B services), dedicated Customer Success teams or managers are tasked with onboarding new clients, monitoring their health and product usage, and intervening to prevent churn.

Within this framework, customer training (also known as customer education) plays a pivotal role. Customer training refers to the programs and resources a company provides to teach users how to effectively use its product or service. This can take many forms – from guided onboarding sessions and how-to webinars, to self-service online courses, knowledge base articles, video tutorials, certification programs, and more. The purpose is to equip customers with the knowledge and skills they need to be successful. Notably, customer training is often a key responsibility of Customer Success teams (in fact, about 41% of customer education teams report into the Customer Success function), underscoring how closely intertwined training is with customer success objectives.

All industries can leverage customer training in some way. For example, a software company might offer online training modules to help users get the most from their platform’s features. A manufacturing firm might provide on-site training for clients on operating equipment safely and efficiently. A consulting business could host workshops for client teams to learn best practices. In every case, the intent is the same: an educated customer base that fully understands how to use the product will see better results – leading to higher satisfaction and loyalty.

Importantly, customer training is mutually beneficial. Customers achieve better outcomes (solving their problems or meeting their needs with your product), and the company enjoys improved metrics like retention, product adoption, and even new revenue via upsells or referrals. In the sections below, we will delve into the concrete benefits and explore how to build effective training programs that drive customer success.

Why invest time and resources into training your customers? Simply put, an informed customer is an empowered customer, and empowered customers tend to stick around. Here are some key benefits of customer training, supported by research and real-world data:

• Higher Product Adoption and Usage: Effective training helps customers discover how to use your product to its fullest potential. Users who understand all the relevant features and functionalities will incorporate the product into their workflow more deeply. In fact, companies report that customer education programs can increase product adoption rates by an average of 38%. A Technology & Services Industry Association (TSIA) survey found 68% of customers use products more frequently after training, and 56% use more product features than they would have without training. When Adobe implemented robust customer education, they saw product adoption increase by an impressive 79% among trained customers. Greater adoption means your solution becomes “stickier” – an integral part of the customer’s operations – which is a strong safeguard against churn.
  
• Improved Customer Retention & Loyalty: Customer training has a direct impact on retention. When customers see real value from your product, they are far less likely to leave. Training is a key enabler of that value realization. Research shows that well-trained customers are more likely to renew subscriptions and continue the business relationship. For example, customers who go through a thorough onboarding training are 86% more likely to stay with a company. One industry study found that companies with formal customer education programs achieved a 7.4% increase in customer retention on average. Conversely, lack of training can contribute to frustration or misuse of the product, which often leads to dissatisfaction and churn. The cost of churn is high – losing one existing customer might require gaining multiple new customers to compensate, since existing clients typically generate significant ongoing value. (According to McKinsey, 80% of future value creation for growth companies comes from existing customers.) By investing in training that keeps customers engaged and successful, businesses can reduce churn and secure a more stable, loyal customer base over the long term.
  
• Reduced Support Burden and Costs: Another major benefit of educating customers is fewer basic support issues. When users are well-trained, they can solve more questions on their own or avoid problems altogether by using the product correctly. This translates to lower volume of helpdesk tickets and calls. A 2024 Forrester report found that companies investing in customer education saw a 16% reduction in support requests and a 7% decrease in support costs on average. Essentially, training empowers customers to self-serve for common issues or “how do I do X?” questions, freeing up your customer support and success teams to focus on more complex or high-value customer needs. Lower support workload not only cuts costs, but also correlates with a better customer experience – customers prefer not having to contact support if they can help it. Empowered users feel more confident and capable, which boosts their overall satisfaction. As a bonus, with support teams less overburdened by repetitive queries, they can provide quicker and higher-quality service when issues do arise. This creates a positive cycle: better-trained customers have better experiences, leading to even higher satisfaction.
  
• Greater Customer Satisfaction and Advocacy: Well-designed customer training programs contribute to higher customer satisfaction scores and can turn clients into advocates. When customers achieve success with your product, they are more likely to recommend it to others and act as references. In one analysis, 56% of companies reported improved customer satisfaction after implementing education programs. Trained customers often feel that the company is truly invested in their success, which builds goodwill and trust. They know where to find answers and how to get the most value, so their perception of your brand improves. Satisfied customers tend to give higher Net Promoter Scores (NPS) and refer new business. (Notably, a Promoter in NPS – usually a very satisfied, successful customer – has a customer lifetime value 6 to 14 times greater than a detractor.) Thus, customer education not only helps retention, but can indirectly drive new customer acquisition through positive word-of-mouth and testimonials. It builds a community of knowledgeable users who champion your product.
  
• Increased Revenue and Growth Opportunities: Customer training can also unlock revenue growth in several ways. First, retaining customers longer and keeping them happy obviously protects and grows recurring revenue. Additionally, educated customers are more likely to expand their usage and purchase additional products or upgrades. Because they fully grasp the value and possibilities of your offerings, they are primed for upselling and cross-selling opportunities. For example, Salesforce reported that accounts actively engaged in their Trailhead training community showed 2× larger deal sizes and an 85% higher propensity for upsells and cross-sells compared to other customers. Moreover, training content can serve as a marketing asset. Many companies offer free educational resources (how-to videos, courses, certifications) to anyone, not just existing customers. This attracts potential customers who are looking to level up their knowledge. A notable example is HubSpot Academy – by providing free courses on marketing and sales topics, HubSpot kept its brand “top of mind” with millions of people in its target audience, some of whom later become paying customers. Studies have shown that educational content makes consumers 131% more likely to buy from that company in the future. In summary, a robust customer training program can drive organic growth by boosting retention, expansion, and even new customer acquisition through thought leadership.
  

Each of these benefits reinforces the central idea: when your customers win, your business wins. By investing in customer training, you create a win-win scenario – customers gain expertise and achieve their goals, while your company enjoys higher loyalty, lower churn, and better performance metrics. Next, we’ll look at how to effectively design and implement customer training initiatives to realize these benefits.

Implementing a customer training program requires careful planning and a focus on the customer’s journey. Here are key components and best practices for developing training that truly drives customer success:

1. Start with Clear Goals and Alignment: Any successful training initiative begins with defining what you and your customers should achieve. Identify the business goals for the program – for example, is the primary objective to reduce churn, increase product usage, improve customer onboarding, or support a new feature rollout? Setting a specific goal will guide your program’s design and help you measure success later. Ensure this goal aligns with broader company objectives and has buy-in from leadership. It helps to articulate how training will impact key metrics (e.g. “We aim to decrease customer churn by 10% by providing better onboarding and ongoing education”). By clarifying the purpose, you can also get different departments on board – customer success, support, product, and even marketing teams should understand how customer education benefits the company as a whole.

2. Develop Engaging, Accessible Content: The heart of any training program is the content. Design training materials that are engaging, easy to follow, and tailored to your users’ needs. A one-size-fits-all approach rarely works, since customers may have varying levels of experience and learning preferences. Offer a variety of formats to cater to different learning styles – for instance: interactive e-learning modules, live or recorded webinars, step-by-step text guides, video tutorials, infographics, and hands-on exercises. Diversity in formats keeps learners interested (“a bored customer is a disengaged customer, and a disengaged customer is more likely to churn” as one expert put it). Also, structure the content in manageable, bite-sized segments so that it’s not overwhelming. Many companies are investing in micro-learning content for this reason, focusing on short lessons that fit into a customer’s busy schedule. The key topics to cover should map to the customer journey: onboarding, basic usage, advanced features, best practices, troubleshooting common issues, and so on. Crucially, ensure all training content is easily accessible – for example, through a dedicated online academy or help center. If information is scattered across various sites or outdated, customers will struggle to find what they need. Conduct regular content audits and keep materials up to date to avoid an “outdated content everywhere” problem. A smooth, well-organized onboarding training experience sets the stage for long-term success and reduces the chances of early churn.

3. Personalize the Learning Experience: Wherever possible, tailor the training to the customer’s context. This could mean offering role-based learning paths or industry-specific modules so that customers see relevant examples that resonate with their use cases. Another aspect of personalization is allowing self-paced, on-demand learning. Modern customers often prefer to learn at their own pace and find answers on their own. Providing a rich self-service training library empowers them to do so. Some customers might dive into advanced tutorials immediately, while others may need a slower, guided approach – your program should accommodate both. You can also incorporate knowledge checks, quizzes, or practical assignments that let customers apply what they’ve learned to their own data or scenario, making the learning more impactful. Finally, consider certifying customers (via exams or course completion certificates); this not only motivates learners to complete training but also turns them into recognized power-users of your product, which is a win for both parties.

4. Leverage Technology and Tools: Implementing customer training at scale is greatly aided by the right technology stack. A Learning Management System (LMS) or customer education platform can host all your content, track user progress, and integrate with other systems. Many companies integrate their LMS with the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to gain insights such as: are customers who take training courses more likely to renew, or conversely, which accounts haven’t engaged with training and may be at risk? By unifying learning data with customer data, you can spot important patterns. For example, if you find that customers who skip training have higher churn rates, that’s a red flag to intervene with additional outreach. Tracking training enrollment and completion by account alongside health scores can help Customer Success Managers prioritize who needs help. Automation can also play a role – for instance, triggering in-app tutorials or emailing new users a “getting started” training playlist as soon as they sign up. The easier you make it for customers to engage in training, the more they will do so. Some companies even embed training right within their product (guided walkthroughs, tooltips, help widgets) to provide learning in the flow of work. Consider what combination of platforms and in-product guidance makes sense for your audience.

5. Proactive Onboarding Support: Onboarding is arguably the most critical phase of the customer lifecycle to apply training. When a customer is new, their engagement is highest, and they need to see value quickly (often called time to value). Structuring a comprehensive onboarding training that walks the customer through initial setup, key features, and best practices will pay huge dividends. In fact, customers who receive a strong onboarding program are significantly more likely to remain loyal long-term. Make onboarding training a blend of self-service tutorials and human touch as needed – for complex B2B products, live onboarding sessions or one-on-one guidance from a customer success rep can complement online courses. Ensure that by the end of onboarding, the customer has accomplished critical tasks and is comfortable using the product for their main use cases. This foundation will make them more receptive to later advanced training and upsell opportunities. Additionally, communicate the availability of ongoing training resources right from the start, so clients know the company will continue to support their growth.

6. Engage and Community-Build: The best customer training programs don’t feel like a mandatory lecture; they create an engaging learning experience and even a sense of community. Gamification elements (like points, badges, leaderboards for course completion) can motivate customers to participate and have a bit of fun learning. Hosting periodic live training webinars or “ask an expert” Q&A sessions allows customers to interact with your team and each other, sharing tips and questions. Some companies build user communities or forums where customers can discuss and help each other – this peer-to-peer learning reinforces your training efforts. A vibrant user community combined with formal training can significantly deepen product usage. Salesforce’s Trailblazer Community, for example, not only provides on-demand training modules but also forums and events for users; this approach helped drive substantial improvements in customer engagement and sales metrics. When customers feel supported not just by the company but by a network of fellow users, their success with the product becomes even more likely.

7. Monitor Progress and Iterate: Launching the training program is not the finish line – it’s essential to continuously measure the impact and improve the program. Track metrics such as: training enrollment rates, course completion rates, post-training satisfaction surveys, changes in product usage before vs. after training, support ticket volume trends, and ultimately retention and renewal rates for trained vs untrained customers. These data points will help you quantify ROI and identify what’s working or not. If you find certain modules have low completion or particular topics still generate many support questions, you can refine those materials. Solicit feedback from customers: ask them how helpful the training has been and what they still need. Many companies include a short survey at the end of courses or periodically ask customers for input on the training content. By listening to the customer, you can fill gaps and keep the curriculum aligned with their needs. Over time, as your product evolves, make sure the training evolves along with it – update courses for new features and retire content that’s no longer relevant. A well-run customer training program is a cycle of teaching, learning, and refining. Organizations that commit to this ongoing process are seeing clear payoffs: 90% of companies have reported a positive return on investment from customer education initiatives.

To secure internal support and budget for customer training, business leaders will want to see measurable results. Fortunately, as highlighted earlier, the impact of customer training can indeed be tracked in terms of concrete business metrics:

• Churn/Retention Rates: Keep an eye on your customer churn rate and retention rate, especially comparing cohorts that engage with training versus those that do not. If a training program is effective, you should observe higher retention among trained customers. For example, one study noted that educated customers had materially lower attrition – companies using customer education saw churn rates drop such that retention increased by over 7%, and a Gallup report found customer attrition rates reduced by as much as 63% with the implementation of customer-centric training programs. Improvement in these metrics provides a direct link between training and revenue preservation.
  
• Product Usage and Adoption Metrics: Usage data (login frequency, feature adoption, depth of use) often correlates with training completion. Metrics like monthly active users, number of features used per customer, or usage of newly released features can reveal whether training is driving greater product engagement. As mentioned, if 68% of users report increased usage after training, you’d expect to see a bump in your internal usage stats following training sessions. Monitoring these trends helps demonstrate that training is achieving its purpose: getting customers to fully utilize the product.
  
• Customer Satisfaction Scores: Metrics such as CSAT (customer satisfaction surveys) and NPS can improve through effective training. After rolling out a training program or specific course, try surveying participants on their satisfaction with both the training and the product itself. Many companies find that as customers become more proficient, their satisfaction with the product increases. It’s also useful to track the volume of complaints or negative feedback; those might decrease as users become more self-sufficient and encounter fewer issues. In the long run, well-trained customers may turn into brand promoters (reflected in higher NPS scores, online reviews, etc.), which is a valuable outcome to capture.
  
• Support Ticket Volume and Resolution Time: As discussed, one expected impact of customer education is a reduction in basic support inquiries. Keep track of the number of support tickets or calls per customer before and after they complete training. Also note common ticket topics – ideally, questions answered in training materials should no longer appear frequently in support channels. A decline in repetitive “how-to” questions or a shorter average resolution time indicates that customers are getting the knowledge up front. For example, if your average support cost per ticket is, say, $20, and training eliminates dozens or hundreds of such tickets, the cost savings can be calculated to show ROI. Some organizations set a goal like “reduce support contacts per user by X% through training” and measure against it.
  
• Upsell and Expansion Revenue: To capture the growth dimension, track how training influences upgrade rates. Do trained customers purchase add-ons or move to higher service tiers more often than others? If you run a premium training or certification program, there may also be direct revenue from training content to consider. But even for free training, the indirect revenue through higher customer lifetime value is key. In one example, Salesforce saw significantly higher cross-sell among accounts engaged in training/community (85% higher propensity). By monitoring expansion MRR/ARR for trained customers, you can attribute revenue growth to the training efforts.
  

When presenting these metrics internally, combine data with customer stories if possible. For instance, you might highlight a specific client who was struggling, went through training, and then became a high-value success story. Qualitative testimonials (e.g. a quote from a customer praising how your training helped them achieve results) alongside the statistics can powerfully make the case that customer training is a strategic investment for the company. In fact, business leaders should note that investing in customer success via education yields dividends not just in retention but in brand reputation and market differentiation – companies known for excellent customer enablement often stand out in the marketplace.

As final guidance, here is a summary of best practices to ensure your customer training drives success:

• Make it a priority: Treat customer training as an integral part of your product/service offering, not an afterthought. Dedicate resources (people, budget, tools) to develop and maintain a high-quality program. According to industry benchmarks, top-performing companies are increasing their investment in customer education year over year because it pays off.
  
• Keep the customer’s perspective front and center: Design training content around real customer use cases and pain points. Ensure the tone is friendly and encouraging, not overly technical or salesy. The goal is to help customers succeed, so the training should genuinely focus on enabling them, rather than pushing product features without context.
  
• Iterate based on feedback: Use surveys, feedback forms, and engagement analytics to continually refine your training. If parts of your training aren’t resonating or completion rates are low, dig into why – perhaps the content needs to be broken into smaller chunks, or maybe customers want more interactive elements. Stay agile and open to updating the curriculum as you learn what works best for your audience.
  
• Celebrate customer achievements: When customers reach milestones (like completing a course series or achieving a certification), acknowledge it. This could be as simple as a congratulatory email or as formal as featuring them in a “customer spotlight.” Recognizing their learning accomplishments reinforces the value of training and strengthens the customer relationship.
  

By following these practices, organizations can build robust customer education programs that fuel customer success. Ultimately, customer training should be seen as a strategic asset – one that enhances the customer experience at every stage and drives measurable business outcomes.

In an era where products and services are becoming increasingly complex, providing effective customer training is no longer a nice-to-have – it’s a must-have strategy for any business that values long-term customer success. When you empower your customers with knowledge, you empower them to achieve more with your product. This empowerment translates into tangible benefits for your organization: higher retention rates, reduced churn, greater customer satisfaction, and opportunities for growth through upsells and referrals. The data and examples discussed above make it clear that customer training has a profound role in driving customer success.

For HR professionals and business leaders, the takeaway is that investing in customer education yields a strong return. Much like employee training improves workforce productivity and engagement, customer training improves your “customer productivity” and engagement with your solutions. Companies that prioritize customer success through training build deeper relationships with clients across all industries – whether it’s software, manufacturing, services, or retail. Those customers, in turn, reward the business with loyalty and advocacy.

As you consider your own customer success strategies, ask yourself: Are we doing enough to enable our customers? If the answer is uncertain, it may be time to develop or expand your customer training initiatives. Start small if needed – perhaps a series of onboarding webinars or a new online help center – and build from there. Measure the impact, celebrate the wins (both the customers’ wins and your company’s wins), and continuously improve. Over time, you’ll likely find that a well-trained customer base becomes one of your strongest competitive advantages. In the journey toward sustainable business success, educating your customers is empowering your customers – and empowered customers are successful customers.

FAQ

What is customer success and how does customer training contribute to it?

Customer success focuses on helping customers achieve their goals and maximize value from a product or service. Customer training educates users on how to effectively use the product, which directly supports customer success by increasing satisfaction, retention, and loyalty.

How does effective customer training impact product adoption?

Training helps customers discover the full range of a product’s features and functionalities, increasing product adoption rates. Studies show trained customers use products more frequently and utilize more features, leading to deeper integration into their workflows.

What are some ways to build an engaging customer training program?

Develop diverse, accessible content tailored to different learning styles and customer segments. Use formats like videos, webinars, guides, and microlearning. Incorporate personalization, community engagement, gamification, and continuous feedback to enhance effectiveness.

How can companies measure the success of their customer training initiatives?

Track metrics such as course completion rates, product usage, customer satisfaction scores, support ticket volume, and retention rates. Regularly gather feedback and update training content to ensure ongoing improvement and alignment with customer needs.

Why is onboarding considered a critical phase for customer training?

Onboarding introduces customers to key features and helps them realize value quickly. Effective onboarding training increases the likelihood of long-term loyalty and sets the foundation for future advanced learning and upsell opportunities.

How does customer training lead to revenue growth?

Training boosts customer retention, encourages expansion through upselling and cross-selling, and attracts new customers via educational content and thought leadership. Educated customers are more likely to invest in additional products or services.