12 Ways
to Use Web-Based Learning
Management Systems for Customer Acquisition and Retention in
Business-to-Business Marketing
by Dave Boggs, CEO of
SyberWorks, Inc.
Customer acquisition and customer retention
are important issues for any company today. A simple definition of
"customer acquisition" is the process of acquiring or obtaining new
customers, and/or converting prospects to customers. "Customer retention"
is the process of keeping, sustaining, and/or growing the relationship
your customers have with your company and its products and services.
These activities become more involved for
business-to-business, value-added, manufacturing, and technology companies
that create and distribute complex products and services that require
training and specific product knowledge in order to use the product or
service effectively. Using a
learning management
system to deliver web-based training and support for complex products
and services has several advantages.
Customer Acquisition Uses of
Web-Based Learning Management Systems (LMSs)
1) Educate your prospects on your
products and services. One advantage of using a
web-based learning
management system to deliver product training and support is that the
web-based LMS
becomes an effective way in which to educate a prospect on your products
and services. Sales cycles for complex products and services can take from
three to eighteen months or more to make the sale. In business-to-business
selling situations, several people at many different levels need to
evaluate the product and must be educated on your companys wares before
they can come to a decision.
2) Customize your approach to each
of the different stakeholders involved in the sale process.
The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) will have a different set of concerns
about your products and services than Chief Information Officer (CIO). The
user interface layout and content of the web-based learning management
system can be customized to each of the specific stakeholders needs. A
web-based learning management system can contain several courses, training
modules, or repositories of information specifically designed to meet the
needs and address the concerns of all the various stakeholders in the
decision making process.
Most of the decision makers involved in
business-to-business purchases are busy, executive-level managers. Since
the information is web-based, they can access it and do a training module
at their convenience.
3) Establish a knowledge base for
salespeople, resellers, and partners. A
web-based LMS used to deliver training and product support is a great
resource and knowledge base for your sales team, resellers, and partners.
It can provide a backup for sales people, resellers, and partners that
might not have the same level of understanding of your products your field
engineers. Your sales executives, resellers, and partners will feel more
confident about offering your products and services with a good library of
training courses and helps available 24-7 on the web.
4) Ramp up your new salespeople
more quickly and keep them on the road. A
web-based learning management system can be used to train your sales force
on your companys products and services. New sales people are able to ramp
up more rapidly and start to sell your products and services in less time.
With this system, they do not have to lose time off the road to be updated
on the latest features and functionality.
5) Track your prospects as they
move through the sales process. Web-based LMSs
can track and provide data about your prospects as they move through the
stages of the sales process. With a custom reports feature, the LMS allows
the sales or marketing manager to go directly to the web to pull the
latest reports on all prospect activity.
6) Harvest other types of
information from your market to help your company close business more
quickly. In addition to the data collected on
your prospects, a web-based learning management system can be used to
monitor your sales force or other users activities. The sales or marketing
manager can access web-based reports to see what products the sales force
is actually working to sell and deploy. This data can be used for research
and development, to plan product initiatives, to obtain insight on
repositioning, and other tactical and strategic initiatives.
7) Promote your products and
services to prospects using the features in the web-based learning
management system. Once a prospects information
has been loaded into the LMS, you can use the features and functionality
of the system to promote your products and services. For example, a
built-in, online survey
tool allows you to send surveys to your prospects with the data being
recorded in the learning management system.
E-mail messaging capabilities in a web-based LMS allow you to send
e-mail marketing campaigns your prospects. Sales and marketing people can
use the learning management system to conduct "webinars" using its
integrated web
conferencing technology. The web conference can then be archived and
used in the future. Creative marketers can develop promotions using the
testing feature
with the information returning to the LMS database.
Customer Retention Uses of
Web-based Learning Management Systems (LMSs)
8) Around-the-clock, 24-7 tech
support. A web-based LMS used to deliver
training and product support is able to provide 24-7 customer support,
with courses on installation procedures and other types of important
information. Top-notch customer support will therefore improve customer
loyalty.
9) Map the perception of your
companys product and services on your customers mind.
A web-based learning management system used to deliver training and
product support works to reinforce the positive perception of your
products and/or services and the companys perception in your market.
10) Research, test, and introduce
new products, add-ons, and services. A web-based
learning management system can be used to introduce new products and
services to your customer base. Use the system reports to tweak your
product introduction campaigns to quickly build product saturation amongst
your existing customer base.
11) Sell and market additional
products, add-ons, and services to your existing customer base.
As mentioned in item (7) above, a web-based LMS has features and
functionality that can be used to sell and market your products to your
current customers. The built-in
online survey,
E-mail messaging,
system messaging, and
web conferencing
tool give sales and marketing professionals many options for promoting
their products and services.
12) Insure a continuous loop of
communication with your customers to build loyalty.
A web-based LMS can be used to build a never-ending stream of dialog
between you and your customers. According to the
Cluetrain Manifesto by Christopher
Locke, Rick Levine, Doc Searls and David Weinberger, and Seth Godins
Permission Marketing,
markets are conversations. A web-based learning management system is an
efficient, cost-effective mechanism in which to maintain a dialog with
your customers on many levels through different online mechanisms.
Why is this important?
In customer acquisition sales and marketing
in a business-to-business context, more and varied touches of the prospect
are needed in order to close the sale. Depending upon the complexity of
the product and the sales situation in a business-to-business context, a
prospect needs a minimum of six touches or even more per stakeholder to
come to a close.
When deployed as part of your tactical
customer acquisition strategy, a web-based learning management system is a
potent and inexpensive way to generate many different types of touches for
each of the stakeholders in the business-to-business sales process. This
system used in conjunction with web marketing, direct mail, telemarketing,
and other techniques will shorten your companys sales cycle and help to
close more sales.
In customer retention sales and marketing
in a business-to-business context, they have already purchased your
products and services. Your product or service is being used to solve one
or a combination of their business challenges. Many times they are more
inclined to come back to you again to see if you have another
product/service that can help them solve another business problem.
Customer retention sales and marketing
should facilitate customers buying additional products and services. A
web-based learning management system used in business-to-business,
value-added, manufacturing, and technology industries can become an
important conduit between your companys products and services and your
customers.
About The Author:
The
Boggs
e-Learning Chronicle Blog
Dave Boggs also writes a web blog, the
Boggs e-Learning
Chronicle, which reports on trends, provides observations, and
information about e-learning and web-based training.
Dave Boggs is the founder and CEO of
SyberWorks. He has been involved
with computer and web-based training for more than twelve years. Before
founding SyberWorks, Dave was the VP of Sales and Business Development for
Relational Courseware. He holds a BS in Physics from Union College in
Schenectady, NY, and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at
Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.
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