Is the partner training functionality of your corporate learning management system optimized? As unbelievable as it may seem, countless LMS providers are vying for your patronage and claiming to be the best on the market. However, not all of them might be useful for your objectives.
The focus of external training initiatives, such as customer training and partner training, is on their actual needs, as opposed to internal training processes like compliance training and performance management. Using online partner training software makes it simpler to plan, organize, and establish a training program that gives your partners the tools and knowledge they need to promote, grow, and support your product on behalf of your business. Moving from a classroom-based training environment to an enterprise learning management system is simple and has added advantages for you.
Learn what criteria to look for when choosing a partner training LMS in this article and how it may help your partners perform well.
Content Authoring Tools
You must keep in mind that external or client training is a continuous activity. To impress and interest the audience, you must frequently introduce new training initiatives. To communicate product changes and new product releases, you must also produce fair and equitable content. Because of this, you must pick a customer training LMS that can be integrated content authoring tools.
Content Recommendation
Most partners now anticipate LMSs recommending pertinent courses and content. They consult the LMS’s recommendations as well as the search results when looking for online courses. Based on a customer’s prior behaviors and preferences, modern LMS systems use artificial intelligence (AI) to suggest appropriate content or courses to them. The customer or partner is persuaded to routinely access new training programs through the LMS by personalized recommendations and suggestions.
White-labeling
Through the LMS, white labeling enables clients (partners and affiliates) to have their own identities. End users won’t be able to identify the LMS’s creator. They will use the LMS more actively by approaching it as if the client were its owner. When an LMS is white-labeled, the client’s logo, login page, email addresses, and other digital identifiers are added.
All references to the vendor are changed to reflect the client’s information when white-labeling an LMS. White labeling is used by businesses that sublicense the LMS to their partners and affiliates.
Every organization will be more at ease and self-assured in its branding for marketing, training, and communication. Branding fosters familiarity and confidence. Select a corporate LMS that supports white labeling as a result.
Robust Reporting & Tracking
The built-in reporting and analytics of an extended business LMS should enable you to monitor a range of KPIs, from partner performance and engagement to the results of online training evaluations. Some even include reports that you can customize to track particular online training issues.
Additionally, you want to look for an LMS that can visualize your data using charts, graphs, and other visuals. Pie charts that show partner learning completion rates, for instance, or bar graphs that show task simulation timeframes are more examples.
Third-party Integrations
An LMS can collaborate with other platforms across departments via third-party interfaces to streamline the training process. In LMS platforms, examples of third-party integrations include:
- Application programming interfaces (APIs): To build specialized integrations between an LMS and the technology that their business utilizes, developers, employ APIs.
- Integration of content: Some LMSs allow users to add videos and other types of media directly into courses by integrating with sites like YouTube and Wistia.
- Software integrations: An LMS can interact with other LMS applications or cross-department applications in fields like sales or human resources. For instance, you might integrate your CRM software with your LMS to track the training of your salespeople as it pertains to their performance.
For partner training, the LMS must be able to support integrations with Salesforce and CRM solutions.
Security
LMS platforms, like many other enterprise web applications, should keep customer and company data secure. Using an LMS that stores and transmits data in an encrypted format, you can protect sensitive information and avoid data breaches. It must also equip each customer with their login credentials to obtain the training content. By enabling single sign-on, the LMS can help to prevent security attacks even further.
Technical Assistance
To function and perform continuously, both on-premise and cloud-based LMSs require immediate technical support. The technical assistance provided by LMS vendors enables your company to use the LMS effectively without the need for dedicated staff. However, the reliability and frequency of technical support vary between the top LMS vendors. When shortlisting partner training LMSs, make sure the vendor offers 24-hour technical support.
You should also select a vendor who offers technical support via multiple communication channels, such as emails, text messages, voice calls, and instant messages.
Multilingual
One of the difficulties in delivering extended enterprise training/partner training is that audiences speak different languages. It is critical to select an LMS that can support multiple languages.
With an LMS that supports multiple languages, language settings for each user can be easily changed. As a result, they’ll feel more at ease using the platform in the language they’re most familiar with.
Fully responsive design
For many years, the main device used by people to browse the internet has been a smartphone. The smartphone is a continuous companion that is virtually always close by, despite its modest size.
Due to the widespread usage of smartphones in today’s society, any online platform or website that isn’t responsive will probably not be well-liked by its customers.
When a website or app has a responsive design, mobile users can access it and find an easily navigable platform that adjusts to the size of their device’s screen. The LMS should support mobile learning so that users of mobile devices and tablets can access the platform and receive the online training materials they need to improve as partners.
eCommerce Capabilities
The last criterion worth mentioning is eCommerce capabilities. If you intend to sell training to your partners, your partner training LMS must have robust and built-in eCommerce features built in, such as a holistic payment system and course catalog. Also, ensure that the eCommerce system employs the most recent advances in global enterprise commerce design, allowing your commercial training to be more appealing and easier to locate and purchase. Finally, if your partners are located all over the world, the eCommerce tool in your LMS must support tax calculations and global currencies.
Conclusion
With the right LMS and appropriate training, your partners will be equipped with expert-level product knowledge, allowing them to sell products more efficiently. You can expand their loyalty by providing a formal partner education program, demonstrating that you care about your partner’s success, and fostering a stronger bond.