Companies have become good at selling big promises. They talk about growth, efficiency, and success. But many companies still struggle with one important thing: teaching customers how to actually get those results.
This gap hurts the customer experience. When customers don’t know how to use a product or service well, they feel frustrated. Over time, that frustration leads to poor product adoption and lower customer retention. Eventually, customers start looking for something else.
Our research shows this problem clearly. In a survey of 445 workplace education professionals, 60% agreed with this statement: “We are good at selling the dream to our prospective customers, but not good at helping our paying customers achieve their desired outcomes.”
When customers don’t reach the outcomes they expected, they feel disappointed. Even strong products can fail if customers don’t know how to use them to their full potential.
That’s where customer education comes in.
Customer education helps customers learn how to use a product or service to reach real goals. When done well, customer education improves the customer experience, increases product adoption, and supports key business goals.
And the results are real.
According to 2024 Forrester Research, customer education programs deliver strong returns:
- 96% have at least broken even on their education programs
- 86% report a positive return on investment
- 38.3% increase in adoption of products targeted by training
- 26.2% improvement in customer satisfaction
- 35% increase in average lifetime value per trainee
- 7.6% increase in revenue for products targeted by training
- 15.5% decrease in customer support costs for trained users
These numbers show a clear trend. When companies invest in education, customers use products more, stay longer, and need less help from the support team.
At Intellum, we help companies build customer education programs that deliver these results. We also know that teams new to customer education often have many questions.
This guide answers the most common ones:
- What is customer education?
- Who is customer education for?
- Who owns customer education?
- How do you launch a customer education program?
What is Customer Education?
Customer education is the process of teaching customers how to reach a specific outcome using a product or service.
Simply put, customer education helps customers turn what they buy into real value.
Here’s how it works:
A company sells a product or service that solves a problem. A customer buys it because they want that problem solved. After the sale, the onboarding process begins. Through education content, the company shows the customer how to use the product correctly and effectively.
As customers learn, they gain confidence. They understand how the product fits into their work. They use more features and avoid common mistakes. Over time, they see real results.
When customers see value, they stay. They renew. They buy more. That’s the power of customer education.
Customer education doesn’t rely on random training. It uses a clear structure and purpose. Most programs include:
- Online learning, like courses and certifications
- Short videos, articles, and guides
- Self-paced lessons and instructor-led sessions
- Live training and on-demand content
Many companies deliver this content through a learning management system (LMS). The LMS connects education to the broader customer experience, including the knowledge base and support tools.
The main goal of customer education is not just teaching features. The real goal is to help customers succeed at scale while supporting business goals such as:
- Increased customer retention
- Improved customer satisfaction
- Higher product adoption and usage
- Reduced support costs
- Expansion revenue from existing customers
The Benefits of Customer Education
The benefits of customer education go far beyond training. When companies educate customers well, they see positive changes across the entire customer journey.
1. Higher product adoption
Customers can’t use what they don’t understand. Education removes confusion and helps customers get value faster.
According to Forrester, education programs drive an average 38.3% increase in product adoption for trained products. That means customers use products more often and more deeply.
2. Better customer experience
Education makes the customer experience easier and smoother. Customers spend less time feeling stuck and more time making progress.
When customers know where to find education content, they don’t rely only on the support team. They solve problems on their own using courses, videos, and the knowledge base.
Forrester data shows a 26.2% improvement in customer satisfaction for trained customers.
3. Increased customer retention and lifetime value
Customers stay longer when they see results. Education helps customers reach goals and overcome challenges before frustration builds.
Forrester found a 35% increase in average lifetime value per trainee, showing how education strengthens long-term relationships with existing customers.
4. Reduced support costs
Education reduces pressure on the support team. When customers understand how a product works, they submit fewer basic support tickets.
Training acts as a first line of help. Customers learn answers through online learning instead of waiting for support.
Forrester reports a 15.5% decrease in customer support costs for trained users.
5. Revenue growth through expansion
Education helps customers see more value in a product or service. As customers learn advanced features and best practices, they often expand their usage.
Forrester data shows a 7.6% increase in revenue for products targeted by training, leading to increased growth from existing customers.
Who Is Customer Education For?
Customer education works best for organizations with:
- Complex products or services
- Products that change often
- A large or growing customer base
- Different customer roles with different learning needs
But customer education doesn’t serve just one group.
Educating Prospects and New Customers
Some education starts before the sale. While customer education is not the same as marketing, it still helps prospects understand problems, solutions, and best practices.
After purchase, education plays a key role in the customer onboarding process. Strong onboarding helps customers start fast and avoid early mistakes.
Supporting Existing Customers
Education doesn’t stop after onboarding. Existing customers need ongoing education as products evolve.
Advanced courses and updated content help customers continue learning and reach their full potential.
Extending Beyond Customers
In many companies, customer education also supports:
- Partners who help deliver services
- Employees who work with customers
Teaching multiple groups ensures everyone shares the same knowledge and goals. This approach improves consistency and the overall customer experience.
This broader strategy—often called organizational education—ensures consistency and alignment across every customer touchpoint.
Real-world examples like Google Skillshop and X Ads Academy show how large organizations use customer education to support millions of users. Both programs use Intellum’s learning management system to deliver education at scale.
Who Owns Customer Education?
Different companies assign customer education to different teams.
Some place it under Sales or Marketing because education drives revenue. Others place it under Customer Success because education improves onboarding, adoption, and retention.
In technology companies, Product teams sometimes own education because they understand user needs deeply.
Our research shows that many successful companies eventually create a dedicated education function.
Intellum’s CXO Greg Rose often explains that Customer Success makes a natural owner because its goal is to help every customer succeed.
Education experts like Vicky Kennedy point out that education often works best when it spans the entire organization instead of sitting in one team.
No matter where it lives, successful customer education owners share three traits:
- They secure executive-level buy-in.
- They leverage internal and external resources effectively.
- They build cross-functional partnerships across the organization.
These leaders treat education as a long-term investment tied directly to business goals.
How Do You Launch a Customer Education Program?
Launching a customer education program takes more than buying software. A learning management system helps you scale, but your strategy drives real impact.
The Education-Led Growth (ELG) Framework gives you a clear way to build a program that improves product adoption, customer retention, and the overall customer experience. Instead of thinking in “steps,” ELG focuses on seven pillars that work together. You don’t have to perfect one before moving to the next; you can build them side by side.
Here’s how to launch your program using the ELG Framework:
1) Start with outcomes (your business goals).
First, decide what success looks like. If you don’t set clear business goals, you can’t prove the value of your program—or improve it.
Choose outcomes that matter to your company, such as:
- Higher product adoption
- Better customer retention
- Lower support costs
- Faster onboarding process
- Improved customer satisfaction
When you lead with outcomes, you create a program that supports the business—not just learning for learning’s sake.
2) Define your audience.
Next, identify who you need to educate. Most companies serve a wide customer base, and each group has different needs.
Ask questions like:
- Who are our main learner personas?
- What pain points do they face?
- What does “success” look like for each persona?
- Where do they struggle during onboarding?
When you understand your audience, you can create education content that feels helpful, not generic.
3) Choose the right initiatives.
Now decide what type of education program you need. Most companies start with onboarding because it drives early product adoption and helps customers get value faster.
Common customer education initiatives include:
- Onboarding courses and learning paths
- Product training and role-based learning
- Certifications
- Feature launch training
- Support team deflection programs that reduce tickets
- Learning that supports existing customers as your product grows
Your initiative should match your business goals and help customers solve real problems.
4) Plan your resources (including people and tools).
A customer education program needs more than content; it needs support.
That includes:
- People who can create and manage education content
- Subject matter experts
- A support team or customer success partners who can guide learning
- Tools that help you scale online learning
A learning management system plays a key role here. Your LMS helps you organize content, assign learning paths, track progress, and reach your customer base at scale.
5) Build a strong delivery strategy.
Once you have content, you need to deliver it in a way that works for real customers.
Use a mix of learning formats so customers can learn how they want:
- Short videos and quick guides
- Online learning courses and learning paths
- Live sessions for deeper support
- Certification programs for advanced learning
- Knowledge base links built into lessons
When you match delivery to real customer needs, you support faster product adoption and create a smoother customer experience.
6) Drive marketing and engagement.
Even great education content won’t help if customers never see it.
You need a customer education marketing strategy to drive awareness and participation. Make learning part of the customer experience by using:
- Email campaigns during onboarding
- In-product links and prompts
- Messages from customer success and the support team
- Knowledge base articles that point to structured learning
- Webinar invites and product update training
The goal is simple: get customers into the learning experience and keep them coming back—leading to increased adoption and stronger long-term results.
7) Measure and improve.
Finally, track what matters. Customer education works best when you measure results and improve your program over time.
Track metrics like:
- Product adoption and usage
- Customer satisfaction
- Customer retention
- Support costs and ticket reduction
- Engagement with education content
- Success rates during the onboarding process
When you measure outcomes, you can show how education supports business goals and where you should improve.
TL;DR: Four Things You Need to Know About Customer Education
Customer education delivers measurable impact when organizations approach it strategically.
Here are the four fundamentals every team should understand:
1. How to define it
Customer education is the process of developing a formalized education initiative that helps customers realize the full value of a product or service.
2. How to determine fit
Customer education works best for organizations with complex offerings and diverse learning needs across their customer base.
3. Who should own it
There is no single right owner. Successful programs rely on leadership support, resources, and cross-functional collaboration.
4. How to launch it
High-impact initiatives align education with business goals and combine strategy, content, engagement, measurement, and technology.
When organizations address these concepts upfront, they lay the foundation for education programs that drive customer retention, growth, and long-term success.
Want to Learn More?
At Intellum, we help organizations turn education into a business advantage. Our learning management system and proven methodology support online learning that improves product adoption, customer retention, and long-term success.
No matter where you are in your journey, we help you build education programs that deliver results.
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