Onboarding
Part of Customer education for B2B products
Choosing live training versus self-service resources
Choose live training, self-service guidance or a combination according to the customer task, need for practice and need for later reference.
Start with self-service guidance when a customer can follow a repeatable path and return to the instructions during work. Consider live training when people need guided practice, immediate questions or a discussion involving several roles.
A customer-specific decision may need a working meeting before either format can teach the agreed process. Some workflows benefit from a session followed by a short reference.
Choose from the task
Ask four questions before booking a session or making another recording:
- How much varies by customer?Document stable steps. Discuss a policy-dependent path with the people authorised to decide it.
- Can people practise safely?If a live attempt would affect real work, prepare an appropriate practice setting or example.
- When will they need the answer again?An occasional task may call for a short reference that can be reopened at the point of use.
- How many people face the same question?Repeated questions may justify shared guidance; a distinct decision may need direct discussion.
| Situation | Possible starting point | Follow-through |
|---|---|---|
| Stable, repeatable steps | Searchable written guidance | Check that it matches the current product. |
| New workflow with room to practise | Guided session | Give participants a task and a later reference. |
| Customer policy or ownership is undecided | Working meeting with authorised people | Record the decision before teaching the process. |
| A user is blocked by an error | Support or technical investigation | Update guidance if the issue reveals a documentation gap. |
The table is a decision aid, not evidence that one format is generally more effective. Self-service needs a route to help when a customer is blocked. A live session cannot turn an unconfirmed policy into an agreed one.
Make a live session useful
State the task participants should be able to complete afterwards and invite the roles that perform or approve it. Use a representative example, leave time to attempt the steps and capture questions that reveal a missing prerequisite or unclear instruction. Name the owner of any decision the group cannot make during the session.
Give participants the short procedure they will use later. A recording can preserve a demonstration but may be slow to search for one changed step. Keep its date and product version visible if those details affect the guidance, and update the written procedure when the workflow changes.
Make self-service usable on its own
A resource should say who it is for, what access is needed, where to start, how to finish and when to seek help. Place it where users are likely to look for the task. If an answer depends on the customer's policy or configuration, say what they need to confirm locally.
After the next relevant task cycle, ask whether intended users completed the work and where they still needed help. Attendance, module completion and guide views show exposure to education. If the same step remains unresolved, inspect the instruction and the underlying workflow before repeating the training.
Key Metrics to Monitor Education Effectiveness
- Attendance rate
- Shows exposure to live training
- Module completion rate
- Measures engagement with self-service content
- Guide views
- Indicates usage of written resources
- Repeat unresolved steps
- Signals need to improve instructions or workflow
