Customer Education Laboratories

In this episode, Dave Derington chats with Shellie Grieve, the Director of Collaborative Learning at ServiceNow. You’ll hear about the landscape of cohort learning and its role in customer education, the impact of the pandemic on traditional training programs, and the importance of overhauling them to be more targeted and scalable. Grieve shares her journey from her STEM background to her current role and the need for innovation in virtual program design. The discussion also covers the role of gamification in learner engagement, the potential of video assessments in job readiness, and the broader skill development needed for success in the digital world.

About the Show

CELab is the Customer Education Lab for Innovative Customer Success, Enablement, and Marketing Teams. Our mission is to explore how to build Customer Education programs, experiment with new approaches, and exterminate the myths and bad advice that stop growth dead in its tracks.

Listen in as we discuss:

• National Best Friends Day
• Cohort learning and its applications in customer education
• Learning modalities in a cohort setting
• Impact of the pandemic on traditional training programs
• Shellie’s journey to corporate training
• Virtual program design
• The power of gamification in learner engagement
• Video assessments – producing job-ready individuals
• Adapting training programs during the pandemic
• Overhauling the Master Architect Program at ServiceNow
• The use of social media-like features to drive engagement
• The role of AI and machine learning
• How cohort learning can equip people with necessary skills
• Important moments that matter in the learning journey
• Setting goals and objectives for cohort learning
• Reach out to Shellie
• And – please – if you’ve found value in this podcast, share with your friends, your peers, and your network to help us “Find the Others”!

Resources:

Shellie Grieve LinkedIn

Thinkific

Videate

Docebo

Dave Derington LinkedIn

Adam Avramescu LinkedIn

In this episode, Adam Avramescu takes a deep dive into Change Management with Alessandra Marinetti – Global Head of Education and Enablement at Asana.  Change Management is, as Alessandra shares – “the ability to enable people to see things differently, and to do things differently”.  If you’re in #customereducation and #customersuccess, take an hour out of your day and join Adam and Alessandra as they answer questions such as:

• What is change management and how does it work?
• The difference between change management and marketing.
• Building the mindset and creating a buzz around change management.
• The importance of having a formal center of excellence.
• Understanding the three phases of change.

About the Show

CELab is the Customer Education Lab for Innovative Customer Success, Enablement, and Marketing Teams. Our mission is to explore how to build Customer Education programs, experiment with new approaches, and exterminate the myths and bad advice that stop growth dead in its tracks.

Listen in as we discuss:

• National Garfield the Cat Day
• Guest intro and background
• The power of change management in organizations
• Mourning the lost way vs. embracing the new
• Change management in customer education
• How change management impacts productivity with new platforms
• Technical vs. end-user education
• Clear value propositions in change management
• Change management practices in SaaS for effective tool rollout
• Creating an atmosphere of excitement around change
• Continuous communication and engagement during tool rollout
• Successful product roll-outs and a formal ‘Center of Excellence’
• The role of customer success manager in understanding customer needs
• “Sustainable enablement” and monitoring outcomes after rollout
• Certification systems to keep customers knowledgeable
• Book recommendations
• Change management and productivity
• And – please – if you’ve found value in this podcast, share with your friends, your peers, and your network to help us “Find the Others”!

Resources:

Alessandra Marinetti LinkedIn

Asana

Book: Managing Transitions

Book: Switch

Book: Hooked

Book: The Heart of Change

Book: ADKAR

Northpass

Thought Industries

TechSmith

Dave Derington LinkedIn

Adam Avramescu LinkedIn

In this episode, Caitlin Wood, Senior Director of Customer Success and Enablement at Ironclad, dives into the intricate world of customer education and success. She elucidates the unique structure of Ironclad’s education program, the role of their Learning Experience Design and Training Delivery teams, and their revolutionary approach to digital success. The conversation also delves into the potential pitfalls of siloed customer education teams, the impact of pricing on customer experience, and the emerging concept of customer education as digital success. The episode explores the importance of collaboration and alignment between customer education, digital success, and product teams, providing invaluable insights for business leaders.

About the Show

CELab is the Customer Education Lab for Innovative Customer Success, Enablement, and Marketing Teams. Our mission is to explore how to build Customer Education programs, experiment with new approaches, and exterminate the myths and bad advice that stop growth dead in its tracks.

Listen in as we discuss:

• National Croissant Day
• Ironclad’s customer education program and customer success structure
• Innovative use of Learning Experience Design team
• Ironclad’s Training Delivery team and training methods
• Customer enablement vs. customer success
• The structure of Ironclad’s digital success team
• Transformative solutions delivered by Ironclad’s digital success team
• Pitfalls of siloed customer education teams
• Pricing and customer success
• Aligning customer education and digital success
• Customer education as digital success
• Balancing understanding with management skills
• Collaboration and alignment – customer education, digital success, and product teams
• Ironclad’s customer enablement team
• And – please – if you’ve found value in this podcast, share with your friends, your peers, and your network to help us “Find the Others”!

Resources:

Caitlin Wood LinkedIn

Ironclad

Docebo

Thinkific

Strigo

Dave Derington LinkedIn

Adam Avramescu LinkedIn

This is an episode you won’t want to miss – the future is now!  Customer Education has a seat at the table and a critical impact on business. In this episode, we talk with Nick Mehta – CEO of Gainsight, and Steve Cornwell, CEO of Northpass about the recent acquisition of the Northpass platform into the Gainsight family. We talk about Digital Customer Education as well as Digital Customer Success and build upon last year’s CELab podcast with Nick Mehta called “Customer Education and Enablement is the Core of Customer Success” Join us for this incredible discussion!

You’ll hear Nick, Steve, and Dave delve into the intersections of customer education, success, and communities, the role of digital customer success for scaling businesses, and the potential of blended online communities for enhancing customer relationships. The discussion also highlights the importance of integrating customer education and success, the impact of customer education on retention rates, and the challenges and opportunities in implementing customer education.

About the Show

CELab is the Customer Education Lab for Innovative Customer Success, Enablement, and Marketing Teams. Our mission is to explore how to build Customer Education programs, experiment with new approaches, and exterminate the myths and bad advice that stop growth dead in its tracks.

Listen in as we discuss:

• National Book Lover’s Day!
• Customer education and industry leaders
• Creative ways to solve customer problems and enhance experiences
• Digital customer success and its benefits
• Customer success teams and their collaboration
• The role of blended online communities in enhancing customer relationships
• The new book ‘Customer Communities’
• How customer education can increase NPS scores and retention rates
• Challenges and opportunities in implementing customer education
• Building effective customer education programs
• How customer education, success, and communities interconnect to help customers
• Success metrics of time to first value and the orchestration of customer education, success, and communities.
• And – please – if you’ve found value in this podcast, share with your friends, your peers, and your network to help us “Find the Others”!

Resources:

Nick Mehta LinkedIn

Steve Cornwell LinkedIn

Gainsight

Book: Customer Communities

Previous Episode with Nick (#76)

Northpass

Dave Derington LinkedIn

Adam Avramescu LinkedIn

In this episode, Adam reviews Dr. Richard E. Mayer’s 12 Principles for Multimedia Learning in our Instructional Design 101 series. Dr. Mayer’s research focus is determining how people learn (i.e., the science of learning) and how to help people learn (i.e., the science of instruction). His research concerns the intersection of cognition, instruction, and technology. Here we will apply Mayer’s 12 research-based principles – around the cognitive theory of multimedia learning – as they relate to the design of online instruction.

You’ll hear a little bit about each of Mayer’s 12 Principles, from not overwhelming the learner’s

‘Cognitive load’, to the best combinations of text, audio, and images, to personalizing voices and imagery for the learner.

About the Show

CELab is the Customer Education Lab for Innovative Customer Success, Enablement, and Marketing Teams. Our mission is to explore how to build Customer Education programs, experiment with new approaches, and exterminate the myths and bad advice that stop growth dead in its tracks.

Listen in as we discuss:

• Richard E Mayer’s background – research in multimedia learning
• Reviewing Mayer’s 12 principles for learning
• Cognitive load- less is more
• Highlighting relevant or important information
• Images and audio – best for learning, without text
• Contiguity – space and time
• Pre-training – multimedia is more effective if learners know the basic tenets
• Modality – controversial methodology
• Multimedia – learning is easier with a certain amount of multiple modalities
• Personalization – text should be informal
• Voice & Images – natural, conversational human voices and
• And – please – if you’ve found value in this podcast, share with your friends, your peers, and your network to help us “Find the Others”!

Resources:

Richard Mayer @ UCSB

Book: Multimedia Learning 3rd Ed.

Skilljar

TechSmith

Northpass

Dave Derington LinkedIn

Adam Avramescu LinkedIn

In this podcast episode, host Dave Derington speaks with John Leh, CEO/Lead Analyst at learning tech research/consulting firm, Talented Learning. Talented Learning provides independent research and analysis on learning management systems (LMS), focusing on extended enterprise or learning systems as a business. John shares his experiences in the evolution and specialization of the learning systems marketplace.

The conversation explores the difference between customer education platforms and employee learning solutions, emphasizing the importance of aligning learning systems with the specific needs and objectives of the learners. John also touches on the necessity for rapid product changes, the role of metrics, reporting, and analytics, and the reasons behind switching LMS.

About the Show

CELab is the Customer Education Lab for Innovative Customer Success, Enablement, and Marketing Teams. Our mission is to explore how to build Customer Education programs, experiment with new approaches, and exterminate the myths and bad advice that stop growth dead in its tracks.

Listen in as we discuss:

• Intro and background – John Leh
• Exploring the complexities of customer education platforms and learning management systems
• The evolution of the learning systems marketplace 
• Understanding learners’ needs before choosing a system
• Independent verification of LMS
• Differentiating between customer education platforms and other learning systems
• Employee vs. customer education systems
• The role of metrics, reporting, and analytics in customer education
• Reasons for switching learning management systems
• The need for rapid product changes in learning systems
• Strategies for developing high-end content for superior learning experiences
• Finding the right product-market fit
• Multiple learning systems and transitioning between them
• And – please – if you’ve found value in this podcast, share with your friends, your peers, and your network to help us “Find the Others”!

Resources:

John Leh LinkedIn

Talented Learning

Dave Derington LinkedIn

Adam Avramescu LinkedIn

Strigo

Docebo

Intellum

We are big fans of TechSmith and its products – and TechSmith is a fantastic supporter of the Customer Education community! Today we welcome Matt Pierce and Troy Stein from TechSmith to the show to discuss what’s happening at the company and an exciting (experimental) topic: Project Based Learning (PBL). 

You’ll hear Matt and Troy discuss the transformative power of project-based learning and customer education. They delve into TechSmith’s tools like SnagIt and Camtasia that enable individuals to create and share powerful visual messages. The episode explores how technology and creativity intersect to drive project-based learning, the concept of multimodal learning, and the impact of AI and machine learning on customer education. Mat and Troy share insights on TechSmith’s Academy platform that is revolutionizing video production learning and the potential of project-based learning to foster innovation in customer education. Enjoy!

About the Show

CELab is the Customer Education Lab for Innovative Customer Success, Enablement, and Marketing Teams. Our mission is to explore how to build Customer Education programs, experiment with new approaches, and exterminate the myths and bad advice that stop growth dead in its tracks.

Listen in as we discuss:

• Intro and backgrounds
• Tools like Snagit and Camtasia for creating and sharing powerful messages
• National Camera Day, World Industrial Design Day, and Bomb Pop Day
• The intersection of creativity and technology in project-based learning discussed
• Audiate, a tool by TechSmith
• AI and machine learning’s impact on customer education
• TechSmith’s Academy platform for video production learning
• Project-based learning
• Affordability and ease of use in tools for customer education
• Multimodal learning combining audio, video, and text
• Combining video and text on a single page for SEO
• How project-based learning enhances software understanding and engagement
• Customer education and experiential learning
• Embracing innovation in customer education
• Appreciation of C-Lab listeners and the importance of educating, experimenting, and finding one’s people
• And – please – if you’ve found value in this podcast, share with your friends, peers, and network to help us “Find the Others”!

Resources:

Troy Stein LinkedIn

Troy Stein TikTok

Matthew Pierce LinkedIn

TechSmith

TechSmith Build a Great Video

TechSmith Camtasia

Adam Avramescu LinkedIn

Skilljar

Docebo

Intellum

Welcome to Part I of a candid discussion between host Adam Avramescu, VP of Customer Education at Personio, and Stephanie Pellegrino, who leads Customer Education at Gong.  You’ll hear about the macroeconomic changes in the market and how they affect us in Customer Education, insights on acing customer education job interviews. 

Adam and Stephanie give an unfiltered view into the industry as hiring managers. They talk about the importance of ‘selfless listening’, meaningful conversations for successfully pivoting into the customer education field, connecting with industry professionals, and engaging in informational chats before the interview. The episode also highlights the value of hiring candidates with non-traditional backgrounds and finding the right fit for a team, as well as effective interview techniques and research strategies. Stay tuned for Part II of this important conversation coming soon.

About the Show

CELab is the Customer Education Lab for Innovative Customer Success, Enablement, and Marketing Teams. Our mission is to explore how to build Customer Education programs, experiment with new approaches, and exterminate the myths and bad advice that stop growth dead in its tracks.

Listen in as we discuss:

• Celebrating National Pistachio Day and effortful learning in instructional design
• Discussing customer education job interviews and hiring manager perspectives
• Importance of selfless listening and meaningful conversations for job seekers
• Connecting with industry professionals before interviews for valuable insights
• Acknowledging the value of hiring non-traditional backgrounds in customer education
• Finding the right fit for your team based on background and experience
• Importance of self-awareness and authenticity in interview conversations
• Connecting the dots between experience and the desired role
• Demonstrating understanding of the business and its needs
• Researching the company and asking meaningful questions during interviews
• Avoiding faking knowledge and focusing on being coachable and agile
• Comments on effective interview techniques and research strategies
• And – please – if you’ve found value in this podcast, share with your friends, your peers, and your network to help us “Find the Others”!

Resources:

Stephanie Pellegrino LinkedIn

Gong.io

Adam Avramescu LinkedIn

Docebo

Intellum