Before we dive into what a successful external training program entails, let’s take a moment to define what external training means. In fact, most internal training (especially in highly regulated industries) is driven by compliance. It is something that people have to do. In contrast, extended corporate training – or external training – is largely voluntary and self-directed. This means that the learner is in the driver’s seat. So, who (or what) is the driver of extended corporate training?
Typically, extended enterprise learners fall into three groups:
Let’s explore each of these groups in a little more detail.
This is often the most common audience for external training and is the driving force behind the proliferation of external training programs in many industries. But why are these companies educating their customers? We’ll dive into this question in the next article in this series, but at a high level, CEd is seen as a competitive differentiator.
Here are some of the ways CEd is being used in different industries to provide measurable results:
These are individuals and organizations that sell, service, or support the products or solutions of other organizations. They are often an extension of your brand or act as resellers of your products or services. Some typical types of partners include:
In most cases, the north star of partnership training is to drive revenue for your product or service from a regular partner. But it can also be used to expand your brand and attract new partners. Typical integrations include revenue technology stacks (CRM, eCommerce gateways), or specific partner software usage.
There are many audiences that could be listed here (e.g., franchise training as an example), but the two main audiences we want to focus on are:Training Companies and Associations.
Training companies are companies whose core business is selling training. In the last three years, as training delivery opportunities have shifted, many of these companies have moved from face-to-face delivery to online delivery, so sometimes these companies also use other software such as training management systems (TMS) or specialized tools for instructor-led training (ILT) management. This is a very broad category that can include companies such as B2C,B2B,B2B2C,B2B2B and many more categories.
Associations usually train members from outside the organization and can be non-profit or for-profit. For example, if you train volunteers at a non-profit organization, it is usually not revenue-focused, whereas an e-commerce course program for union members is revenue-focused.
Association training can be very niche and specific, but generally the focus is on promotion related to a program or similar to a training company with an e-commerce/profitability/revenue perspective.
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