Chapter 02
Clarifying Your "Why"
When launching or refining a CEd program, you need to be clear on one thing: Why does this program exist?
Even with the rise of AI, your "why" remains rooted in people-focused business goals like increasing adoption, reducing support tickets, or accelerating time to value. AI supports these goals, but it's not a strategy in itself; it is a tool. Your overarching "why" - and the outcomes you want to achieve - still come first.
As Debbie suggests, start by asking the "magic wand" question:
If you had a magic wand, what would the ideal customer education program look like - and why?
In practice, this means talking to stakeholders across your organization - executives, product managers, support, customer success - to pinpoint what they need from CEd.
Common "whys" include:
- Reduce support tickets so your team can focus on proactive help
- Accelerate time to value by helping users reach their first "aha" moment much faster
- Increase "product stickiness" and adoption - especially for new or premium features
- Help marketing generate EQLs so deals can close faster
- Build advocacy and foster champions who spread the word organically
Where AI Comes In
Once you know your "why," you can clarify the content or training that actually needs to be built. Are you creating basic tutorials to lower your call volume? Advanced workshops to push power users further? Role-specific learning paths for enterprise customers?
And that's when you can bring in AI strategically:
- Personalization: Offer tailored content recommendations to specific user segments at scale.
- Efficiency Gains: Automatically update or generate new content when your product changes - no more wasting time writing lengthy articles or recording videos.
- Better Insights: Use AI-aggregated data to see what people learn best, then refine your program.
In the next section, we'll help you understand your current state so you can outline a clear "why" for you CEd initiatives.
