Software training for geology and mining professionals

Thanks to our unofficial motto – “Learn it…to own it” – customer learning always been a focus at acQuire. We believe that when our customers are trained and can become their first line of support, they can truly own and grow their solution, when and how they need it. Learning is both empowering and cost-saving over time….and who doesn’t want that! To that effect, acQuire offers three distinct channels for customer learning:

• Online Help with our software
• Dedicated Knowledge Base (KB) that customers can access 24×7
• Suite of structured learning courses scheduled in each of our operating regions throughout the year

Is that an overkill? The short answer is – No.

True, our Help, KB and Learning courses all contribute to empowering our customers to maintain (and grow) the solution we implement for them. However, each of these has a separate purpose.

The Online Help is our customers’ first point of self-learning. It has information on how to complete tasks using the software. This may include conceptual information (when and why to do something), task-based steps (how to do something) as well as descriptive/context-sensitive information (e.g. what a specific button or checkbox does).

Armed with breadcrumb navigation, keyword search, visuals (both static and interactive images), detailed topic titles, list of most viewed topics, videos/animation, role-based entry points and quick links to new features, it is a powerful tool to help customers find information right when they are using the software.

The KB on the other hand, is our customers’ first point of support. It has information on recurring topics, queries and issues that customers typically call our technical support team for. Examples include troubleshooting common issues, workarounds suggested for certain complex scenarios, FAQs, etc.

In short, our KB:

• Helps customers self-serve and resolve their own issues
• Enables the Technical Support Team upskill new personnel and provide consistent and quick customer service. It minimises the need to put customers on hold, transfer them between personnel, or call them back later.  Answers are right at the technical teams’ fingertips. Moreover, no matter who is serving the customer, answers to common issues are consistent.

How do we determine what goes into the KB? Data from support emails/customer feedback that present self-service opportunities i.e. common themes that can be answered in only one or two replies from our Technical Support Team. If a question can be answered efficiently over email, it can likely be solved by self-service content, which means we can make a measurable impact with a KB article.

If our Help and KB have easily accessible, relevant information, why would customers need to attend structured Learning courses too? Let’s face it, with so much information freely available on the web, we are all teaching ourselves new skills and concepts every day. Ad-hoc self-learning often suffices, especially when coupled with learning on the job. Then how do structured learning courses help?

Depending on the learning levels (i.e. beginner, intermediate, advanced) and target audience (e.g. their roles, experience, pre-existing knowledge), structured learning courses help fast-track the holistic understanding of complex systems/processes/end-to-end workflows. With the use of expert instructors, structured/targeted/condensed content, authentic hands-on practice (to reinforce learning) and well-designed assessments (to assess that the learning outcomes have been met), these courses focus on real skill/knowledge-building. A You-Tube video may help you with simple DIY tasks (or concept overviews) that do not require much experience. However, a structured learning course is likely to help build a skill, make you an expert in certain aspects of the job, and make that learning stick for the long term! In short, what might take years/months of experience to grasp (i.e. via informal, on-the-job, ad hoc self-learning using random resources) may take only days in a structured learning course, as it has been designed to make the most efficient use of your time and resources.

When a business wants its people to be:

• Productive within a short period of time
• Experts in their own fields
• Accredited at the right levels…

acQuire’s structured learning is the solution of choice.