Quick Summary: Customer education drives real impact by accelerating adoption, reducing friction, and powering renewals and expansion—, which in turn leads to higher NRR.
This guest article is contributed by Jill Sawatzky, Chief Customer Officer, Thought Industries.
You can build the smartest, most feature-rich product in the world, but if customers don’t use it, none of that matters. Real business growth starts when people truly adopt your product: exploring its features, integrating it into their workflows, and coming back day after day because it makes their work (and lives) easier.
The fastest and most reliable way to make this happen? Customer education.
Customer education is so much more than a resource hub or a set of onboarding tutorials. When done right, it helps people discover value at every stage, builds their confidence, and gives them reasons to stick around. Strong education fuels renewals by deepening engagement and reducing frustration.
Ultimately, this is what turns new users into loyal fans, reduces churn, and unlocks true value for your customers and lasting revenue for your business.
The impact of customer education: building adoption from day one.
First impressions count. When customers sign up, they need a clear path to value – and that starts with adoption.
If your customers don’t see value – and quickly – your revenue is at risk. According to Gartner, the gap between what you promise and what users actually experience is a major financial threat, especially if more than 65% of revenue comes from existing customers. It’s not a question of whether your product delivers: it’s how fast you can prove it.
The answer lies in helping customers see how your product addresses their real needs from day one. The more guidance you give, the sooner they feel the value, find early wins, and stick. It’s not just about explaining features – it’s helping customers rethink how they work and making your product something they can’t imagine doing without.
Education keeps customers growing and renewing.
Customer needs don’t stand still, and neither does your product. As you launch new features or spot common sticking points, ongoing education ensures customers continue to grow alongside your offering. When customers see that you’re invested in their long-term success, they’re far more likely to renew.
Your program can include video refreshers, live Q&A sessions, how-to articles, or even certifications for power users. Education creates additional touchpoints in the customer journey, offering value long after the initial sale and keeping the lines of communication open. This constant flow of education, even before customers realize they need it, not only encourages ongoing usage – but also builds the trust and satisfaction that drive renewals.
Education reduces friction and churn.
No one likes feeling lost. When users can’t figure something out, they get discouraged and stop using a product altogether. Customer education acts as a safety net, answering questions before they become support tickets, defusing frustration, and making customers feel supported.
Well-designed education reduces “how do I?” requests and cuts down on time spent by your support team on basic questions. More importantly, it increases confidence and trust, which directly feeds into higher satisfaction and loyalty – major factors in whether customers renew or leave.
Manage your education program like a business.
Treating customer education as a strategic business function is key to driving real impact. To make the case for investment and ensure your efforts are effective, focus on actionable strategies:
- Align with business goals: Set clear objectives that tie education directly to results like adoption rates, renewal percentages, and NRR.
- Focus on outcomes: Create learning pathways and resources aligned to the outcomes customers originally purchased your product to achieve.
- Offer hybrid learning: Meet customers where they are by providing videos, articles, live sessions, in the moment tools,content, and self-serve resources.
- Make education accessible: Place learning resources where customers already spend their time, whether it’s within the product itself, , on your website, or in your
- Continuously improve: Use data from customer feedback and support teams to update and enhance your content, keeping it relevant to real-world needs.
- Track meaningful metrics: Move beyond completion rates to measure the impact of education on product adoption, customer health, and ultimately renewals and expansion.
By managing education with the same rigor as other business initiatives, you secure buy-in, demonstrate value, and ensure long-term sustainability for the program.
The bottom line: education drives adoption, which supports renewals, which boost NRR.
All the investment in customer education pays off when you see your product being adopted widely and deeply across your customer base. High adoption means customers are more likely to renew, upgrade, and even advocate for your product.
Net Revenue Retention (NRR) is the metric that tells the real story – how much existing customer revenue you’re retaining and growing. The link is simple: the more value your customers see and use, the more likely they are to stick with you and grow alongside your business. Customer education creates this value, drives adoption, supports renewals, and sets the stage for stronger, more predictable revenue growth.
If you want to make adoption stick – and boost your NRR – commit to practical, business-minded customer education initiatives. Empower your customers to succeed at every stage, and they’ll repay your investment with loyalty, growth, and lasting partnership.
