Extended Enterprise Training Roadmap

Enterprise organizations increasingly rely on an extended network of partners, suppliers, distributors, and customers to drive growth and stay ahead of the competition. The most effective partner training programs evolve through a series of stages. Like scaling a mountain, each successive stage gets a bit more challenging — but the view (and the rewards) is exponentially better. 

Partner training programs need to overcome the unique challenges of extended enterprise training. The Extended Enterprise Training Roadmap lays out the five stages extended enterprise training programs go through on their way to achieving higher and higher levels of impact.

Extended Enterprise Training Roadmap
Stage 1

Self-Directed Training

A Self-Directed training program is the most basic stage of training. It’s designed to empower partners to take control of their own learning and development. 

Goal

Provide partners with the resources, tools, and flexibility needed to acquire knowledge at their own pace, enabling them to effectively sell, service, and use the organization’s products and services.

Benefits

Self-Directed training programs provide an environment to deliver training content. They also establish a foundation for more effective learning and development programs.

self-directed training program
extended enterprise training

Challenges

Learners must spend time and energy figuring out how to navigate the program and what training to complete. Generally, learners consume training content only “when needed” and seldom complete comprehensive training. This leads to incomplete knowledge transfer and skill development.

Best Practices

  • Provide comprehensive training resources
  • Use a blended learning of self-paced and instructor-led courses 
  • Suggest training courses, learning paths, and other training materials 
  • Implement an extended enterprise LMS to manage learning and track progress
  • Enable learners to provide feedback on training content
  • Continuously update the training materials 
  • Provide incentives to encourage learners to complete training
  • Measure success via course enrollments and other training content consumption metrics
Stage 2

Knowledge Acquisition

This stage builds on Self-Directed training. It builds a strong foundational understanding by requiring learners to complete prescribed role-based assessments, courses, and certifications.

Goal

Establish a consistent baseline level of knowledge across all partners. This comprehensive knowledge transfer ensures partners acquire a thorough understanding of how to sell, service, and use the organization’s products.

Benefits

  • Improved partner performance
  • Higher customer satisfaction
  • Improved consistency of knowledge, leading to more consistent performance
knowledge acquisition training program
customer retention training

Challenges

  • Engagement and motivation
  • Assessment accuracy

Best Practices

  • Create certifications as stepping stones in learners’ knowledge acquisition journey. 
  • Assign role-based certifications to learners.
  • Assign certification objectives (i.e., the number of certified staff per role) to partners.
  • Implement pre-assessments that identify gaps in learner knowledge.
  • Incentivize learners to complete prescribed training.
  • Integrate the training programs with existing partner field support networks.
  • Organize learners into partner locations that are branded by the products they sell and service.
  • Support full learner relationship with your partner network. 
  • Enable managers to provide feedback on the impact of the certifications.
  • Measure the success of the training program based on the number of certified learners and partners that achieve certification objectives.
Stage 3

Skill Development Training

This stage builds on a Knowledge Acquisition training program by developing practical, hands-on skills that enhance partners’ abilities to sell, service, and support the organization’s products or services proficiently.

Goal

Equip partners with the practical skills necessary to perform their roles effectively. This ensures partners can apply their skills in real-world scenarios.

Benefits

Skill Development training programs improve upon the benefits of Knowledge Acquisition training programs, taking them to the next level.

  • Improved partner performance
  • Higher sales and customer satisfaction
  • Lower warranty and support costs
  • Improved network retention
Extended enterprise LMS. Extended enterprise training.
skill development

Challenges

  • Partners may have different baseline skill levels
  • Ensuring that partners can effectively apply the skills learned in real-world scenarios 

Best Practices

  • Create skill profiles that define the skills and proficiency levels for each role.
  • Automatically assign role-based skill proficiency levels to learners.
  • Assign skill proficiency level objectives (i.e., number of skilled staff per role) to partners.
  • Implement skill assessments that evaluate learner skill proficiency levels.
  • Incorporate interactive elements that allow learners to practice and refine their skills.
  • Provide access to experienced mentors or coaches.
  • Encourage peer interaction.
  • Incentivize skill development.
  • Enable managers to provide feedback on the impact of learner-achieved skill levels. 
  • Measure success via skills levels.
Stage 4

Individual Performance Training

Stage 4 builds on a Skill Development training program by using those insights to continuously improve the program, which will take learners and training program to new heights.

Goal

Enhance the performance of learners by focusing on specific, measurable individual key performance indicators (KPIs), such as sales and fixed-first-visit rates. Improve individual performance, productivity, and efficiency through targeted training and continually improving the efficacy of the training program.

Benefits

  • Higher productivity and efficiency
  • Improved training program effectiveness
individual performance

Challenge

Accurately measuring and tracking individual key performance indicators (KPIs) requires reliable tools and consistent evaluation methods.

Best Practices

  • Integrate individual KPIs.
  • Use analysis to determine the best predictors of high performance.
  • Assign targeted training to address specific skills and knowledge gaps that improve individual KPIs.
  • Set clear performance goals.
  • Identify KPIs where training is a weak predictor of high performance and revise training.
  • Implement a partner LMS that supports KPIs.
  • Incentivize individual performance
  • Measure success via individual impact
Download the Extended Enterprise Training Roadmap
Stage 5

Partner Performance

The focus of stage 5 training programs is to understand how staffing levels of “trained” learners impact partner performance. This stage builds on the Individual Performance training program by using those insights to take your partners to optimal performance.

Goal

Enhance the overall performance of partners by focusing on specific, measurable partner key performance indicators (KPIs), such as partner sales and customer satisfaction. Ensure that partners have a well-rounded mix of knowledge, skills, and individual performance levels across their teams to optimize partner performance.

Benefits

  • Optimized partner performance
  • Increased revenue and profitability
  • Strengthened partner relationships
partner performance
partner performance

Challenges

Accurately measuring and tracking partner key performance indicators (KPIs) requires reliable tools and consistent evaluation methods.

Best Practices

  • Implement tools and systems to track partner key performance indicators (KPIs) in real-time.
  • Use analysis to determine the best predictors of high partner KPI performance. 
  • Assign partners with specific staffing levels needed to become “trained” partners.
  • Set clear partner KPI goals.
  • Improve impact on partner performance using the results of the partner analysis.
  • Incentivize partner performance.
  • Measure success via partner impact.

Start Your Ascent to Impactful Training

Research shows that partner training is the most effective strategy to increase partner performance, but not all training programs are created equal. Different types of training programs have different levels of effectiveness.

If you are interested in predicting how your partners will perform, rely on training. Your partners will become more effective while increasing productivity, revenue, and profits. By following this roadmap and implementing each stage effectively, your partners will be well-equipped to drive growth and maintain competitiveness.

Learn How We can Help Your Training Program Climb!