March 2025

Welcome to March’s edition of The Right Click – where we bring you the latest insights & updates to help you stay ahead of the curve on all things software success – for everyone in SaaS (vendors, customers, partners, and users).

???? The Myth: More content means better onboarding.

???The Reality: Too much information at once overwhelms customers, making it harder to retain key concepts.

?? What works instead? Focused, structured learning with bite-sized training modules, just-in-time resources, and reinforcement over time.

“Onboarding isn’t a one-time event – it's a process. We’re building out follow-up communications to reinforce key learnings weeks later, so employees retain what they’ve learned instead of being overwhelmed on day one.” - Anne Rommelfanger , Technology Analyst at J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.

Instead of overwhelming end users with hours of training upfront, the most effective onboarding experiences use:

? Spaced learning to reinforce key concepts over time rather than in a single session?

? Just-in-time resources delivered to end-users right when they need it?

? Checkpoints & follow-ups to keep learners engaged beyond week 1

The takeaway: Training shouldn’t feel like drinking from a firehose. Want to boost adoption and retention? Make learning an ongoing experience, not just a one-time event.

Each month, we spotlight the standout voices driving thought leadership and innovation in the realm of software, adoption and the digital workplace. Here’s who we’re highlighting today:

• “Good training tells people what to do. Great adoption shows them why they should care.” Sean Adams breaks down why software adoption fails when it’s not tied to personal value. He shares a 7-step framework to align tools with what actually matters to employees. >>>Read his post

• “People don’t resist change—they resist uncertainty.” Yulisbel Hines, PMP?, MSIS dives into the human side of change management, why rigid plans fail, and how real adoption happens in the months after “Go Live.” >>>Check out her post

• “Hardware adoption is easy. Software adoption? Not so much.” Paul Hedgepath explains what businesses can learn about software adoption from hardware adoption in the construction industry. >>>See Paul’s insights

User adoption: Less requiring, more FOMO?

Let’s be honest—requiring people to adopt new software never works. You can email, remind, nudge… but if they don’t see the value, they’re going to keep doing things the old way. ??

The secret? Make learning and adoption irresistible. Instead of pushing, create a pull—where users actually want to engage because it makes their lives easier (and maybe even a little fun ??).

Whether you're rolling out a new platform or trying to boost engagement, we've got the strategies you need to win users over—no guilt-tripping required.

>>>Read the full guide

How to speed up customer onboarding

You’ve done it—you’ve landed a new customer! ?? But now comes the real challenge: getting them up and running without overwhelming them.

Because let’s be real… if onboarding feels like a never-ending setup guide, they’re going to zone out faster than you can say “implementation call.” ????

So, what should you actually focus on? 7 key metrics that will help you:

? Reduce time-to-value ??

? Keep customers engaged ??

? Increase retention (aka keep them from ghosting you) ???

>>>Read the 7 numbers you should be measuring

AI in customer education?

“AI isn't here to replace customer education. We can get its help to analyze trends and optimize content at scale, so that we can focus more on strategy and innovation.” - Roberto Aiello , Sr. Learning Experience Designer Personio ?

?? According to our recent survey of customer education professionals, 73% of customer education teams are already using AI, and another 13% are actively evaluating options. AI is no longer futuristic—it’s essential.

?? What AI tools are teams using? ChatGPT , Microsoft Copilot , Clueso (YC W23) , WellSaid , LearnExperts LEAi, Gong AI, Glean , Articulate Rise + more.

?? AI is more than just content creation: 100% of survey respondents use AI for content, but nearly 60% also use it for chatbots and virtual assistants, while 47% leverage it for learner behavior analysis.

If you’re in customer education & you want access to survey data and expert insights like these, join our monthly program.

>>>Join here

CEdMA Conference | Austin, TX | March 18-19?

If you’re headed to CEdMA this month, let’s connect! BrainStorm’s very own Casey Trujillo and ??? Todd Kirk will be there, and we’d love to geek out about change management and software adoption.

>>>Check out the event details

[Webinar] Making Customer Ed actionable for clients with Donna Weber

[Article] 12 software puns that make way too much sense

[Podcast] Surfing the waves of customer education

[Article] How to build a freaking awesome champions program

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P.S.—We’re all about learning together, and your feedback is incredibly valuable to us. Is there something specific you'd like to see more of in the next edition? Let us know in the comments & we'll keep the conversation going. ??