A recent study by the Training Industry Report revealed that companies spend an average of $1,111 per employee on training annually, yet only 35% effectively measure the return on investment (ROI) of these initiatives. 

So how do you know if your training programs are truly delivering value? In this article, we’ll share how you can measure the ROI of your CS training programs and some helpful metrics to help you stay on track.

Why Should I Measure the ROI of Customer Success Training?

Measuring the ROI of customer success training programs is about optimising your entire customer success strategy. Here are some reasons why it truly matters:

Budget Justification: With customer success budgets constantly being scrutinised, calculating the ROI helps justify training budgets. When you can show that every dollar spent on training returns $5 in reduced churn or increased expansion revenue, conversations with finance become much easier.

Program Optimisation: ROI measurement provides insights into which training components are most effective. This allows you to refine and improve your programs continuously. This data-driven approach ensures you're investing resources where they'll have the maximum impact.

Performance Benchmarking: Understanding your training ROI allows you to benchmark against industry standards and set realistic improvement goals. 

How to Measure the ROI of a Training Program

Now that we have some insights, here are some data-driven ways to measure the ROI of your customer success training programs;

1. Define Your Key Metrics

Effective ROI measurement starts with establishing clear metrics aligned with your business objectives. 

• Customer Retention Rate: Track how training impacts customer churn rates 
• Time-to-Value (TTV): Measure if your trained CS managers achieve value faster 
• Customer Satisfaction Scores: Monitor CSAT and NPS improvements 
• Product Adoption Rates: Assess whether your customers use more features after training
• Support Ticket Volume: Evaluate the reduction in support requests 
• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Calculates the long-term impact on customer value

Your product adoption rates provide insight into feature utilisation, while support ticket volume helps evaluate the effectiveness of your training in reducing customer issues. Perhaps most importantly, customer lifetime value (CLV) calculations reveal the long-term impact of your training initiatives.

2. Calculate the Direct and Indirect Costs

A comprehensive ROI calculation requires careful consideration of all training-related expenses. This way you can see the overall cost of your program. Direct costs include:

• Training platform subscriptions and content development expenses
• Instructor and facilitator fees
• Materials, resources, and certification costs

Indirect costs are equally important but often overlooked. These are:

• CS team time allocated to training delivery
• Administrative overhead and technology infrastructure
• Marketing and promotion of training programs

3. Measure Training Impact

Usually, what most businesses do is use the basic ROI formula, which is a great starting point. This is calculated as;

ROI= [(Monetary Benefits - Training Costs) / Training Costs] x 100.

However, for a more nuanced understanding, we recommend implementing a Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) analysis. Calculate this by dividing total program benefits by total program costs.

BCR = Total Program Benefits / Total Program Costs 

If your BCR is greater than 1.0, it indicates that you have a positive return. 

Additionally, tracking Return on Expectations (ROE) can also help align outcomes with predetermined success metrics and organizational goals.

4. Implement Data Collection Methods

Effective ROI measurement relies on robust data collection processes. Pre and post-assessments are usually what makes this easier. So start by incorporating knowledge checks, skill application evaluations, and confidence surveys after your training programs. This will show if your team retains information after every training session.

Performance monitoring should also track changes in customer behaviour, product usage patterns, renewals and support ticket trends over time. This way you can see if there’s any improvement in your actual business metrics. 

The use of control groups also proves particularly valuable. You can compare metrics between trained and untrained customer success managers while accounting for any external variables.

How to Use Stellafai to Measure Your Customer Success Training Programs 

On Stellafai, you’ll get scalable tools designed to track, measure and sustain your team’s customer success efforts.

• Measure the journey from enablement to customer adoption to ROI
• Visualise the outcomes and how they connect to the bigger picture

Stellafai also offers immersive customer success training workshops to ensure alignment with sales teams and measurable outcomes. After these training sessions, you’ll get ongoing access to a coach for guidance to real-time problems afterwards.

Want to see how this works? Book a free discovery call with Tim here

Best Practices for ROI Measurement

Success in measuring training ROI depends on following established best practices. Begin by defining specific, measurable goals for your training programs before implementation. This foundation makes ROI calculation more straightforward and meaningful. 

Next, combine quantitative and qualitative data points for a comprehensive view of training impact, and remember to account for time lag – some benefits may not be immediately visible.

Key considerations for ongoing success include:

• Developing standardised measurement processes across all training programs
• Implementing regular review cycles to adjust programs based on findings
• Maintaining consistent documentation of both methodology and results
• Engaging stakeholders in the measurement process to ensure buy-in

Wrapping Up

The most successful organisations treat ROI measurement as a strategic tool rather than a mere reporting requirement.  Remember that ROI measurement is not a one-time exercise but an ongoing process of evaluation and refinement. 

So implement a comprehensive measurement framework that considers both direct financial returns and indirect benefits. This way, you can better understand and communicate the value of your training initiatives