The State of Customer Education in Europe
EPISODE 88: Customer Education in Europe
Anders Willumsen, CEO of Eurekos
Over the past decade, customer education has been a dominant force behind LMS industry growth. Until recently, the U.S. market drove much of that expansion. But now, customer education is gaining serious momentum in Europe, as well.
Why is this happening? What factors make European business unique? And how can companies successfully train customers in that region?
Today’s guest, Anders Willumsen, is the ideal person to tackle these questions. As CEO of Eurekos, an award-winning customer LMS provider based in Denmark, Anders has first-hand business experience on both sides of the pond.
His perspective is invaluable. So, join us as we discuss the state of customer education in Europe on this episode of the Talented Learning Show…
Customer Education in Europe — KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Comparing customer education in Europe with the U.S. reveals sharp contrasts. For instance, the American market is vast and relatively homogenous. But in Europe, companies must contend with diverse countries, cultures, currencies and languages.
- In addition, organizations that sell products or services in Europe must navigate complex regulatory requirements — including rapidly changing cybersecurity laws. Any LMS designed to educate customers must follow suit.
- Despite these serious challenges, customer education is gaining steam in Europe. The potential upside is significant for customer-minded brands, as well as the LMS providers who support them.
Customer Education in Europe — Q&A HIGHLIGHT
Welcome, Anders. Could you start by telling us about Eurekos?
Yeah, Thanks, John. Our company is about 12 years old. Originally, we focused on serving higher education and other organizations. Then, about 6 years ago, we became inspired by what was happening in the U.S. LMS market.
The U.S. is way ahead of Europe in many software categories. That’s definitely true for customer education.
We work with companies throughout Europe, as well as in the U.S. and Far East. But because we are based in Denmark, we have strong insight into the European market. We saw great potential to serve companies that provide customer training. So, we changed our strategy to focus entirely on that.
Which learning system is best for you? Check the 2024 RightFit Solution Grid, based on our team’s independent research! Learn more and get your free copy!
How does the European market compare with the U.S.?
The fact that LMS analysts and consultants like you exist in the U.S. says a lot about that market. In Europe, hardly anyone said anything about customer education for years. Now, the level of interest is absolutely blowing up here. It’s huge.
Why is Europe behind the curve?
In Europe, no matter where you are located, you have to be able to address the market in every country. That’s difficult because each country is different. There are different laws. And most importantly, we do not speak the same language.
Whereas, the U.S. is one market, one language, one approach.
Also, it’s not as easy to get programs up and running here. It’s hard to prove value and scale fast, with such a complex combination of languages, currencies and laws — even cultural differences in how the south of Europe approaches training compared with the north.
So, how do global companies overcome all those barriers when implementing customer education in Europe?
Great question. Even doing a test is difficult.
From the start, you have to be able to deliver across multiple countries. It’s imperative to get something up and running, so you need to support numerous languages right up front. That is one reason our system includes 135 languages. Also, we can clone trainings made in our system to support various languages.
This was not my experience when I worked in the U.S. previously for 12 years. In that case, we created everything around U.S. market needs. Then later, we expanded globally.
Want more details about how Eurekos’ unique position among European learning systems? Check the Eurekos listing in our LMS Directory — including company/product profile information, case studies and videos. Or visit Eurekos online.
Are some European countries more advanced in terms of customer education?
To compete, we must innovate. In this case, it involves digitization of customer training and events — everything that drives channel or customer success.
I think the pool of vendors drives this. When many great vendors are competing, it spurs innovation. I see that in the U.S. and here, as well.
What other challenges are shaping customer education in Europe?
There is no simple answer. That’s what’s special about it.
Over the past three years, since Russia took Crimea and then expanded to the rest of Ukraine, war has been on the forefront of everyone’s mind here.
We are so close to it. It has a direct impact on us. And the situation in Israel makes it even more obvious. War is changing everything in Europe, including laws and policies. So, we must address it.
Right…
GET PART 1 FREE NOW!
NEW 2024 RESEARCH REPORT
All customer learning management systems aren’t created equal. Get our in-depth analysis and compare the best customer education systems on the market today. And now, get Part 1 FREE!
LEARN MORE >>
Security has always been important in software. But now, verifying these capabilities is one of the first things a vendor must do to qualify for a business opportunity.
It’s not enough to be compliant. Often you have to be certified, as we are. We have three ISO certifications now. In fact, we are the first company in Denmark with the new cloud security ISO 272017 certification.
That’s because many companies are asking us to prove we are truly compliant. They need to know we have control of our security protocols, data privacy and so on. We see much more demand for it here than in the U.S.
No doubt…
Also, Europe is much more focused on data privacy, specifically GDPR (Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation.)
And now, ESG (environmental, social and governance) is mandated by law. Organizations must have a strategy and implement programs – starting with large, publicly trading companies and then moving down market over the next few years.
For example, we require all our vendors to use green energy, only. This means we need to verify ESG polices for each one of those vendors.
ESG reporting is a huge requirement American companies must also address in this market. Our customers require it, and so do their customers. There is no way to escape it.
Wow. That could be an immense blind spot for any U.S. company trying to operate in Europe. So, the biggest concern is data theft?
Since the start of the war, Europe has seen a massive increase in hacking attempts. This is driving companies to change their cybersecurity policies and procedures. It also requires employee training.
As a result, our customers are looking to us for help in addressing these issues with their customers. It’s not enough anymore just to offer customer training and events in a simple online package.
For instance, multi-federation is becoming very important. Multi-tenancy is one thing. But under each tenant, you need to be able to address each company individually. This way, each organization can use its own SSO mechanisms or whatever.
Makes sense…
Find out how real-world companies are achieving more with learning systems that create business value. Get inspiration from dozens of success stories in our free LMS Case Study Directory…
Often, we set up security requirement discussions with our customers and their customers, so we understand how everyone deals with this.
Also, it’s important to ensure that an LMS works with all other in-house systems. Data must be able to flow seamlessly to and from the LMS. So, we spend a lot of time talking about much more than LMS-specific functions, because the whole market is changing. Implementations have become very technical and complex.
That’s why we stand out. We enable our customers deal with things like data privacy requirements, GDPR, ESG, security. And we help them help their customers, as well.
What training content trends are you seeing in Europe, Anders?
It’s similar to the U.S., where most companies are wondering how to digitize more content. They want to move away from face-to-face meetings, customer events and Zoom or Teams calls.
Fortunately, many organization already have a lot of content they can leverage. So, the idea is to crawl, walk, run. Use what you have to start creating something engaging and interactive. Then go from there and make it more advanced.
Where does AI fit in?
Early on, you don’t have to use AI to create really advanced learning experiences. If you do, you’ll quickly run into execution problems. Instead, figure out the process and logistics behind getting systems to work better, so you can deliver training effectively.
Many companies want to start with a lot of their existing material or content from other LMSs. But you have to be quite careful. Much of it could be proprietary information.
If you use a public AI service, you could mix-in information generated by anybody. So, you could jeopardize information that was originally very accurate and reliable. Also, you want to avoid using public AI because you don’t want to start educating your competitors.
There’s so much talk about where AI can help, and how to use it.
Right now, we don’t think AI is best for generating content because there are so many ways to do that. To us, the importance of AI is its ability to automate processes so they are far more efficient and effective.
This is our focus. It is unlike a lot of our competitors, but it’s what we believe.
Good to know. So, what is the most compelling European customer education success story you’ve seen? …
… For complete answers to this and more questions about the state of customer education in Europe, listen to this entire podcast on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, on Amazon, or right here on our site.
Watch This Podcast on YouTube
Find Out More About Eurekos
Want more details about how Eurekos supports customer education in Europe? Check the Eurekos listing in our LMS Directory — including company/product profile information, case studies and videos. Or visit Eurekos online.
Need an LMS to Support Customer Education in Europe?
Let an independent expert help you choose the best tool for your needs! For a free initial consultation call with me, John Leh, Founder and Lead Analyst at Talented Learning, submit the form below: