How do you create a customer certification programme?

Start with a clear definition of what expertise looks like for your product. What are the core competencies a true expert must possess? Build a curriculum of on-demand and live courses around these competencies. Then, create a fair, rigorous, and credible assessment to test for them. Finally, design a badge and certificate that provides real career value to the recipient and promote the programme as a professional development opportunity, not just product training.

Should customer education be free or paid?

A hybrid model often works best and is the most common approach. Foundational, on-demand content that covers core product functionality should almost always be free to remove friction and encourage broad adoption. Advanced, specialised learning—such as deep-dive live workshops, personalised coaching, or formal certification exams—can and often should be paid. Charging for high-value education signals its worth, helps cover programme costs, and ensures participants are committed.

Where does the customer education function usually report?

Traditionally, it has lived within Customer Success or Professional Services. However, its reporting structure signals its strategic intent. It can report into Customer Success, Marketing, or Product. The most strategic placement is often aligned with a Customer Marketing or Community team. This positions education as a proactive engagement driver and growth engine, rather than a reactive support function focused solely on cost reduction.

Customer Education: The Engine of B2B Engagement

Stop treating customer education like support. Build a customer education programme that drives product adoption, retention, and advocacy.

Published: 3 June 2026
Topics: customer education, customer marketing, customer engagement, b2b saas, customer advocacy, customer retention

By Francisco Opazo · Reviewed by the Led by Community editorial team

A customer education engagement strategy is the plan for how your organisation systematically provides customers with the knowledge and skills to succeed with your product. It moves beyond reactive training to become a proactive driver of product adoption, customer retention, and advocacy by transforming average users into product experts and champions.

Most companies get customer education wrong. They treat it like a glorified help centre. A place to dump 'how-to' videos and deflect support tickets. It’s seen as a cost centre, a necessary evil.

This is a profound strategic mistake. Customer education is not a support function. It is one of the most powerful, yet overlooked, engines for growth in B2B SaaS.

What is Customer Education?

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