LearnDash Advice: Adding a CRM Puts You in the Big Leagues
I see this a lot. A course builder selects LearnDash as their Learning Management System (LMS) and their requirements grow beyond what LearnDash can do by itself. LearnDash is a great choice for your online course platform. That's where it's at its best, but you often have needs outside of what LearnDash does well. That's when using an add-ons is the right next step.
I recently wrote Should I Use the LD E-Commerce or WooCommerce?. That discusses how LearnDash's relatively simple e-commerce are best replaced using WooCommerce. It's definitely the better option. In this articles, I provide LearnDash advice on using a customer relationship management (CRM) system to add features to your platform that are difficult, if not impossible, to built with LearnDash alone.
LearnDash Advice: Use Your CRM to Communicate with Members
A big benefit of using a CRM is a tool that's really good at communicating with all your contacts. When you use LearnDash to sell your courses, you get simple emailing for communicating with members before and after a purchase. When they purchase, you can send them a receipt. You can send them a link showing them how to login. That's pretty much it.
Website hosting environment are optimized for web hosting. Emailing is a feature they provide because it's needed. You need it for emails like I describe above and for getting members a forgot password message. It's not their specialty and your messages often end up in your member's spam folder. That means you get a customer support call because someone purchased something they cannot access.
When you add a CRM like Keap, ActiveCampaign, HighLevel or many others that are available, you offload that job. All communication with the members is done via the CRM. Those systems are optimized for sending email messages and deliverability is a top priority for them.
That's a very basic benefit.
Once you have your CRM installed, you can start adding features you can't easily do without it. For example, once a members purchases your courses, you can start an email sequence checking in with your members. A few days out, you can email them asking how are things going. You can ask them if they have checkout features they may not know are included. You can encourage them telling them about things other members have done giving them insight into things they may want to consider.
If you offer a course that's designed to be completed in a month, you can set timers to fire if the person is only through lesson 1 of 10 in a week or two. That's a sign that the members if falling behind. You can email them and you can also signal a team member to take steps to give the member a hand before they get frustrated.
If a members is racing along at a brisk pace, you can email them an congrats email acknowledging their accomplishment. You can also tag them so you know they are a member that might appreciate being told that you have other material they ought to consider. Then you start promoting it and possibly even displaying teasers in the learning platform telling them about other offers they should consider.
The sky's the limit using the standard automations offered by CRMs. Those can be used for all sorts of purposes.
LearnDash Advice: Offer Your Lead Magnet or Free Offer Using Your CRM
CRMs will have features for creating forms you can make available on your website and online for potential customers to fill out. You can offer lead magnets allowing anyone on the net to sample what you do. It's a great way to introduce them to you and what you do. Then you can email or even text them information about things they should consider.
As I mentioned before, you can then follow up with these people telling them about your expertise building trust and authority in their eyes. You have opportunities for transforming yourself into an expert or celebrity in their eyes increasing the chances they will do business with you.
LearnDash Advice: Make Use of Your CRM to Nurture Members Before They Buy
One issue that's very common with sales teams is they can only stay in touch and contact a limited number of leads at any given time. It's a big mistake to assume that because someone doesn't do business with you immediately, that they have no interest. A typical strategy you can build with your CRM is to set up a follow up and nurture sequences.
After someone requests a lead magnet, you send them the item they requested via email. Then you send them 2, 3 or 4 email messages in the week telling them about what they requested and offering some additional information. After that, you can add them to a nurture sequence. The purpose of this is to:
- Establish yourself as the expert in your field.
- Build trust with them so you are known by them for what it is you do.
- Stay top of mind.
If the person requested your lead magnet, changes are they still have an interest in what you do. Something needs to happen for them to make a purchase. It could be they are looking for a seasonal slowdown in their business that enables them to give time to your solution. It could be they are waiting for some funds that are coming up later they can apply to your solution. There are many other reasons why someone wanting to buy from you doesn't. When you stay with them over time, you become known to them and when the time comes for them to make the purchase, you will be someone they know and consider for the purchase.
Let me know if you have any questions I can answer concerning using a CRM in your online course solution.