Integrity is Critical in the Learning Industry

By: Justin Ferriman • August 5, 2013
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In any industry, the most important asset to a company is their customers. Do right by your customer-base, and your organization will experience success as well. On the flip-side, if you implement policy that ignores the needs of your customers, then expect reasonable amount(and deserved) backlash.

The learning industry is no exception to this rule. If you are selling elearning courses, a learning management system, or any software within the learning industry, you would do well to stand by, and stand-up for, your customers. But what does this look like?

First, if you’re selling software, elearning programs, or creating elearning modules, then you need to establish a degree of trust with your current and potential customers. This can be done in a variety of ways, and can be quite easy to do if you just stick with basic ethics. For example, if you create a contract (or terms & agreement) with your customers – honor it. This sounds quite simple, but you would be surprised at the number of companies that try to wiggle their way out of contracts through legal mumbo-jumbo. For most people though, this is quite easy to do as it is all about honesty, something we all learn in grade-school.

For example, let’s say that you have created an elearning course on HIPAA compliance, and you are selling it for immediate access on your website. If your terms and conditions say that you will provide free updates to the content, then you need to stick to that. HIPAA compliance protocol may change over the years, and as a result you will need to update your training. The customers that bought into your elearning have put their trust in your product and service, so you also need to uphold your end of the bargain.

Again, this stuff isn’t rocket science. Would you want to do business with a company that has a track-record of changing their terms & conditions? Naturally, you would not. Stick to core ethics and you’ll reap the benefits over time as your customers will happily tell others about the quality, and integrity, of your business. Remember, your business is nothing without your customers – treat them like gold and they will do the same for you.

Justin Ferriman

Justin started LearnDash, the WordPress LMS trusted by Fortune 500 companies, major universities, training organizations, and entrepreneurs worldwide. He is currently founder & CEO of GapScout. Justin’s Homepage | GapScout | Twitter