If you’re considering creating a course to support your business (or as your main product), here are the first things you need answered.
This post was first published on my Medium blog—follow me there for the most up-to-date entries!
Training courses support a variety of business models, and in some instances they’re essential. But as an executive, how do you know whether a course you’re considering offering is the right move for your business? Before you commit resources to launching a training course, it’s worth asking the right questions.
Whether the course is your company’s main business or just a sideline — say, a medical device company helping nurses use a product safely — these questions determine whether the course strengthens your brand or drains your budget.
Courses can do a lot of good. For medical device companies in particular, a well-designed course helps nurses and other healthcare professionals use devices in ways that support national standards and lead to better clinical outcomes. But none of that happens by accident. It starts with asking the right questions up front.
Sales: Will this move the needle for the business?
Let’s start where most executives live — revenue and sales. If a course doesn’t support your bigger business goals, it’s not worth doing.
Sales questions to ask before launching a training course:
- Will the course drive adoption of your product?
- Will it help strengthen customer retention and loyalty?
- Is your sales team ready to position the course as part of the company’s overall value story?
I bet that many of the biggest players have already seen the payoff. Stryker, practically synonymous with hospital beds and stretchers, runs multiple courses tied directly to its devices. Abbott offers online training modules for clinicians on its cardiovascular systems. And in the maternal-child space (where I live), GE HealthCare provides training for neonatal equipment like incubators and phototherapy systems.
These companies aren’t running courses because they love teaching. They’re running courses because they can help sell products, increase trust, and set them apart from competitors.
Financial: Will this pay off in more than one way?
Courses aren’t free. Development, updates, staff time — it all costs. So the real question is: what’s the return?
Yes, there’s potential revenue from enrollment fees. But the smarter play is to also look at indirect returns: better adoption of your core product, increased customer loyalty, or stronger brand reputation.
And be honest about the risks before launching a training course. Low enrollment? Cost overruns? Faster-than-expected content updates? Identify them early, and have a plan to manage them.
Technical: Can the platform handle real users?
If a learner gets frustrated with logins, clunky navigation, or mobile access that doesn’t work, they’re gone — and they’ll associate that experience with your brand.
Technical questions to ask before launching a training course:
- Does the platform work equally well on desktop and mobile?
- Can it scale if enrollment doubles?
- Is technical support easy to find and clearly defined?
The learner experience is non-negotiable.
Product: Does the course strengthen your core?
A course should never feel bolted on. It needs to reinforce your company’s larger strategy.
For medical device companies especially, training often tips the scales in a purchasing decision. A well-designed course can make the difference between a hospital choosing your product, or your competitor’s. And if that course helps clinicians meet national standards and deliver better clinical outcomes, you’ve just turned education into a strategic advantage.
Marketing: Can you clearly state the value?
Even a brilliant course will flop if people don’t get what’s being offered.
Marketing questions to ask before launching a training course:
- Is it clear what the course includes, what’s required, and — most importantly — how it benefits the learner?
- Are any credits and/or credentials fully transparent before purchase? (Is this course eligible for accreditation? Maybe not.)
- How will you measure success? Leads, conversions, or reputation?
If you’re considering multiple tiers — introductory, advanced, premium — make sure the value differences are crystal clear. Confusion kills conversions.
Human resources: Who’s actually going to run this?
Too many companies assume courses will run themselves. They don’t.
Human resource questions to ask before launching a training course:
- Who will handle customer service, learner support, and faculty access?
- Beyond tech issues, how will learners ask content questions, and who is responsible for answering?
- Do you have an experienced instructional designer to make sure the instruction actually works?
- Do you have a project manager to keep budgets, schedules, and people aligned?
If you want real outcomes, not just a pretty slide deck, these roles are not optional. They’re essential.
Operations: Can you sustain this without breaking things?
Behind every course is a lot of hidden work: enrollment, refund policies, technical glitches, compliance, and more. If those processes fall apart, so does the program.
And don’t underestimate legal liability. If a device is misused after a poorly designed course, will the company be held responsible? You need that answer before you launch, not after you’re in the headlines.
The executive takeaway
These are the sorts of questions an executive needs to ask before launching a training course. They won’t give you every answer, but they are a good start to help you know you whether you’re ready to move forward, or if you’re about to build something that looks good on paper but fails in the real world.
And remember: this is just the executive-level conversation. A successful course also requires dozens of tactical details: content design, instructional strategy, marketing, compliance, project management, and more.
That’s where I come in. I work with companies at this stage — or any stage after — to make sure courses don’t just launch, but actually deliver results.
Let’s talk before you risk turning a great idea into an expensive disappointment. Book a discovery call or send me a DM on LinkedIn.
This post was first published on my Medium blog—follow me there for the most up-to-date entries!