Implementing a product strategy is not a one-off task. Each of the different activities and resources that can be implemented to provide initial training also need to be assessed for on-going product knowledge maintenance.

Even with supporting product knowledge development, it is important that all aspects of the training aim to tackle defined problems. Having recognized goals can foster cross-organizational support for the effort, and help ensure successful rollout.

As touched on earlier, development of the resources and activities need to take into account all dependencies including the target audience and how they will use the site, both for creation and assessment.

Having strong support throughout the organization can aid implementation, but having good relevant content, activities, and resources can bolster re-use. As the AA Ireland case study demonstrates, the benefit of having an up-to-date product knowledge system centrally available can lead to where it becomes a mission critical system where people depend on it and even expand its usage beyond original terms.

With product knowledge training, measurement of the training can be tackled in many ways; for example, how many completed the training? It is also important to measure immediately with the trainees to identify ways to support on-going training and provide corrections and improvements to the course at every stage. Products evolve and change and so should the training for the products that change and evolve.

Ultimately, impact on the business is where training is evaluated. How many extra sales were generated from the training? How many satisfied customer support queries? Are support calls getting resolved in a shorter time? Did things improve immediately and tail off indicating the need for more on-going training? You need to have set realistic goals, measureable goals, and preferably short-term goals so you can evaluate early and often.