by Sophie Daniline 
We see it all the time, teams with fantastic strategical ideas, and wonderful marketers who can’t put their plans into action due to a lack of Pardot knowledge. If this is your team, it’s time to get some training organised. But how do you know what to ask for in a Pardot training session?
To set the scene, I’ve just got back to London after a day of training with the most fantastic marketing team in Germany. There’s nothing better than finishing a training session feeling like the team were really engaged, and learned something valuable.
I got to thinking, what makes a truly great training session, and what advice can I give to teams looking to get trained up in Pardot?
Here’s what you need to think about before booking a training session:
Goals
When you’re looking to get trained up in Pardot, it’s really important to set some goals. What are you looking to achieve? What skills do you want you or your team to come away with? These could be things like:
- We want a super user on the team who can support everyone else with their campaigns
- We’ve got basic knowledge, but want to learn how to build nurture journeys
- Our Pardot account is messy, we want to know how to keep it in check
- We’ve got a new starter who needs a crash course in using the system
In house or public course?
Depending on the number of people in your team, you will need to consider if you want training delivered at your office, or whether you’re happy to join a course open to any Pardot users. Typically, joining a public course will be cheaper if you only have a couple of people you want to send. A session in house, however, can provide more flexibility with the topic and length of the session.
Budget
As with anything, budget is going to be a key consideration. You may decide that you want to invest in all your team getting trained up, or you may choose to be more selective, and have the members attending the course educate the rest of the team later on. The cost of a training course is going to vary based on what it is you’re looking for.
Type of training
What kind of learners are in your team? Do they require hands on practice to learn a system, or are they note takers? Do they enjoy a practical challenge, or would they rather learn through Powerpoint slides? Make sure that whoever you engage with to run your training is asking questions about the participants (especially if they’re coming in-house).
Choice of trainer/s
No, I’m not talking about your footwear. Who are you going to put your trust in to train up your team? Ensure whoever you choose can provide you with feedback or testimonials from previous training sessions. Make sure they’re not doing it for the first time, and that they actually have hands on experience using the platform. If you’re looking for more flexibility, have a look at trainers who have experience going in-house to deliver training as well as running pre-set courses.
Be upfront
As a trainer, there’s nothing worse than being told your whole team already have Pardot access, and then turning up to find out only half the room have logins. Sure, there are ways around it, but if your trainer knows up front that some people have never logged in before, they’ll be able to tailor the session to any level of expertise. Equally, if there are specific areas that the team need more experience with, let your trainer know. Trainers won’t mind what situation you’re in (it’s literally their job to teach you) so make sure they have all the facts.
Read the agenda
I can’t stress this one enough. Make sure you know what you’re signing up for. If you’re going on a public course this is especially important, as it will help you determine whether the out-of-the-box course is the one for you, or if you need something more bespoke.
Trust trainer timings
Trainers have a pretty good idea of how long it’s going to take to train in a particular area. If you ask them to do it in less time, you are likely compromising the quality of the session and the depth of knowledge your team will come away with. If you only have half a day of budget to get trained in, then work with your trainer to craft an agenda that will help you and your team get the most out of the session.
What next?
You may have had a sneaky suspicion throughout this article that we do a lot of training at Nebula… and you’d be right! If you are looking to invest in some Pardot training, please get in touch. We’re passionate about training, and would love to hear from you.