Everyone could use a friend when starting something new for the first time.

When you don’t know where to start, having an expert by your side can give you a big confidence boost. Because you’ve got a guide who will show you exactly what to do and answer all your questions.

The same idea applies to Trainual. As the leading documentation and employee training software, we help small business leaders organize their operations and streamline their processes. 

And for any growing company, getting your business documented and into Trainual seems like a no-brainer — but when starting for the first time, even our easy-to-use interface can be a little daunting. Where do you start? And how?

That’s where Trainual’s implementation support comes into play. 

👉 New to Trainual and want to see what all the hubbub is about? Try for free.

What is Trainual implementation?

Implementation at Trainual is a specialized setup support that’s like a personal concierge for new customers. Available to certain plans, this complimentary VIP service supports business documentation and training that’s up and running within a few weeks. 

As soon as you become a customer, we pair you with one of our implementation specialists. The goal is to accelerate your content creation and get your team up-to-speed fast. They’ll work with you directly for the first four weeks of your Trainual journey to get you to value as quickly as possible.

An implementation specialist will: 

• Set up the framework of your account. 
• Teach you the best ways to create content in Trainual with weekly 1:1s.
• Help migrate your content from other software, manuals, and docs. 
• Be your go-to for any questions about your account.

Basically, you’ll have a Trainual expert who is dedicated to saving you time, increasing your confidence with the software, and helping you envision a better future for your business.

What actually happens during implementation

Fact: Implementation is a great resource for new Trainual customers.

But now you may be wondering what actually happens during the implementation process. What does the implementation specialist actually do during those first four weeks?

The short answer: It depends! The long answer: Every business is unique, and their needs and expectations will differ based on their goals and starting points. Some businesses have nothing documented — others have a ton of content documented somewhere on their hard drive. One SMB might need to start training new hires ASAP while another is looking to prepare documentation to open a franchise.

What you need from Trainual won’t be the same as another customer, but no matter what, implementation will always start with a kickoff call.

The kickoff meeting

Think of this call as the beginning of your personalized consulting experience. You’ll meet your implementation specialist for the first time, and they’ll conduct the meeting based on your goals and specific needs for Trainual.

We start by confirming the stakeholders of the Trainual account. These are the people on your team who are going to be responsible for the bulk of your content creation. They’ll typically be department heads or people on your leadership team. You can even designate one of your employees to do the documentation — basically, anyone who’s going to have a hand in building the account is a stakeholder.

Next, we cover your top priorities and business needs. Remember how we referred to implementation as your “personalized experience?” These goals are how we determine where to focus the direction of your implementation service. Some examples of goals include:

• Documenting your company info, employee policies, and training processes for the first time.
• Migrating all your current documentation into a system that’s easier to use and better for organizing and training (AKA, us).
• Transforming your documentation so it’s video-based instead of text-based.
• Customizing your documentation for different offices and locations.
• Streamlining your onboarding and training so new employees are better prepared to start working in the business.

After we chat about your goals, the kickoff can diverge in a few directions depending on what you need from us. Usually, we’ll do one of the following:

1. Do a detailed walkthrough of your new account. This is especially helpful if there are a lot of stakeholders who haven’t had a chance to try the account for themselves. We’ll also set up quick wins during this first meeting by helping you add new users, set up your org chart and role chart, and even write out role responsibilities! 
2. Answer any questions. If you’ve already had a chance to explore Trainual on your own, this is your chance to start in on answering your Q’s!
3. Jump straight in with a recommended starting point. Already feeling good about your account and just want to get started? We can do that, too!

To end the meeting, we’ll chat about next steps. Again, these will differ depending on what we’ve talked about or worked on. We’ll also send a follow-up email to outline exactly what we’re planning to work on next — and what we’ll need from you to do that. 

Here’s some of the most common next steps in the implementation process:

Group trainings and stakeholder 1:1s

A big part of implementation is teaching your team how to make Trainual work for them. Their account isn’t meant to be a finished product — with any growing business, processes and policies are going to change, and your team will need to learn how to make those updates in your account.

So, we facilitate group trainings and one-on-one meetings with important stakeholders. A walkthrough demo during a kickoff meeting isn’t enough time to teach your team everything they need to know about content creation in your account, and we find that these additional training sessions really help businesses become experts at Trainual documentation. 

Over the course of those first four weeks, we’ll schedule meetings (usually weekly) to cover the basics of documenting your content and the Trainual features that will help them the most. We’ll also teach your teams the best ways to document that will maximize their employee training — like how to organize subjects and how to embed engaging supplemental content like graphics and videos.

Because even though there’s always someone on the Trainual team available to help you out, implementation doesn’t last forever. We want to use this time to prepare you as much as possible so you can become Trainual experts yourselves!

Content migration

One of the highlights of implementation is our content migration program. It’s pretty self-explanatory — for businesses who have content documented in another software, online library, or docs, we input as much content into Trainual as possible within the time we have available. 

We always migrate your most important documentation first (based on the goals shared during kickoff), and for anything we can’t get done in our four weeks together, we’ll teach you how to do it yourself!

🔥 Tip: We’re always improving Trainual to make migration as easy as possible (in fact, we just released a new import documents feature for content built in Google Docs and Microsoft Word!). Plus, we have a whole host of Trainual certified consultants who can also help you migrate your documentation!

Your roll-out plan

Trainual isn’t just a platform that stores your business documentation. It’s an ever-changing reference guide for your employees that should answer any of their questions about what happens in your business (maybe you’ve heard of our business playbook philosophy).

When you started an account with us, you were probably already planning on how you would share this new software with the rest of your team. Well guess what? Implementation helps with that as well!

We’ll outline a clear and actionable roll-out plan for your Trainual account. Once you’ve documented enough content, we’ll help you:

• Invite your users to access Trainual.
• Make sure all roles are attached to the correct users and they’ve been assigned the right content.
• Create a general user introduction video or GIF.
• Ensure each new user is assigned to a department or team.
• Design your pre-launch email, which will explain what Trainual is and how it’ll be used at your business.

And voila! You’ll be fully prepared to get your team onboard and using Trainual. Saving you from having to do the same training all the time and having to answer the same questions over and over again.

What happens after implementation

Sadly, implementation doesn’t last forever. But the good news is that we have a ton of additional resources to support you!

Once implementation ends, you’re assigned a new point of contact from our amazing team of success managers and success coaches. They’ll become your go-to for 1:1 support, where they can answer your unique questions and help you with your account. 

And Trainual support doesn’t stop there. We have a group of product experts who are reachable by chat or email — they’re another valuable resource for your Trainual questions. Plus, we have a full Trainual Help Center if you’re a do-it-yourself type or you’re just looking for a quick answer.

The goal of our implementation program is to set your business up for success as quickly as possible. We’re here to provide you with white glove support so that you get value from Trainual starting on day one. 

Implementation isn’t for everyone, but we find that customers who use our implementation services are more comfortable and better prepared to get the most from their documentation journey and find more time to focus on cultivating their business. Whether you’re looking to simply organize your business or focus on growth, know that we’re ready to help you from the start!

👉 Find out how you can start your Trainual journey with implementation.