If you are planning a training session, I want you to pull out a piece of paper and a pen, and do 2 things.

Sometimes, hyperlinks are scary. You ask yourself, "Do I really want to leave the page I'm on?" This is especially true when reading documentation, policies, procedures, and job aids. If you see a link (like this link here) in a knowledge base article, you don't want to click on it because you don't want to leave the help article you're on. After all, if you leave, there's a chance you'll never find your way back.

For learning to occur, two requirements must be met: 1) you must have a teacher who is ready to teach, and 2) you must have a learner who is ready to learn.

In 1935, Boeing's model 299 crashed into the ground during a test flight, killing two crew members. The plane was newly designed to push the limits of flight—aluminum-alloy shell, four engines, a 103-foot wingspan, and it could carry 5x more bombs than what the military had initially requested. But none of that mattered because apparently, the plane couldn't fly.

We wanted to give you a preview of what is coming in the new ScreenSteps Employee Training Platform. Look for future blog post that will detail all of the features. But here are a few bits. Checklists Job aids are great for when an employee is still learning where to click and what to do. But after awhile, employees may not need to reference the screenshots very often because they remember all (or at least most) of the clicks for performing a task. Yet mistakes are still being made in the day-to-day operations. Billing information is incomplete, Opportunties are inaccurate, and Quotes are being sent out prematurely. Even though employees basically know how to do their job, sometimes they forget all that needs to be done. And that's where checklists come in.

Are some of your ScreenSteps articles kind of lengthy?

Don’t you hate it when you finish up a project, release it to the world, and then get an email from your team with something like, “Hey! How come you didn’t address any of my notes and feedback?”

It's a small thing. But after I was told that one of my help articles looked sloppy, I realized that consistent screenshot width throughout a help article is important.

What do new users experience when they first login to your SaaS? If you're not sure, you should sign up for a trial of your own product, and take a look. See if you're making one of the 3 most common onboarding mistakes. Why Bother? Why is onboarding important? Well, remember the time you went to a restaurant you hadn't ever been to before, and nobody was there to welcome you? You just kind of stood around, waiting for something to happen. That was uncomfortable, wasn't it? And even though you only waited around for five minutes, it felt like 30. And not knowing what to do during those five minutes (or having anything to help you out) was frustrating. A hostess greeting you when you walk in is a small thing--really, all she says is "Welcome," "The wait is about 10 minutes," "You can sit over there," "Your table is ready"--but she gives you assurance, and helps you feel more comfortable. Onboarding new users is kind of like having a hostess at a restaurant. It's a small thing. Maybe all your onboarding does is say, "Welcome," "Here are some options..." and "Here's how to do them..." But having something to tell your new users what's going on can give them assurance, and help them feel more comfortable.

In this week's review of how other SaaS (software as a service) products are onboarding new customers, we're going to check out Kajabi - a SaaS for building online courses, membership sites, and information products.