Posts tagged with "Training Management Software"

While training management software may be useful in reducing the amount of admin that trainers have to deal with, it can also be a crucial part of the marketing function too. Online surveys are growing in popularity, and here’s why trainers should be tuned into them, and some useful tips on generating content...

Once, running surveys to identify market trends and reveal interesting patterns of behaviour, was the exclusive right of major corporations. The corporate giants that not only had a voice that people would listen to, but the channels to reach them as well.

Today things are quite different, and fast-developing technology has meant that companies large and small can tap into a pool of potential respondents and, when executed effectively, generate survey results that will be engagement fodder in their chosen market. To put some more context and meaning around this, let’s take social media as an example. At any one time millions of people are tuned into social media channels, and are accessible by pretty much anyone on the internet.

One sector that will benefit from running surveys, not just to those already worked with but to new prospects to, is the training and development industry.

Why? Simply because training is a very people-focused industry, and if trainers can stay on top of the latest needs and challenges for the people within their target market, they will be able to design their training content accordingly. Today, the training management software is available to automate the entire process, so businesses or individuals can focus less on how they will reach respondents, and more on the content of the survey itself.

To help you get your survey up and running, and ensure you get the right level of engagement from the questions asked, here are some helpful tips on generating effective survey content:

1.    Stay current – Always be looking for an angle, because this will be the hook that gets your target market reading the survey introduction in the first place. So, a good example would be if you are targeting HR executives for your survey, and there has just been a new piece of employment legislation released. Use this as your ‘in’ to ensure that your potential respondents feel as though you have your finger on the pulse.

2.    Keep it concise – Bear in mind the amount of time people have to carry out this kind of work. Your angle may well have got them on the hook, but what’s going to make them stay? Or, more to the point, what will make them leave the page and head back to their emails? By making the questions you ask very concise and to the point, not long-winded or complicated in anyway, you will record a higher response rate. If you can get what you need from ten questions, that’s great. Don’t add questions for the sake of it, be very aware of time.

3.    Simple is best – Following on from point 2, make the survey as simple as possible to fill out. Tick box style is best, because the more effort you can take out for respondents, the better.

4.    Offer value – Value crops up time and time again when it comes to marketing online and engagement, but it is vital. Don’t think that you have to give everyone £100 for entering, but at the very least you could mention that anyone who leaves their email address at the end of the survey will receive an exclusive early copy of the report once completed.

Here at accessplanit our training management system has the functionality to broadcast online surveys and report on the results. If you’d like to try it out, or talk to us about the Course Manager software, get in touch by calling 0845 543 0229.

It should come as no surprise that the fashion industry is at the forefront when it comes to integrating technology into business – fashion relies on being extremely responsive and reacting to new levels of demand, and technology offers complete support in this arena.

That’s why I was interested, but not shocked, to read about the latest venture by Debenhams. The retailer has launched a range of virtual pop-up shops across the UK, and those interested just turn up, download an app to their iPad or iPhone, and virtually ‘try on’ dresses, without the usual handbag throwing and elbow flying normally associated with these type of must-attend events. What is more, you can even send out the virtual image of yourself in the new dress on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to get a quick assessment from followers and friends.

For me, this has to be the future of training. Utilising all of the various training platforms to bring people together into a virtual classroom where experiences and knowledge can be shared around. All trainers know the importance of sharing and communicating (these are probably the reasons that many find it so hard to loosen the shackles of classroom-based learning), and via social networking sites this is made quick and simple.

Forget week-long training programmes, this is modern day learning, where delegates can get bite-sized portions of information as and when they need it, without being tied to a certain time or date. An effective training management system will allow trainers to offer learning in this way, the only barrier to developing this approach seems to be the training companies themselves.

But change is happening, you only need to see our tweets and news posts to see how many training companies that we work with are building their client base and reaching out to a wider audience with the latest innovative products and services. Take Course Manager for instance, it allows training businesses to completely automate the work that they carry out on a day-to-day basis, from the marketing of their programmes to generating the invoices and ‘happy sheets’ at the end of a course. Time, as with any industry is so precious, and it is crucial that companies continue to shift their training programmes from off-line to on-line in an effort to boost engagement with a busy workforce.

Debenhams may well be operating in an IT-savvy industry, but it is still delivering a product or service to human beings, just as training is. The difference is that there is a far wider acceptance and excitement around IT-based interaction within fashion, but as more and more businesses demand the type of development programmes that allow individuals to fit learning into their busy schedules, it is up to the training providers themselves to satisfy this trend, or else lose the business. 

You can get in touch with accessplanit and hear more about the Course Manager software that it has developed. Either call 0845 5430229 or email enquiries@accessplanit.com if you want to read testimonials from current clients or set up a demo to see just how much of an impact the software can have.

In a world where everything is 24 hours, from the news to food shopping and from sport to entertainment, I often wonder why more businesses aren’t prepared to take the leap and be open for every single second of the year.

Then it dawns on me, we all have personal lives and perhaps like to have some sort of boundary between the working hours and the non-working ones. It’s no great surprise, and I’m not unearthing any great news when I say that the biggest influencer over this 24 hour culture is technology, it has made it possible and safe to do many more things at any time of the day, regardless of where in the world you are and which timezone you find yourself in – and to this extent, businesses are not too shy at coming forward. Because, if technology allows you to get a happy balance between being a 24 hour business, while not actually being sat in front of a computer or behind a desk for the entire time, most people would be content, right?

I heard a story recently about a local theatre that was struggling to cope, it urgently needed modernisation and needed to attract a new crowd. Its future was grim. Today, in a very short space of time, the theatre has managed to turn things around, and it’s because of the way it has embraced the digital world. Theatres are traditional businesses, and probably not the first to jump onto the latest technological advances to help them find success, but this one tweaked the way it operated and addressed the fact that it spent so much money on admin staff who sat around for hours on end waiting and hoping for a busy period. It rarely came.

Instead, the business (it’s OK to call a theatre a business, they are not there purely to entertain, they need to be effective and successful too) integrated an online booking system and allowed visitors to book at any time of the day they wanted.

In other words, they tapped into the 24 hour audience, and it saved their lives. This is a theatre that recognised that the best way for its staff to build the business back up is not by sitting around and waiting to take a booking, it’s by using their creative flare and ensuring that the theatre is producing shows that people want to see. It’s also about channelling that creativity and passion to market the theatre effectively, and a simple and basic system like online booking allowed them to do that.
This is a scenario mirrored in many industries, not least the on that I work in, the training arena.

All too often passionate and dedicated trainers spend their time carrying out administration work and are forced to abandon their post, where they should be developing new training programmes and getting companies and delegates excited about their latest courses. There is training management software that automate every part of the administration aspect and reach out to new customers in the 24-7 world, and in turn allow them the freedom to do what they do best.

The software’s out there, and if any training or course provider would like to demo it to get an idea of what it can do, just click here and let me know.

If you want to hear what other training companies have achieved from using the accessplanit software, which includes online booking and automatic generation of certificates, happy sheets and invoices, just get in touch today by calling 0845 5430229 or email enquiries@accessplanit.com.

We’re pleased to report a recent new hire here at accessplanit – a brilliant new software developer who’ll be joining our team in the coming weeks.  What’s interesting about this particular new recruit is that we found him via social networking site Twitter.

Obviously recruitment through online methods is not a new revelation, recruiters and job hunters have been using websites and online job boards for years. However, social media is increasingly playing a role in how companies recruit their staff. So, as recruitment teams tap social networking for increased exposure and success, shouldn’t other industries follow suit and embrace all that online systems have to offer?

When you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Social networking platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are ideal channels as they’re a more personable and immediate ways to connect with a mass audience. With Twitter, you have a ready-made, actively engaged pool of people at your fingertips. Presumably, if someone has chosen to follow your organisation or brand, they already have a healthy interest in what you have to say. They also have their own online circles through which to spread your message.

Social networking channels can also promote a more approachable, human side to an organisation. Regular tweets and updates from a brand or company can really reveal a personality behind the business face and give prospective employees a sense of the working culture. Once technology was seen as impersonal and to be avoided where possible, today it’s not only so convenient and effective, it also has lost the impersonal tag and become wholly accepted in society. In the corporate world, an avid online follower may have a clearer idea of the company’s ethos and therefore a stronger sense of whether they’d fit well with the organisation.  

Access is immediate and wide reaching with online platforms, so you can connect with people wherever they are and engage in a relatively informal two-way dialogue. This element of instant interaction also makes social networks a positive and speedy recruitment tool, not to mention a responsive tool for trainers who need to get in touch with delegates to update them on a last minute venue change or ‘don’t forget to bring’-type note.

As our recent hire shows, people are keen to engage with organisations online and will subsequently base large, life-changing decisions on this initial interaction. 

We are huge advocates of harnessing the power and flexibility of online systems. We feel many organisations limit themselves by not fully embracing all that these systems have to offer. Take the training industry for example - many organisations could massively increase their scope of communication through training management systems. By using an online management system, they could save time and money by streamlining the processes of selling, administering and managing training courses and events.  

Try out the accessplanit Training Administration Software by ordering a demo with one of the team, just take a look at the impact it could have on your business. Call the team on 0845 000 or email enquiries@accessplanit.com

For a business that relies on cutting edge technology to ensure that we stay ahead of the game and front of mind for our clients, it would be impossible not to mention the passing of Steve Jobs this week. He captained the team that actually changed the way we communicate; such is the power of technology today.

If the digital age had to have a central midfield maestro, the one brand that pushes industry forward and keeps the general public eager for more, it would have to be Apple. Research this week has shown that Apple, buoyed by iPad and iPhone success, is now among the top ten brands in the world, competing with the likes of McDonalds, Coca-Cola, and Disney. Today, it’s the eight most valuable brand in the world.

And, when you consider that the power and success of a brand is usually down to human behaviour, what does Apple’s assault on the international markets say about us? Clearly, it says that there is a hunger, and an appetite for digital – and there needs to be a knee-jerk reaction to this from business.

Developing and adapting out training management system each day, I work with technology and all things digital all the time, but sometimes it’s shocking to find out that businesses, particularly within the training world, have not accepted the migration by consumers onto digital platforms. You only have to look at the news this week to see how important it is for course providers to tap into the digital age – the Open University recorded 300 million downloads of lectures per year from iTunes.

Apple’s rapid growth is not just about its fantastic brand, it’s also about satisfying a need, which is focused on the fact that people want to learn, communicate and work online. Digital platforms are no longer the scary impersonal places that they once were – today they are the norm, and although the training and course providers that we work with have recognised that, there are still plenty that haven’t.

A poll that we conducted on Linkedin earlier this year showed that any training business embracing the likes of learning management systems (LMS), online booking and email marketing as a way to manage training and win new clients, is part of an elite club. It’s not the norm yet, even though there is so much potential. 

Try out a demo on our training management software  with accessplanit and see how digital platforms can transform the performance of course providing businesses and trainers, just give us a call on 0845 5430 229 or email enquiries@accessplanit.com.

The definition of efficiency savings is providing and maintaining your existing level of services at lower cost.  AccessPlanit’s Training Management Software will ensure you do more with less and will increase your efficiency savings through:

• Significantly reduced administrative burden and cost achieved through automation
• Convenient, 24/7 customer access for booking and online payment
• Increased conversion rate through your website resulting in increased sales
• Reduced cost of bookings
• Automated billing and payment
• Increased staff efficiency in dealing with customer enquiries and queries
• Improved customer experience and interactions
• Reduced marketing costs
• Increased control through comprehensive, real-time management reporting
• Increased control of resources and costs
• Staffing cost savings and operational efficiencies
• Regular updates meaning you have the most up to date version at all times

 Do more with less, one system does the job of many…

• Course and Event Scheduling
• Administration and Correspondence
• Customer Records
• Work Flow Management
• Online Booking and Registrations
• Secure Online Payment and eCommerce
• Booking Management
• Resources
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
• Bulk Email and Marketing Initiatives
• Finance Management
• Reporting
• Website Integration   & Client Portals
• Feedback and Evaluation

To learn more about how you can make efficiency savings then please contact AccessPlanit and we would be more than happy to discuss your concerns.