CourseMax

Twenty things every trainer should know before going freelance

Delicious/CourseMax — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:11:41 GMT

Excellent post with helpful advice for trainers considering going freelance. Links to several other informative posts. Read More......(read more)

Training Software Company Launches Social Networking Site for Instructors, Professionals, and Learning Providers

Dan — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:53:00 GMT

Training Software Company Launches Social Networking Site for Instructors, Professionals, and Learning Providers

The CourseMax Online Community offers learning businesses powerful social networking tools to drive training sales and customer satisfaction.

Baltimore, MD, March 4, 2009 - CourseMax (http://coursemax.com), a provider of on-demand software for training businesses announced today the launch of the CourseMax Learning Community. With the economy reeling due to the global recession, training companies are searching for new ways to find and retain customers. Training providers can sign up for a free account in minutes.

The CourseMax Learning Community is a place where business professionals, instructors, and training providers can find learning products and services, build their network, and do business. The new social networking features allow a training provider to publish their class schedules and also provide a discussion forum, blog, and media library where they can upload video, whitepapers, and pictures. All of this community content is searchable on the web site and is also optimized for and indexed by all of the major search engines such as Google, Live Search, and Yahoo.

Dan Blake, President of CourseMax, cites the need for training companies to be innovative in a down economy. "The fact is that the US training market was down in 2008 and it's going to get worse before it gets better. But that doesn't mean that a good training company can't increase revenues and profits by 10% or more in 2009. When the markets pull out of this, and they will, there will be more opportunity than ever before. Innovative training companies that try new things and take advantage of technology to connect with their customers will rise to the top."

Training providers can use the CourseMax Community for free but they can also sign up for CourseMax CRM, a Customer Relationship Management solution with features designed specifically for training businesses. CourseMax CRM is integrated seamlessly with the community for simple schedule publishing, online order capture, tracking of online interactions, and web analytics.

About CourseMax

CourseMax provides software systems that improve the management of training centers and increases their profitability. CourseMax saves training firms the trouble and expense of creating, managing and integrating their own in-house systems so that they can focus on their business. The company is located at 12909 Tufton Woods Ct., Reisterstown, MD 21136. For more information, please call (800) 828-4773, or visit the CourseMax Contact Page

CRM, Learning Management System (LMS), or Training Management Software?

Dan — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 03:54:00 GMT

There are few commercial software packages on the market that were designed for an organization that is in the business of training. The result is that there is a lot of confusion over what to call this category of software. If you are a training organization you know the functionality you are looking for in a tool but you probably don't know what to call the tool or what to search for in Google when you are shopping for a software package to help run your business. You might have several pieces of software (event registration, online surveys, CRM, etc.) that don't work together (i.e. "stovepipes"). You might even be running most of your business using spreadsheets or home-grown applications. Eventually this becomes a big mess, hinders growth, and you realize you need a better solution.

Learning Management Systems

Learning Management Systems are a category of software tools that are used to track and manage learning. They are typically targeted at the HR department of an organization and used to develop and track learning plans and progress for employees of the organization. This software category includes packages from Saba, Learn.com, moodle (the popular open source LMS), and many more. There are literally hundreds of LMSs on the market. If you are an HR manager in a Fortune 1000 company, you have many good options to choose from. However, if you are in the business of training and looked at some LMSs, you probably found them lacking in handling the business functions of a training organization.

Training Management Software

Training Management Software or Solutions fall into a small category of software that is targeted at training organizations. The category is so small that it really isn't even a category. These solutions differ from an LMS in that they typically include features to handle the "business" side of training. Business features include online registrations with e-commerce, booking resources and instructors, perhaps some sales and marketing, and some financial management functions. The vendors/packages in this category include CourseMax 2.0 (our old version), TrainingForce by OakTree Systems, GeoMetrix TrainingPartner, and ViewCentral from Rainmaker. These solutions do a good job of managing training (managing the course catalog and schedule, booking resources and instructors, and managing student registrations). Some even do a decent job of helping you market your courses using e-mail marketing. However, you'll still need a CRM system to manage your customer interactions and really service your customers. If you are like me and you absolutely hate SPAM, you'll agree with me that e-mail marketing (unless it is opt-in only) is essentially dead unless you are selling Viagra out of Canada. If you want to find new customers, don't buy a list and SPAM them. Make your business visible online, turn your customers into raving fans, and get them singing your praises online. That's the essence of social marketing, web 2.0, or whatever you want to call it.

CRM for Training Organizations

CRM is an acronym for Customer Relationship Management. CRM is really a business philosophy of putting your customers first but it is frequently though of as a piece of software that is used to track your interactions with your customers and automate your sales processes. Over time, CRM has evolved into what people are calling "CRM 2.0" or "Social CRM". We like to call the new version of CourseMax CRM "CRM Software for Training Organizations". CourseMax CRM has all of the traditional features of CRM software, including contact management, sales force automation, customer service, analytics, and reporting. In fact, CourseMax CRM is built on a CRM platform called Microsoft Dynamics CRM. What we added to this CRM solution are the features that a training organization needs to run their business. We also connected (integrated) CourseMax CRM with the CourseMax Community. The combination of these two tools allows you to interact with your customers, get their feedback, let them participate in your business, and provide them with continuous value. Rather than sell a customer one course then disconnect with them until the next time you need to hit your revenue numbers you can continue to follow up, help them, and offer them valuable information in a scalable way. Which method do you think works best?

If a training organization goes out and buys Microsoft Dynamics CRM, SalesForce.com, Sugar CRM or some other generic CRM package they will find that it is far from a complete solution for running their business and servicing their customers. Most of the time, the sales and customer service teams will hate the new CRM application because, instead of saving them time and providing value, it actually adds work to their daily routine. Next, your staff refuses to use the system and you are faced with the decision of killing the CRM project or spending a lot of money customizing your generic CRM solution to fit your business. You'll probably need to create and integrate a course registration portal, build course tracking into the system, and much more. What we set out to do with CourseMax CRM was to provide the most common functionality that a training organization needs to run their business. By automating your business processes, you'll actually save time for your employees and give them an incentive to use the tool. You can learn more about the features of CourseMax CRM here.

Putting Our Customers First

Yes, I just told you about all of our competitors. Why would I do that? Well, first of all, I believe that CourseMax CRM is a far better mousetrap and that you'll find that you get a lot more value from us than our competitors. However, if there is another package that fits you better from a good company, we'll be the first to tell you that. I've referred business to our competitors plenty of times when our solution wasn't a good fit. Is that stupid? I don't think so. I think it's just good business. If you need an LMS, you should get a great LMS package. If you want training management software with e-mail marketing, buy one of those packages. If you need CRM for Training Organizations then try out CourseMax CRM.

Learning management systems take to the internet Cloud - 16 Feb 2009

Delicious/CourseMax — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:07:08 GMT

Good post by John Stokdyk on trainingzone.co.uk on Learning Management Systems (LMS) "in the cloud". John writes about the buzz and increased interest in SaaS-based implementations of learning management systems like Moodle. Read More......(read more)

Chief Learning Officer magazine - Five Learning Trends for 2009

Delicious/CourseMax — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 04:16:58 GMT

CLO Magazine - Top 5 Learning Trends for 2009 - Mobile learning, DIY Learning, Flexible learning environments, virtual worlds, and games and simulations. Read More......(read more)

Get Paid for What You Know

Dan — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:43:00 GMT

My father is a wise man and there are many things he has told me that have stuck with me. One of my all-time favorite "words of wisdom" he shared with me is to "get paid for what you know, not what you do." The first time I remember him saying this is back when I was finishing up high school and considering whether or not to go to college. I had started a fence building company (my first venture) and I was making a lot of money for an 18-year old. It's hard to have a long-term view when you are young. Now fence building is REALLY hard work. Digging holes in the dirt through rocks and tree roots can be fun but I imagine it would get pretty old by the end of a 40 year career. Fortunately, my parents convinced me to go to college (Go Terps!). After I graduated from college, I got a job as an engineer at a construction company making $28k a year which was about $20k less than I could have made digging holes. But the opportunities started coming my way and within 5 years I was making twice as much as I could have ever made in the fence building business. I ended up getting into the computer field at the right time and I've been fortunate throughout my career to have great opportunities come my way. None of that would have happened if I hadn't gotten my degree. A lot of times I think I'm still getting paid for what I do (and it's a paltry sum) but every now and then, what I know really comes in big. In general though, most computer software professionals do a lot better than fence builders.

I'm telling this story because it reminds me how important it is to be a lifelong learner. Learning doesn't end when you graduate from college. It is just the beginning. A lot of what we learned 10 years ago is useless to us today. If we don't keep learning we'll be left behind because Knowledge is accelerating at an exponential rate. We're constantly learning even when we don't think we are. We take in all kinds of information every day.

The ways in which we learn are also changing. I've been doing some research on learning and social networking and I've come across some really good information using tools like digg, del.icio.us, and Google. I read a post by George Siemens who writes a blog called eLearnSpace. His article is titled "Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age". In it, he talks about how

"Including technology and connection making as learning activities begins to move learning theories into a digital age. We can no longer personally experience and acquire learning that we need to act. We derive our competence from forming connections."

Since we can't memorize all we need to know, we have to develop ways to find the information we need, when we need it. The "connection" you need on any given day might be a person you know, a "friend" in one of your social networking tools, a web application you have bookmarked, or a fundamental principle you know that you can apply to many different situations.

So, does this mean we can make lots of friends and figure out how to use Google really well and stop worrying about learning anything? I don't think so. Successful people are still deep in certain areas. It's when they need to know something outside our area of expertise that we rely on these connections. If you aren't really knowledgeable about something then you don't bring value to others.

The great thing is that we have all kinds of learning resources at our fingertips. Some of it, like the vast amount of information published on the Internet, is free. Some of it we have to pay for. There is traditional classroom learning, synchronous eLearning, asynchronous eLearning, on-demand learning, blended learning, books, and the list goes on and on. Take your pick. The most important thing we can do may be to be smart about how we get smart. What is the right mix of learning. How can I get the best value for both my time and my money.

If you are in the learning business, you are probably thinking about changing how and what you offer your customers. If you haven't, you're probably finding that you are falling behind your more forward-thinking competitors. It's easy to get caught up in doing the same thing day to day. Do yourself a favor and step back and ask yourself "Does what we do still make sense?" Be honest with yourself and have the courage and conviction to change.

Let's all keep learning, making connections, and get paid for what we know!

- Dan Blake

Sales Prospecting and Management - Managed Sales Opportunity Pipeline

Delicious/CourseMax — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:38:34 GMT

This is a really good post about managing pipeline, treating your customers right, and why a CRM system is only part of the equation. There's nothing here that hasn't been said before but I'll be referring to it frequently as a great reminder Read More......(read more)

elearnspace. Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age

Delicious/CourseMax — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 00:59:23 GMT

Theory anyone? Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age by George Siemens, December 12, 2004. This article is almost four years old but very applicable to learning in today's age of online social networking. Read More......(read more)

The iPhone Could Be The Ultimate Study Machine

Delicious/CourseMax — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 12:42:39 GMT

by Jason Kincaid on January 17, 2009 We’ve all heard about the incredible growth of the App Store, which has seen more than 500 million downloads across over 15,000 applications. Much of the innovation (or at least, money) has come from games and other Read More......(read more)

Corporate eLearning Strategies and Development: Why SecondLife is the best corporate training development tool

Delicious/CourseMax — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 21:00:44 GMT

A Whole New CourseMax!

Dan — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:51:00 GMT

Now is a very exciting time for CourseMax. We can't wait to show you what we've built. We are getting ready to launch the 3rd major version of CourseMax about one week from today. We've been testing it out in a closed Beta and we're working out the final kinks as I write this post. What has changed you ask? Everything has changed. That's right, over the course of the last 6 months or so we have developed an entirely new application, service, and an online community for professional and continuing education. Back in late 2005, we set out on a mission to develop a great piece of software for training organizations who have traditionally had few places to turn for an application that worked the way a training organization does business. Our vision of what we wanted to do with this software and this business was shaped by our early customers. CourseMax 2.0 was a pretty good application. It handled the day to day operations of a training organization well and provided an easy way for training organizations to offer online registrations, manage their instructor's schedules, book rooms and equipment, run some reports and keep track of everything in one central place. But CourseMax 2.0 only got us part of the way to our shared vision.

With CourseMax 3.0 we've gone all the way. So what exactly have we added:

Free Online Community for Professional & Continuing Education
Why did we build a free community? Well because their isn't a good one out there and our industry needs one. The CourseMax community provides learners, learning professionals, and learning organizations to find people with common interests, network, and do business together. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google, and eBay are are all great tools and I use every one of them. However, these tools are generic, the social networks are broad and unfocused so they don't have the features to serve our industry.

I'll give you a couple examples.

Scenario #1: Let's say you're a professional trying to keep your skills current and you're looking to take a few courses. You want to find the course you need at a convenient location, from the best training organization, with the best instructors, how successful do you think you'll be in finding that course using Google? It will probably take hours just to find a couple options and you'll have no idea if your going to get good value for your money.

Scenario #2: Now you are an operations manager at a training organization and you need a great instructor immediately for a class you are running next week for your most important client. You need to find all of the instructors who have experience with the subject, and who get great reviews from students every time. Not only that, you need to know if they are available to teach the course next week, negotiate rates, and book one of them for the class. How easy would that be to do on LinkedIn? Again, hours of research to find the candidates and you would be lucky to find someone available who you would risk using for your best client.

The CourseMax community gives you the tools to handle these situations with ease and much more. Take a look at the the Learn More pages to learn about all of the things you can do with the free tools in the CourseMax Community. So, why is it free. Simple...we want EVERYONE to join the community. The larger the community the more valuable it is for everyone involved. We're even providing easy to use tools for training providers to keep their schedule and course catalog up to date with little or no effort.

CourseMax CRM is built on top of a robust Customer Relationship Management platform

CourseMax CRM is our premium software for training organizations. CourseMax CRM 3.0 replaces CourseMax 2.0 and then some. We built version 3.0 as an enhancement to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0. We rebuilt all of the functionality we had in CourseMax 2.0 on this new platform. But now it comes with so much more:

Custom Reporting
A powerful Workflow Engine
Sales Process tracking
Marketing Campaigns
Customer Service Case tracking
Activity tracking for e-mails, phone calls, chat, and letters
Outlook Integration
Powerful Customization Features

Your getting a full-blown CRM system set up just for a training organization. Every piece of information about your valuable customers is there in one place. Go ahead, ask me if we can add that feature you've been wishing for. Not only can we do it for you...you can do it yourself too! Or, if you don't have time, we're happy to do it for you.

Two online marketing channels to drive more sales
Your website and your community presence will both be working for you to help you reach out and let your customers find you online. Your customers can find, buy, and track all of their learning right through the community. If they come directly to your web site, they can register for a course and pay for it right on your web site too. Best of all, either way they do it, you'll have the order automatically recorded in CourseMax CRM.

The Power of Choice: Host your own OR Let us host it for you
Now you can purchase CourseMax CRM licenses and host it yourself on your own servers. You can also let us take care of all the hassle and pay a low monthly fee to use the service.

Learn about all of the new features of CourseMax CRM in the Learn More pages.

Visit this blog regularly or add our feed to your reader. We'll be posting Tips, Tricks, and Instructions for using the new software as well as important industry topics right here.