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.