How to Choose an LMS for Your Staff and Client Training
With 60% of employers saying that talent gaps are having a major or moderate impact on their business, there’s no doubt that the demand for dynamic education is growing.
However, in such a fast-paced industry, expanding your knowledge while juggling existing operations can be quite a challenge — especially for small business owners!
Particularly when it comes to staff and client training, the ultimate goal is to adapt your business to be forward-thinking and agile as new opportunities arise. But at the same time, you also need to have your feet firmly on the ground to address more immediate concerns.
The simple solution? Finding the best learning management system for you (or ‘LMS’ platforms as they’re also known).
Helping you efficiently train staff or clients through exclusively online methods, LMS platforms are the ultimate professional learning solution. With flexible options to suit most companies, your small business can reap the rewards of intensive professional development without the commitment of large-scale training days or costly corporate training materials.
Sounds ideal, right? The problem is that when it comes to finding the right LMS platform for your small business, you’ll find that not all solutions are equal.
That’s why our team is here with all the facts to help you choose an LMS for your staff and client training that fits the needs of your small business.
Let’s get started.
Firstly, what is a Learning Management System?
In today's work landscape, lifelong learning has become an integral part of staying competitive. That said, with significant time, energy, and money needing to be invested in workforce development, many small businesses are finding it difficult to keep up.
This is where a top Learning Management System (LMS) can really help your small business shine.
With technology shaping learning in educational institutions, it’s no surprise that businesses are also recognizing the value of online training solutions to keep the learning cycle moving. With a faster and more effective learning process, companies of all sizes can adapt to changing circumstances and ensure their in-house teams and clients are on board with their next move.
But what exactly is an LMS platform?
In short, an LMS is a software application designed to help you deliver, track, and manage training and learning programs. Essentially, it acts as a hub for the creation, distribution, and management of courses and training materials you’d otherwise have to coordinate manually.
With customizable features, integrated assessments, and collaboration tools — the right LMS can be a game-changer for your business.
How can an LMS benefit your business?
Revolutionizing how you train your staff and clients, the benefits of an LMS platform are undeniable. From making education more accessible to ensuring individual learning styles are engaged more effectively, an LMS offers a whole new approach to professional training that can make a BIG difference to your business.
But beyond this, why use an LMS for your small business?
1. Streamlines Onboarding and Staff Training
Imagine having an intuitive interface that makes course creation a breeze. A good LMS platform offers exactly that!
Streamlining staff training by enabling you to create and deliver engaging employee training programs on any topic you like, you can educate your employees while also empowering them to learn more effectively.
For small businesses in particular, this method of course creation and training can be a great asset for future growth. Allowing you to build a concrete strategy for how you want your business to be run, you can ensure better control of your expansion and quickly bring new employees up to speed on your operations.
2. Enhances Client Relationships
The right LMS can also help improve customer and client relationships with targeted training, enabling them to make the most of your products or services.
By equipping your customers with valuable insights, you can enhance their experience, build loyalty, iron out any problem areas, and boost your bottom line.
Tip: Small businesses often struggle with ‘problem clients’ draining resources and taking away time from new opportunities. With the right eLearning content, such as video tutorials and instructional guides, you can offload client-related pain points and improve customer satisfaction almost instantly!
3. Elevates Sales performance
When it comes to your sales team, an LMS can make training seamless. Not only can it give your sales representative the knowledge they need to sell confidently, but it also enables them to enhance their selling technique with courses tailored to improve their performance.
The result? Increased revenue and a stronger sales force.
Additionally, if your small business doesn’t have a dedicated sales team — it’s good to know that an LMS can also do some of the selling for you! Let your LMS do the talking by creating demos or informational guides for your products or services and incorporating them into the sales process.
4. Simplifies HR Compliance Training
Even for small businesses, HR compliance can be a real headache. But did you know that an advanced LMS can significantly simplify the process of tracking and managing training requirements? With the right LMS, you can stay on top of your organization's HR policies and associated training courses.
Tip: The right LMS can also help you reduce staff turnover by keeping staff feeling more engaged and fulfilled. Improving employee retention means less training costs, more free time, and an opportunity to optimize a workforce you know is loyal to your small business.
What to Look for When Choosing an LMS
It might sound like an easy thing to research, but you’d be surprised by how much of a minefield the LMS sector is. With many platforms claiming to offer the same training features, it can be difficult to know which ones are the real deal.
To help, we suggest following these tips:
1. Look for a Simple and Intuitive Interface
It goes without saying that an LMS should always be user-friendly and allow you to create and update courses with ease. Even if the platform claims to offer advanced features, it should still offer an uncomplicated approach to course creation that saves you valuable time in the long run.
2. Opt for a Platform That Allows You to Use Your Own Branding
If your small business has worked on establishing itself as a brand, you’ll likely want to retain this branding across your learning materials — after all, they are yours! This is why customization options are so crucial. With the ability to integrate your own branding into educational materials, you’ll be able to ensure a more consistent and immersive user experience.
3. Research Platforms With Built-In Messaging Add-Ons
When it comes to learning, communication is key. This is why we always suggest looking for an LMS with built-in messaging features and discussion forums. These tools help promote collaboration and knowledge-sharing among learners, creating a more engaging and interactive learning experience.
4. Seek Out Reporting And Analytics Features
Think back to school. At the end of each year, we all got report cards to help us (and our parents!) keep track of our progress. Professional development should be no different. With reporting and analytics features, you can track learner progress, monitor course completion rates, identify areas for improvement, and even spot new learning opportunities!
5. Look For A Great SupporT Team
Even if eLearning courses are easy to set up on a particular platform, it’s always good to know that there’s long-term help on hand! Online learning can be somewhat of a process, so seek out an LMS vendor that offers assistance in the form of an onboarding specialist, ongoing support, and easily accessible online or phone contact.
Note: Most learning management systems will claim to offer customer support, but not all platforms will continue to offer this support after installation!
Ready to Find the Perfect LMS Platform for Your Small Business?
Investing in the right LMS platform for your small business can make a huge difference to not only the performance of your employees but also your business goals, growth plans, and client relationships.
With the ability to create learning materials and targeted courses to enhance key skills or address specific challenges, you can open up your business to a whole new level of success.
Especially with an LMS platform such as LearnRight, you can leverage advanced features through a user-friendly interface and maximize the impact of your training initiatives. With customizable branding, community messaging, progress analytics, and so much more — LearnRight is one of the leading LMS platforms on the market.
If you’d like to know more about LearnRight and how it’s helping small businesses all over the world, change their approach to staff and client training, feel free to request a demo and see the platform in action for yourself!
With LearnRight, you can create learning paths that make a real difference to your business, regardless of size.
About Nick Butler:
Nick Butler is the founder of LearnRight, an online learning management system for organizations and businesses.