At GIE Expo this year, I was on a panel facilitated by Sara Hey from Bob Clements International, with two other business systems in a session called “Looking to the Future – Business Management Software Panel.”  While talking with two competitors on the panel, it became clear that we all have the same issue – most of our customers are not taking advantage of 100% of the power that a business management system provides.

That conversation is also supported by the interactions we had with customers at the Kubota National Dealer Meeting a few weeks ago.  Time after time, we had customers stop by and say things like “I wish ASPEN could do this” or “can you change ASPEN to do that”, and the features already existed in the product. We had one customer say, “when I tell everyone at the dealership what I learned in the last hour while at the booth, they will never believe me”, and another customer says “wow – doing that will save me HOURS of work per week”.

With initial training, we only scratch the surface of the product.  Our goal for a successful implementation is to ensure that you master transaction processing in the system.  At initial training, do you remember how much your brain hurt learning new ways to do your job?  It is not possible at first to learn ALL functionality – even a super brainiac could not accomplish that.

Standing still is falling behind.  Here are some questions to ponder:

1. When was the last time you learned something new in your BMS?
2. Have you reviewed your BMS processes since you went live with the system?
3. Do you remember what features in your BMS that you thought about implementing but haven’t yet found the time?
4. Have you had any additional training in the last year or so for your BMS?
5. Do you have new staff that could benefit from formal training on your BMS?

Check what training options are available for your business management system (online, in-person, webinars, etc). Not every person learns the same way, so it is best to find the method that fits your style of learning. That is why we have various training options for ASPEN, including on-site, regional, and instructor-led custom web-based training.

Create a plan for the offseason on what you want to implement. Set timelines and goals for each of your employees.  You have a great deal of power in your business management system – find new and better ways to use it. On our end, we will continue to evolve ASPEN so that you can remain competitive and grow.