Whether you're taking the first step of your Learning Management System (LMS) journey or have been at it for years, wanting a better way to train and measure learning was likely the motivation for seeking an online learning platform. From tracking progress and completion rates to setting learner notifications, smart use of learner data can optimize your training programs in profound ways. The trick then becomes how to use data to empower, rather than to drown, your business decision making. And that's precisely the challenge LMS business intelligence tools were born to solve. Adding a business intelligence (BI) tool to your LMS is like giving it a can of Red Bull. It'll bring new energy to your LMS data by connecting it with other important business metrics, enabling you to measure and track its impact on business goals. Functional dashboards and custom reports translate random data into actionable insights, giving you a leg up on your competition. Let's look at the six strategic benefits an LMS BI tool will bring to your business.
1. Train to Stay Ahead, Not to Catch Up
A business intelligence tool takes the guesswork and stress out of decision making, particularly when it comes to where to focus training and learning efforts. Using real-time data to track trends and develop forecasts answers many of those "what ifs" that often hold companies back. Link learner data to trends and forecasts to highlight learning opportunities, ensuring your team is ready for what's next.
2. Make Data-Based Business Decisions
Cognitive science research suggests intuition is shaped by connecting a current situation to past experiences. Personal experience can be a tempting marker when making decisions, even when circumstances aren't analogous. Training materials that give a clear sense of the goals, culture and company direction will enhance employee's ability to make good decisions. This is especially true when codifying your commitment to data. Using a BI tool to re-confirm inspirational gut feelings ensures you honor those exciting risk-taking instincts, but are equipped to verify them as well.
3.Pinpoint Sales Training Software Opportunities
Your sales MVP's likely shine because they better understand your products and services than lower-performers on your sales team. A solid LMS reporting tool won't just provide reports that connect learning data and sales performance, it provides specific, actionable training recommendations to address skill gaps. Better equipping your team to succeed will greatly increase their ability to distinguish your company from competitors.
4. Reach Full Compliance, Achieve More Goals
An LMS is an excellent resource for tracking employee progress and completion of mandatory compliance training. Paired with a business intelligence tool, however, you can draw business data to ensure all trainings are being used as intended. If misaligned, use your online learning platform to discover where you can improve the training, or perhaps how you're administering it. It could be that you need to increase compliance training frequency, so requirements stay top of mind. LMS insights will help you optimize your mandatory training.
5.Centralize Access to Business Metrics
Modern businesses often require that employees have access to important data both in and out of the office. From employees on business trips to remote workers, accessing data out of office is more important than ever. Adding a BI tool to an LMS provides a secure and centralized location for everyone in your organization to access important business metrics and reports whenever and wherever they need them. Centralized data also ensures that the data employees are accessing is both correct and current.
6. Improve Online Course Sales
If you're an eLearning provider offering online courses, there are strategic benefits of implementing a BI tool for you, too. For example, linking learner data to an online ad strategy can help increase conversion rates and overall sales while reducing overall ad spending. From optimizing ad display times and frequency to better align with sales to creating ads to promote the next course a learner might enjoy, there are many ways to use business data to improve and optimize online course sales. Adding business intelligence to your LMS can provide strategic benefits for workers and businesses. The reporting options are nearly limitless. With the right LMS, you can be pull, measure and report on all your data, greatly enhancing decision making.
Absorb Analyze is a full-service BI solution—and the perfect place to start gaining value from your business data.
