Did you know that spreadsheets are messing with your bottom line?

Most course providers turn to spreadsheets when it comes to organising classes and events. But very few course providers understand the limitations of spreadsheets and the major problems they are potentially causing in the day to day running of their course or training business.

Here are four ways that spreadsheets are messing with your bottom line:

1. Spreadsheets are time consuming. Spreadsheets are simply not agile enough for the demands of people in today's day and age. Spreadsheets were built to analyse and construct two-dimensional data. To gain real insights from spreadsheets you must manually run reports - which can be difficult when you are analysing reams of data spread over many years. Large course providers for instance with 1000’s of bookings each month can’t rely on an inflexible manual system when it comes to analysing data. By sticking with spreadsheets, you are inviting your staff to waste time and encouraging bad productivity.

2. Spreadsheets are more error prone than you think. As your course business takes off, so does the amount of data you keep and analyse. Inputting data into a spreadsheet is a very manual process and it’s incredibly easy to make a mistake. The real issue with spreadsheets is that one single error can have a devastating effect on other entries on the sheet. It’s not worth risking your business’s reputation for the sake of a few mistaken figures. With CourseCo data is readily available at the click of a button - and you can rest assured that all of the information you see  is right on the money!

3. Spreadsheets can be difficult to read and share. We all know that feeling, where you’re staring at a spreadsheet but struggling to make any sense of the rows and columns of data in front of you! Not only are spreadsheets difficult to read, they are also incredibly hard to share. Collaboration across different trainers and business units has never been more important for courses providers of all sizes. It’s how most course providers can effectively keep track of budgets, forecasts and sales. Sadly, when using spreadsheets, the fastest way to share data is still through email. With so many other emails flying into our inboxes, it can be difficult for other trainers or course providers to keep track of the latest files and versions.

4. Spreadsheets don’t show real time data. With a dedicated course management platform, your data is extracted from different areas of your business and packaged into one real time report. With spreadsheets however this process is incredibly time-consuming. Unless you are using a platform like Google sheets, the data in the report can quickly become obsolete by the time it reaches everyone's inbox. As a result it’s impossible to make the rapid-fire decisions that are necessary to achieve success. With CourseCo, an in-built messaging system allows you and your colleagues to share data instantly while in the platform.

With CourseCo, all of your spreadsheets  can be eliminated and your most important and mission critical data can be hosted on a single and intuitive CRM platform with rich reporting. CourseCo allows you to see everything from which courses are performing best to real time course bookings.

Course providers need the ability to take action with the most accurate, current information without waiting for reports to be updated.

Want to find out how CourseCo’s features and in-built tools can help reduce risk in your business? Connect with us on social media or call our product team on +353 61 513 030 today! We can’t wait to hear from you!