Educate Yourself -- Educate Your Staff

As I talk with one business after another, I hear of increased sales is very selected areas.  It seems that the do-it-yourself groups are making a come back.  People are buying home products such as lawn mowers and gas cans, cutting their own grass rather than hiring it out.  People are buying replacement parts for their cars rather than new cars.  Rather than farming out the work and paying higher fees, people are making investments that save money.

Education is another area where investment is increasing.  Educating yourself makes you more valuable.  Rather than replacing low skilled workers with higher skilled workers, firms are educating the teams they have, retaining the skills already learned while teaching additional skills.

There are a number of ways that you can improve your knowledge of Dynamics ERP products used in your firm.  Taking advantage of these opportunities will make you able to pull more information from your software faster, easier, and more accurately.  Here are a few suggestions to help you improve your knowledge.

Of course, there are our books.  Check in the Books in our Library section of this web for a collection of over 20 books on Dynamics GP alone.  These books are specifically designed to help users learn the software.  Books can be purchased online or through many GP Partners.

Many partners hold training classes and seminars.  Full week training classes can provide an intense learning opportunity while single and half day seminars focus on specific areas of the software and are less disruptive to your work schedule.  Check the Events Calendar here on our web site for seminars and training classes offered by partners.

Conferences and their associated sessions provide an excellent opportunity to expose yourself to new innovations and new ideas.  Microsoft has just held their Convergence conference in Atlanta and is working on next year's event, again in Atlanta.  GPUG, NAVUG, AXUG, and CRMUG are making plans for a fall conference in Orlando, Florida.  Each of these events provides excellent information packed sessions and trade shows that help you learn more about your product.  Check our Events Calendar for more information on these conferences.

Many partners hold their own events, launch days, lunch-and-learns, et cetera.  They hold a couple of mini-seminars, invite a few vendors to participate, provide a great value for you.  Check them out and attend.

Your investment in education will help you get more out of your software product.  All too often, I have been called into a firm to show them new software to replace their flawed existing product, only to find out they simply did not know what their current product can do.  Learn, save, and grow.