Readily available and comprehensive training programs are generally an important requirement and consideration when working with any software platform. Whether transitioning to a new operations system or simply adding staff members to their workforce, property owners and managers in commercial real estate rely on their property and tenant management system service providers to offer initial and ongoing new-user training support long after the initial contracts have been signed.

There is often a question of which type of training provides the most benefit: onsite or online. Without a doubt, online training is the way to go. It’s often a red flag if after a selection period, the evaluating team feels that in-person training is necessary. That’s an indicator that the system is complex and will require repetitive instruction and “hand-holding.” Online training speaks to ease of use and a provider’s ability to easily and effectively demonstrate proper role-based usage of the product.

More benefits of online training include:

1. It’s cost effective. Training costs directly impact software license costs and the costs for in-person training are generally built into the license fees somewhere.
2. It’s flexible. Trainees can log on from anywhere and you can easily record training sessions for those who can’t make the pre-determined live session.
3. It’s easier to individualize by role. You aren’t limited in the amount of training sessions which allows you to set up different sessions for different roles – i.e. engineers, janitorial and maintenance.

At Building Engines, we offer free and unlimited help as part of our system license – that’s right, live support 24 hours a day. In addition, Building Engines customers are assigned a dedicated Client Relations Specialist who launches our Quick-Start Deployment Program, followed by a schedule of proactive and ongoing account monitoring.

Our Quick Start implementation plan gets your team using the system in the shortest possible time. We train staff and tenants online in a logical sequence, focusing on the most important and manageable functions first. The implementation and deployment phase includes:

• Train users by functional group
• Record trainings for future use and access by new personnel
• Deliver all documentation

Of course, a good partner will always find a balance if you decide your property team learns better in person. Just keep an eye out when evaluating providers – if they don’t offer online training, you may want to ask why.