1. Narrow Down the Playing Field
When you gather reviews, you can quickly narrow down the list of systems to consider by throwing out all systems with hate-filled reviews that start with “The worst…” If you are looking for a cloud-based system, you can throw out the systems that have reviews talking about downloading programs. Vice versa, you can throw out the reviews for cloud-based systems if you are looking for an on-site solution. Why not just use a filter and search for what you want? People make mistakes when putting data into programs. Besides, you will need those reviews later in the process.
2. Weed out the Unreliable Ones
No search engine is going to have an option for “unreliable,” so you will need to read the reviews to find this. Reliability is, in my opinion, the most important feature of an LMS. After all, how can you use a system that is never available to use when you want it? Throw out the rants about long phone tag sessions with program support, crashes on a daily or weekly basis, or anything else that smells fishily similar to unreliability.
3. Find more of the Best LMS
Once you’ve weeded out the worst of them, it is time to find the best, most glowing reports. Here is where this reason comes in to play. Don’t worry about looking for the options you want, just look for keywords like “easy” and “wonderful.” You can also look for accolades given to the LMS, such as “PC Magazine’s Choice.” This is important because if lots of people like the system, you are more likely to find it suitable to your needs.
4. Find the Best LMS for Your Type of Business
Because you’ve weeded out the worst and mediocre, you can take advantage of the fourth reason, which is that you can find the systems most suitable to your type of business. Have your list of requirements ready and check them off as you go through the review. Does a vendor mention gamification, but the reviewers consistently ignore the subject? It may not be all that the vendor cuts it out to be. Security options seem lacking in the reviews, or a reviewer mentions a hacking incident? Move on to another system’s reviews as quickly as you can. All this reading is important because it presents an unbiased view of the systems’ tools.
5. Get to Know the System from the Inside
Finally, read every review you can get your hand on for the few to which you have narrowed things down. Get inside of the head of the reviewer and read it as if you are there in the moment. Try to see things as they would be in your company if you were to introduce the LMS into the mix there. Why? It is because one of these systems is going to be your final pick and once you make your choice, turning back is hard to do.
Sorting through and reading all the reviews you can would be a difficult task, but if you take advantage of these five reasons to read LMS reviews, you’ll only have to read the ones that suit your requirements best. Just remember every program is going to have a few low ratings; some people have nothing better to do than write hateful things. However, you will know the best LMS by the long, transparent reviews.