Taking user groups into account

It probably won’t feature among your primary considerations or even your secondary considerations when changing suppliers - but don’t think for that reason that a user group is of no account.

When contemplating a change of supplier, it’s not surprising that the technology on offer and the track record of those offering it are the primary considerations. But it’s not a bad idea to look at some of the ‘softer’ elements of the package as it were. Take, for example, the user group. In these increasingly pressurised times, chances to network, share ideas and learn of new or interesting developments are invaluable. Axxia users obviously think so as subscription numbers went up by 21% alone last year. They get to meet three times a year on a regional basis before all joining together for the two-day National AGM and User Conference in the autumn.

Over the last two years particular efforts have been made to ensure the group maintains its ‘for users, by users’ rationale, with agendas focused on business issues and the full spectrum of available technology, not just Axxia applications. A perfect example of how well this can work occurred recently when one client took attendees through a case study on their recent digital dictation deployment. The ease of the project and the returns on investment so impressed another client that they also moved quickly to adopt the technology - with the same very positive results.

It’s too easy for user group sessions to descend into glorified supplier sales opportunities when what attendees need is a programme geared to helping them drive their business forward. As one of the longest-established such groups within the legal sector, we’d like to think that we’ve supported our users in the support of each other. It may be a small aspect of the overall ‘changing supplier’ scenario, but it’s one you may benefit from consistently over the years.

Published on: 30-05-2007