Sageworks user groups: Why attend?
Sageworks User Groups provide an increasingly rare opportunity to be in a room full of peers, industry experts and staff from a critical vendor. The intersection of these groups allows for three distinct and valuable learning experiences. The quality of these face-to-face interactions at User Groups is impossible to replicate with a video or phone conference; specifically, these interactions consist of interactive industry discussions, learning from peer experiences and gaining actionable.
Industry Discussion
Each User Group features an Industry Roundtable Discussion in which a sampling of bankers (or competitors) provide their opinions on various “hot topic” issues and share valuable insights with peers from similar institutions based on geography and asset size. Discussion topics include the following questions:
– How are you preparing for the implementation of FASB’s CECL model?
– What challenges do you expect to face over the next year and how do you plan on tackling them?
– How is the ALLL process structured in your institution? Who performs calculation? Approvals, etc.?
From an attendee’s perspective, whether your approach aligns with or differs from that of your peers can be equally relevant. While a Sageworks-provided list of questions serves as a starting point, the discussion shifts to whichever topics are most intriguing to the participants.
Peer Sageworks Usage
While all attendees are banking industry peers, they are more closely related in that they are all Sageworks users. A group conversation specific to Sageworks usage is a powerful way to provide feedback and enhancement requests (and is greatly appreciated by the Sageworks staff!). However, a direct answer to a practical example from a fellow banker regarding the Sageworks software solutions might be one of the most pointed takeaways an attendee can receive. Again, a list of questions are provided to get the conversation started…
– How are you utilizing qualitative adjustments within Sageworks?
– How often do you send core data via the integration process?
– What additional features or solutions would be helpful from Sageworks?
The exchange will take on a life of its own as participants volunteer specific questions and exchange best practices. Regardless of experience level with Sageworks, almost everyone can both teach and learn during the course of these conversations.
User/Institution Specific Feedback
The motivation for a great majority of attendees to go to a User Group is to learn more at a high level, as described above. Yet it’s extremely common to have questions explicit to the institution’s analysis or a particular loan relationship. If participants are willing to share, a concrete example often serves as a great teaching point for the presenters. As time allows, Sageworks staff will also make a point to sit down with clients, log into their account and work through a particular scenario. Face-to-face customer support for a software solution is a unique and efficient service that rewards all involved parties.
Please consider attending one of the upcoming Sageworks User Groups and let us know what you think.
