" Taking your Team from Good to Great".. Kevin Wash
I personally believe that there is no such thing as too much training, think about it, top athletes, tennis players etc. all have coaches and they train almost every single day if they are not competing, in fact some will train even while competing.
The skill levels of these guys are extremly similar, what seperates the best from the rest?, mindset and attitude, the overwhelming determination to be the best, the commitment to do “whatever it takes”, this is where their training really comes into force, this is how they become the best and maintain that status.
Now think about your current sales team, possibly you only have any additional training when figures are bad, (They are supposed to know what they are doing, so why train them!!) type of mentality, shout threaten to fire them, review your product and prices fire the marketing department, I’ve seen all of these and some even more extreme measures when things are going bad.
The old adage “prevention is better than cure” comes to mind, why not invest in your teams and have them trained on a regular basis, develop their skills sets and most importantly keep their minds sharp and on track, I have found nuggets in so many organisations, just being ignored and buried under a mountain of boredom and lack of engagement. If your team are sharp and focused they can adapt very quickly to meet market demands, this will allow you to be strategic and stay ahead of the game.
To appeal to CEO’s about why their teams should be trained, sadly my logic is more often than not directed to the impact on their bottom line, I will often make them aware that if there is no impact fairly quickly then simply stop utliising my services, that’s not based on me being arrogant, that’s based on the passionate belief inside of me that training (when done well) will always have a significant impact on any business.
I love to train non sales teams, support staff, operations, clients services, the potential benefits to any company here are huge in staff enagement levels, once that starts to increase, just watch productivity, client satisfaction, staff retention levels literally go through the roof.
I recently undertook an assignment to do some specific sales training in a large organisation, after the sessions were completed, the HOD’s were all receiving requests from thier respective teams for training, they didn’t wan’t product training, they wanted some of the feelgood factor that the sales team had taken away from their sessions, they wanted somebody to make them feel special for the work that they do, sometimes only external eyes will see this, you can be too busy on daily tasks to realise the importance and significance of it.
Fortunately that company responded in a positive manner to the requests and after several more sessions, the atmosphere in that workplace has improved beyond recognition or expectation, so have the levels of performance.
Why is that? because they understand the company is investing in them, external trainers such as myself cost money, the team’s realise this money is being spent to benefit them, and they will give it back 10 times over.
My message to any CEO would be this, I don’t see training as an expense to a company, I see it as an investment in your business and your people, also it will possibly turn out to be one of the best you will ever make. So I will leave you with this to consider, don’t wait until the lights go out, start a development program now across all departments and watch those lights shine brighter than ever.
Give me a call, drop me a line I’m always happy to talk. kevin@vosconsultants.com