How much better are the people who make up your organization than they were at this time last year, or for that matter, last month?
How about you, how much more do you know this year than you knew last year? What skills do you possess this year that you did not possess last year? What are some of the things that you can do this year that baffled and challenged you last year?
What specific steps are you taking to make sure that you and the people in your organization gain enough knowledge and information to survive in a rapidly changing marketplace?
One thing I have learned from my consulting practice is that the companies that excel have not only hired quality people, they have also invested in them once they are onboard. And that goes for the owner or manager, too. If the company’s leader is not growing, odds are that the organization is stagnant, as well.
How does your organization score in professionalism? Since 60% to 70% of your total expense dollars are likely invested in your people, it seems logical that developing your people is the most logical place to begin. Investing in a new piece of equipment may be an excellent value-add for your business, but I believe the quality of your people should be at the heart of your competitive advantage. While the competition can duplicate your equipment very quickly and easily, it will take them years to duplicate the professionalism of a staff that is highly developed.
Answer the following questions about your business:
- Are my people trained how to answer the telephone professionally? Or, does everyone answer the telephone is his or her own individual way?
- Have I instituted a dress code for my employees?
- Have my people been trained in the art of handling customer complaints? What about irate customers?
- Have my people been trained in the precise words to use when they experience each of the top ten complaints our company receives from its customers?
- Are my people trained how to handle pricing objections? Do they sincerely believe that your company represents the best overall value in the market? Or, do they believe that they must always match the lowest price in the market to keep their customers on board?
- Have my people been trained in the art of customer care? Do they acknowledge all customers when their paths cross? Do they smile automatically when they meet a customer? Are our salespeople trained to upgrade sales and to sell related items?
- How well do my salespeople perform the art of consultative selling? Is their product knowledge and their knowledge of their customers’ businesses so superior that they clearly set themselves apart from the salespeople who represent the competition?
- Do each of my salespeople have a personal development program to enhance their value to our company and to our customers’ businesses?
- Do my people routinely write thank-you notes to customers and prospects?
- Do my people come to me with ideas that will raise gross margins, reduce expenses or improve sales?
If you answer no to very many of these questions, it will be very difficult for your company to compete with a high level of profitably in the years that lie ahead. Knowledge is power. It is the owner/manager’s responsibility to provide the leadership that will put each employee on a path toward a greater level of excellence.
Try this: Run your finger down the operating expense section of your income statement. See if there is an expense category for Training and Development. Whether or not you find this expense category will tell you a lot about where personal development is on your list of priorities.
Next, sit down with your key people and agree on a personal development program for each of them. This is the only way to be sure that your team will win the battle for business in this decade.
Training and development is the only way for organizations to take advantage of the years of experience each of their employees bring to the table. In the absence of training and development programs, your long-term employees will often be guilty of having one year of experience 20 times over instead of a true 20 years of experience. As you well know, there is a big difference.
If you haven’t already done so, call your industry’s trade association and get a list of the training programs they have scheduled for 2011. Also, check with your local Chamber or business development group. I believe you’ll find that numerous training opportunities are available for an affordable investment.
Over the years I have worked in the business community, I have learned that the quality of an organization’s people typically equals the overall quality of that organization. If you think training is expensive, just think about how much ignorance is costing you.
I encourage you to make it a top priority to map out a training and development program for each of the key people in your organization.