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Management Insights

Your Best Investment

By Eric Slife, President

Investing in your employees and yourself is considerably less volatile than other investments, and more often than not will produce your greatest return.

Does sales training pay? Too many companies were fat and happy during good economic times, and concluded that if it's not broke, don't fix it. Sales people's deficiencies were masked because they were simply order takers during prosperous economic times. As the economy turned downward, so have many company's sales.

I recently spoke to a small business owner whose sales have dipped over 30% - unfortunately this is becoming normal!

Most companies will tell you their greatest asset is their employees. However, their actions don't support their words. One of the last things companies spend money on is training, and it's one of the first things companies cut.

I'm sure you're reading this saying, "Well, you're a training company, so of course your view is biased." It certainly is. Well trained employees are more efficient and productive. Poorly trained employees not only get less done, but typically they cost you money and additional manpower to fix their mistakes.

Think about your own experiences in dealing with customer service departments. Over a year ago I discontinued using our Internet and cable provider in large part because of their customer support staff. That's over $1200 in lost revenue for them in just one year from one client. That doesn't include my mom who also switched based on my recommendation and lost revenue from subsequent years.

However, don't take my word that training pays for itself. Bassi Investments, Inc. ( www.bassi-investments.com ) is a money management firm that invests in companies that invest in their people. They specifically develop recommended portfolios of firms that make significant investments in employee learning because those company's stocks consistently outperform those that don't put a priority on training.

The problem is too many companies view training as an expense, and don't consider the long term benefits. Here are just a few tangible and intangible benefits of training:

Reduced Turnover - High turnover is devastating when you consider the expense incurred to hire someone and the amount of sales lost when someone leaves.
Improved Morale - When employees are happy they are more productive and efficient; not to mention less likely to bring a lawsuit against your company.
New Customers - Your salespeople are the first, and maybe only, impression prospects have regarding your company. Now, more than ever, your team needs to stand out from your competition.
Fewer Lost Sales - If each person brought in just 10% more sales, or retained 10% more of their current customers, how much would that improve your bottom line?
Higher Profits Margins - Top salespeople not only sell more, but they also sell at higher margins. Simple negotiating tactics can instantly result in thousands of dollars lost or gained in the blink of an eye.

These are just 5 benefits that can easily result in six digits swings for smaller companies and considerably more for larger companies.

Investing in your employees and yourself is considerably less volatile than other investments, and more often than not will produce your greatest return.

Eric Slife is president of Slife Sales Training, Inc. They specialize in providing a comprehensive online sales training program that can be customized to fit a businesses sales team’s specific needs regardless of size. Visit their website www.salestrainingcentral.com and receive a complimentary MP3 download, Top 10 Voicemail Blunders.

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