Business Monitor PASSED:Layout 1 17/02/2009 09:31 Page 24
BUSINESS MONITOR
continued from page 22
Hence: define and put numbers (however simple)
on what represents success because you can’t treat
a problem without defining it; define just why the
hell anyone should buy your product or service “if
you can’t get it into a sentence, you don’t know
the answer”; involve management in the
programme; the secret doesn’t lie in some clever
acronym, it’s about what people actually do
afterwards; follow through to ensure new
behaviour continues.
Tack say a good course includes a pre-course
questionnaire so each delegate’s needs are
addressed; lots of interactive practical sessions and
role play plus group discussion to share experience;
practical guides and tools to take away that can be
used immediately; planning of how to implement
change after the course; post course briefing to
ensure learning is implemented; a point of contact
for delegates to talk through implementation after
the course. delegates’ guts as they drive home. What you do But I suspect I was misled. Put together a tailored
Quadrant Learning Services stress the want is return on investment (ROI). The majority of programme and you are looking at something in
importance of preparation – the delegate should providers will concede that it’s difficult, verging on the order of £2000 per day for 8 -10 delegates and
be told why he’s training and what outcome is impossible, to predict that. However Reed quote the programme will last two days. As you’d guess,
expected. Ken Crompton of Quadrant recommends Taylormade adidas golf who said ”year to date this is a guideline figure, but in any case managers
customers should ask providers the following: sales are up more than 100% and this is who buy training on price are mugging themselves.
what’s the balance between lecture, group work attributable in no small way to the training we Delegates going on one-day packaged courses will
and role play; who’s the actual trainer(s) (you must received” Nevertheless, everyone should have some cost roughly £500. A personal viewpoint is to get
meet them); how will they measure success; what’s track record examples of proven results which they the potential trainees to do plenty of the research
included in the price (follow-up? course materials? can feed you and certainly clients who will give you themselves: if they will benefit from sales training,
pre-course planning?). Crompton also says you insight of personal experience. let them define what and how – and do some of
should be looking for relevant case studies to be Finally comes cost. Personally, I have always felt the find-out. They may well know people in other
used and for the trainer to shadow salesmen that the cost of sales training looks to be at the companies who have had good or bad experience.
before the training event. ‘how much??’ end of the scale. Where we talk about cost, we come back to
So what do you get out of it? This million-dollar return on investment. If a given cost on marketing
question should be asked of any generates 100 enquiries and you close 10 of them,
training provider. What you you would be far better off spending half as much
don’t want is just a nice to generate 50 and close 10. Cut these notional
warm feeling in all the figures how you like, the message remains obvious.
It’s the base proposition of investing in training and
it’s right.
Paul Clapham is a marketing consultant with
over 25 years’ experience covering a broad
range of business sectors and a full spread of
marketing disciplines. He works with small,
medium and large companies alike to increase
their profitability through marketing. Tel:01453
765432
| 24 | March 2009 www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88