Toojays Blog

Strange question, but what's your ratio?

That's the ratio of how, as a manager you spend your time.

How much of your time is spent managing your people and direct reports (coaching, advising, giving direction, leadership, performance managing and equiping them with the ability to do 'the work'). 

How much of your time is spent actually hands on doing 'the work' your team is required to do.

Commonly held view of most modern managers is that it should be 80:20 - That's to say 80% of your time managing your people to enable them to do the work!

How does your current ratio compare?!!

Be interested to hear

Regards

Ed

A very common situation encountered in business is people who don't have the skill or confidence to generate more business though use of the phone. It's quick, cost effective and allows the salesperson to gain far more information on a prospect than a conversation over email. 

Email makes life easy, who could argue with that? However it's worrying that so many sales teams have become comfortable with emailing and not recognising the value of a courteous, good old-fashioned telephone call. Believe it or not, this trend is soaring and companies who get the telephone sales right will no doubt have a competitive edge over the competition.

What is actually more interesting is that when clients are shown the solution through training and consultancy, they struggle to justify the training. This is because they fail to do a simple calculation, which is "How many sales orders do I need to make in a month to break even on the training spend?" More often than not, the answer is less than one, before they see the value and return on their spend. Most of the time people think of the spend/activity rather than the outcome. 
 

Here are some points to consider...

ROI:
Work out your average order value and then how many sales orders you would need to break even on the training spend.

Trainer's credibility: 
Does the trainer have a track record in the subject they are training? Ask for a biography of the trainer's background as this provides you with an opportunity to see if your instructor is a good fit for your business.

References:
Do they have genuine testimonials? Ask if you can contact one or two for feedback. It's a good idea to contact other companies who have used the training provider's services. Ask what the company liked and what they didn't like about the service they received. Doing this will help you make a well informed decision.

Training companies credibility:
Are they doing what they train? For instance, if they are training your staff on telephone techniques, are they using the phone correctly in their business? Call them and find out before you engage in their services.

Training style:
Some companies are happy to sit your team in front of a PowerPoint presentation and bore them to tears. In our experience, participents get more out of the training when it is interactive, fun and can be used in their job roles. Decide what style will best suit your company.

Continuous Development:
One-off training sessions are fine for refreshing knowledge and to motivate your staff. However if you really want to get the full benefit of your investment, consider a monthly or quarterly training programme so that your clients get real value as they can see the continuous improvement their staff are making.

Quality of materials:
Ask for a sample of materials they will use in the training so that you can see what your staff will see and learn from.