Training Your Way to the Bank
When we think about training employees we tend to think about learning styles and needs analysis, surveys, performance appraisals, focus groups and advisory committees. What? That wasn’t what came to your mind? Oh well, not to worry, it all really is common sense, but don’t tell the HR professionals I told you that. I was an HR manager for 25 chain stores and did all the training for customer service, manager training, and some technical training. I created the first ever training house for Roto-Rooter. I became a Certified Professional in Human Resources back in 2000. I had already had nine years of human resources experience by then.
So I will lay out the street-smart common sense approach to performing training for a small group or small business. First, training costs a lot of money. How? Well you pay for the trainer’s cost, the wages of the employees being trained, and any equipment and material or location utilized to accomplish the training. If you are training several people at a time, it can add up very quickly. Not to despair, it is worth it. This is true especially if you focus the training on where it will improve service, sales, customer retention, and profits.
Traditionally you would use what is called a needs analysis. This in layman’s terms is why do we need to do this and how can we prove we need it. Who exactly do we need to train to do what and how the best ways to accomplish this are? For the small business you could use a list of customer complaints or reasons why your employees feel that customers don’t buy your product or service. You can use information that tells you your refunds are up or injury claims are on the rise. Use whatever sources that identify the specific task or information needed to overcome the problem.
Once you have distilled this you can design training around the problem. I will tell you two examples from my career. First these have been mentioned in this book elsewhere but for now here it is again. At Xpert Tune our chain of Auto Service Centers we were having a rash of oil pan drain bolts that were loose after we had changed the oil and the oil leaked out and we ended up paying for five engines in one month. That was out of over 10,000 per month in Memphis.
So what I did was have one of our lead techs go to a salvage yard and purchase oil pans that fit about nine different manufacturers of cars. We stripped them down to bare metal and painted them inside and out then mounted them on a sheet of plywood facing up. We contacted a fellow who was the regional service manager for Nissan (who we ended up hiring) and asked how much torque should be applied to a drain bolt. His answer was three-foot pounds of torque to get it tight enough without stripping the threads. So we took our drain pan set up and laid the correct wrench for each model next to each one. Then we took the torque wrench that measured how much torque was applied to the bolt. Next we had our trainees take the torque wrench and tighten it till it was three feet pounds, then loosen it with the regular wrench and tighten it again with the regular wrench. The torque wrench was used to measure how close he got to the three foot pounds. We repeated the process until they had developed the muscle memory to recognize three foot pounds of torque just by feel.
The result was a drastic reduction in problems with loose drain bolts. It was a light bulb moment for us and out of that grew a whole in-house training department around which we built a four-year career path for new oil-change techs to go to our classes and move up four grades to a lead tech that could perform tune ups and carburetor repairs and become ASE Certified. They went from $8 per hour to $12 per hour and that was in 1987 dollars.
While I was division manager at Roto Rooter for Alabama we had a problem with new techs that were entry-level drain cleaners who were trained use the Roto Rooter machine to clear blockages. As the division manager I spent a lot of time hanging out in the driver’s room where they took coffee breaks and awaited job orders. I noticed a pattern in the conversations between the newbie’s and the experienced techs. They were relating how they got the cable stuck or missed the mark. The older techs said, “When you released the cable which way did it move?” I found out that when the cable pushed back it was running up hill, or if it kicked back a certain way it was going to the left or right. I realized this is another case of muscle memory. So we got busy and built a one-room house that had every kind of plumbing fixture we could put into it. When we hired a new tech we would train him or her on the feel of the cable before that tech ever went to a customer’s home. We also used it for sales training by practicing the role play of everything from what do you take with you to the front door and how to approach the customer. It was a tremendous morale booster because my guys were being more successful quicker than before.
To apply this to your company, separate out in your mind and on paper the technical training from the customer service and sales training. Then for the technical training I was most successful by showing the trainee how first before he or she did it. Then show and then they do it, show and they do it until they are comfortable and let them continue until they are able to trouble shoot for themselves. Key words are Trouble Shoot!
For customer or sales training scripting, list the common objections that your own customers say and teach your employees the correct response to the objection and role play until they are comfortable being confronted. Let them be the customer and challenge you. This requires some investment of time and is not one- or two-hour training. I wouldn’t let anyone talk to a customer without several days’ experience role-playing the pros and cons of what to do or say to achieve the best outcome for the customer experience.
One thing I haven’t mentioned that is first and foremost and critical to the successful training of anyone is to explain why we do it that way. Teach them the benefits of the particular approach and how it has proven to be the successful way to handle things. When people buy in that this is the best way to do this, they will accept the training and apply themselves to it with greater vigor. Remember when you were a kid and you kept asking your mom or dad “Why?” over and over? When they finally gave you an acceptable answer, you bought in and went along.
So to sum up a good and simple approach to training contains the following:
- Base it on a real need that benefits the company, employees, or customers.
- Structure it for employees to become proficient to the extent of troubleshooting.
- Before you begin, take the time to sell the method and way that you want and need the job done.
- Use role play a lot and for technical use repetition and show and tell.
Important Concept: Training is an investment that pays for itself while at the same time improving morale, service, and profits. It will improve your company’s reputation and thereby increase the effectiveness of your advertising. Smart managers understand the critical need for effective and thorough training.
By Robert B. Eaton
Author of “Check Your Drawers”
www.checkyourdrawers.com