What Untrained or Under-trained Employees Can Cost You

If a car runs out of oil, the engine fails. First the pieces start to grind, and then the whole block seizes up, stalling the vehicle. At best, the engine will be seriously damaged; at worst, it will be ruined. Perhaps this is the truth that spawned the phrase “well-oiled machine.”

Your business also needs to function like the proverbial well-oiled machine. All team members must do their part to keep the whole process running smoothly. So what is the “oil” you provide for your sales team? What can you infuse into your business engine to ensure its parts run smoothly and keep your operation from stalling?

The answer is: effective training. You may think training is expensive and wonder if it’s worth the investment. The answer to that question is twofold: 1) effective virtual training is far less pricey — it can save the company up to 40% in training expenses, and 2) untrained or under-trained employees can cost far more than effective training does. In other words, you can’t afford not to provide good training to your team, especially your sales team.

Proper, cost effective training (i.e., virtual sales training) keeps your employees from making high-priced mistakes. It also saves and makes you money by cultivating customer retention, which is far more cost effective than acquiring new customers.

Reduce Employee Mistakes

Properly trained employees make fewer mistakes and thereby save the organization the time and money it takes to correct those mistakes. When employees have the tools to do their job right the first time, they avoid the following types of errors: 

Misrepresenting products/solutions

True story: a car salesman approached a man at the dealership. “These headlights are unbreakable,” he informed the potential customer. “Watch!” He punched the headlight with the side of his closed fist, shattering it into hundreds of pieces all over the showroom floor. Obviously, this employee’s mistake cost his employer money on several different levels.   

Over-promising and under-delivering

Another true story: A sales representative for a large landscaping company made a lucrative sale, in part by promising the clients a custom-made pergola and a face-to-face meeting with the landscape architect to personally select plants and trees. These services were outside the scope of what the company offered, and they couldn’t deliver. These clients did not return to the original landscaper for a bid on ‘phase 2’ of their project.

Both of these scenarios (and hundreds like them) resulted in costly issues such as refunds, legal fees, and lost customers. However, they could have been avoided if the salespeople in question had been properly trained. 

Retain Customers

Consider the following statistics:

  • Acquiring a new customer costs up to five times more than retaining an existing customer.
  • Increasing customer retention by 5% can increase profits anywhere from 25% to 95%.
  • The success rate of selling to an existing customer is 60%-70%, while the success rate of selling to a new customer is 5%-20%.
  • Loyal customers are five times more likely to repurchase, four times more likely to refer, and seven times more likely to try a new product.

Jigsaw Interactive has everything your company needs to implement the effective sales training that will help you avoid costly employee mistakes, retain existing customers, and grow your business.

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