It should come as no surprise that Henry Ford, the engineering pioneer behind the automotive super brand, focused much of his attention on his employee’s personal development. Supposedly, the American once said: “The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave, is not training them, and having them stay”.

Henry’s statement is one of particular profoundness in a business sense, because, who benefits from having unskilled and untrained employees? The company reputation is likely to suffer a blow and competitors are likely to develop an advantage. Staff members will become unmotivated as they are unable to fulfill their role to their potential. Ultimately, customers will brunt the effect.

Here, with Lookers, providers of servicing plans, we examine the variety of ways in which companies invest in their employees, ensuring that they have the ability to talk with confidence about their company or products.

Restaurant

As a consumer, one of the most irritating things about attending an eatery or restaurant, is asking the waiter or waitress for a recommendation. Usually, they are able to offer little in the way of advice regarding the menu. Especially, in the dietary requirement era in which we now live, knowing exactly what the menu entails of is absolutely crucial.

From calorie content to nutritional benefit, educate your staff on what they are serving. If they don’t know what’s in the dish, how can you expect your customer to know? If menus are updated throughout the year, take the time to host tasting sessions for your staff. This offers your employees the opportunity to indulge in and talk passionately about the flavours presented.

Of course, one can exaggerate the truth, but speaking with honesty regarding a good hearty meal will stand tall for the customer. Speaking to the New York Times, Michael Schlow, an American restaurateur, speaks of how he invests heavily in staff, sending them on wine and spirit tasting tours. “We don’t win them over with a paycheck. Pay is important, but of more importance is respect and admiration and learning”.

Automotive

It is rare occasion that you will find someone speaking with so much confidence in regard to the product their company offers as a salesperson. They are clever, daring, and succinct, fully understanding what it takes to ensure they get the customer to sign on the dotted line — this is no coincidence. Much of the inaugural stage of the car sales transaction occurs online, with most consumers researching for an average of 14 hours prior to stepping foot inside a show room.

Once they do decide to make the transition from the sofa to the plush black leather of the salesperson’s office, they expect a dose of knowledge in relation to the vehicle that’s second to none. If a salesperson knows less about the car than the person buying it, chances are the deal is going to be dead in the water before its even had a chance to grow a set of webbed feet. If a sales person hasn’t been trained to a satisfactory level, they won’t be able to make the sale. This is why prior to being unleased onto the sales floor, every salesperson will be forced to negotiate sophisticated training which ensures they have the relevant knowledge, from performance statistics to finance details.

If they aren’t able to seal the deal, they could be losing the company tens of thousands of pounds. In a bid to combat the chance of this happening, if a new vehicle is being brought in, often dealerships will allow time for staff to adjust to its features, including track days and test drives. This helps guarantee salespeople can talk with confidence of the highest order.

Bank

In the banking sector, a year, approximately 12 years previous, is often etched from memory, thanks to a rather colossal occurrence. Now, the finance industry is surrounded by red tape and strict regulations are a plenty. Mis-sold PPI is one of the points which provided numerous criticisms of the finance industry following the financial crash which saw confidence in British banks plummet. As more and more branches close down, and banking migrates online, a solid understanding of digital is essential.

This leads to the first reason why training plays such an important role. For example, a customer may be unsure how to access details of their standing orders online. A member of staff with no relevant training in regard to e-banking is going to lose all credibility when unable to explain to a customer what it is, they have to do. What develops is a loss in consumer confidence with the bank.

Also, a bank’s most profitable sale, and the product which requires the most knowledge is a mortgage. Once again, without appropriate training, hundreds of thousands of pounds could be squandered. Have your staff download the online banking app and become aware of any potential customer problems or experiences they will go through.

The results which come of training your staff to a sufficient level may appear to be inevitable. However, don’t take them for granted; they can prove particularly costly.