Gaining support for employee training during a time of budget cuts.

• Position: Marketing News

Whenever there are budget cuts, employee training always seems to fall into the expendable" category. But employee training is a critical component of business growth and should not be so easily put aside for more profitable times.

"Increased sales rarely come without a staff that can sell, and it's a better investment to train and work with the staff you have than investing in a new team," says Rebecca Doepke, director of training and culture change at NewGround, which offers employee development services for the financial services industry. "Employees can steer you back to a more lucrative cycle of operation--if they have a goal and are trained properly."

Training has a domino effect, Doepke notes. "Enhance and guide the employee experience and everything else will fall into place. Giving direction and goals to employees increases productivity, which stimulates better customer service, resulting in a more satisfied customer, prompting increased sales, and a higher profitability for the organization."

Despite these benefits, marketers and sales managers often find themselves defending the need for employee training. Doepke offers some suggestions for managers concerning how to gain support for their next training initiative:

* Be specific about the sales targets you want to achieve. As the old adage goes, what gets measured gets done. Explain which products and services will experience a gain through training, and the percentage of increase that is expected. And most importantly, demonstrate how you will track the results of the training program, in whatever form that may be--new deposits, referrals or cross sales. Establish employee accountability. The purpose of training is to improve employee sales performance. Set a specific goal and make sure both management and employees are aware of the program objective.

* Walk through exactly how training will drive new sales. Explain what the training will consist of, why it's needed, and how it will help accomplish your goals. What skill set is your staff...