If you’ve never seen the CNBC TV show The Profit, here’s a quick summary: Serial entrepreneur Marcus Lemonis invests in struggling small businesses he believes in.
He then works alongside the owner(s) to get the business back on its feet—with the hope of making money for both parties in the long run.
But whenever Lemonis comes into a new business, he focuses on three main areas: People, Process, and Product.
So how does this relate to training? Training revolves around those three things: People, Process, and Product. Let’s look at how, exactly.
People
Who is training aimed at? People. Not companies, not teams— it’s people. Real, living, breathing human beings. Great training puts people front and center.
People are what make businesses work, so investing time and financial resources into properly training them means you’re dedicated to maintaining a healthy organization. Without training, people make poor decisions, miss out on learning new skills, and become limited in their abilities over time.
Businesses that value their people take the time to invest in them—typically via educational opportunities. That might be through eLearning opportunities, tuition reimbursement, or other off-site trainings. But the bottom line is: Training = smarter, more effective people.
Process
Training is integral to a strong business process. You want your people to have the right skills, knowledge, and experience to be the best they can be in their daily roles—and that’s what training helps improve.
For example: Employees who are properly trained on a sales process make fewer errors, spend less time wondering what the right way to do things is, and feel more equipped to tackle their jobs. When you tie in practice via eLearning, learners get hands-on with the process before going live.
Product
You can have the best product in the world, but if you’re missing the right people and process, selling that product can be pretty tough.
Training helps your team understand how to leverage your product through its many value-providing features, and helps them execute the sale and post-sale process of that product with customer service.
Again—without training, your people don’t know the best way to show off your amazing product.
Training—Essential to Business Success
Lemonis knows that the 3 Ps can make or break an organization—but what’s interesting is the fact that all three can be improved through training.
Watching the show, it’s fairly easy to see that training is missing from most of the businesses Lemonis enters.
So what can you do? Encourage your team to never stop learning and give them opportunities to do just that.