Should training be in my marketing plan?

When you run a small business you pretty much have to become a jack of all trades. You are the HR manager, the PR guru, the product expert, the guy in the post room, the sales manager and so on. This is great for variety, but unfortunately you will have to come to terms with the fact that it’s unlikely you’ll be good at everything.

For example, if you run a computer company you’ll know your motherboard from your RAM and your hard disk from your CD-Rom. But you may not know the difference between your sales funnel and your buying roles, or your MBO and appraisal scheme.

So what can you do about this? Well, if you’re a micro business, one of the best things you can do is some personal development. Depending on your budget, you might like to attend a course, or buy a book that details the latest thinking or concepts. If you’re slightly larger, you could appoint a consultant to manage some of the more specialised roles. Obviously for the larger still you could take on a new employee, budget permitting.

But should this form part of your marketing plan? Well, to my mind, staff development is as valid a marketing campaign as advertising. People are one of the four Ps of marketing (or seven Ps of services marketing). The better trained you or your staff are, the better you will be able to service your customers needs and get those all important sales. For employees, training is a great way to increase motivation, generate commitment and improve performance.

Good marketing needs good people. Therefore training should certainly be an element of your multilevel marketing plan.