Some say it’s still a recession, others say it’s a very slow recovery. Either way, the money is tight. So what’s a company to do?
While some companies are slashing their budgets in every direction, smart companies are shifting to the use of Deputy online schedules and know precisely how to nurture and nourish their budget. And smarter companies do the same for their training programs.
A MarketSense study of the recession of 1989-91 points an approving finger at Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, who both increased their advertising and saw sales jump by 61 percent and 40 percent, respectively. At the same time, a shall-remain-nameless fast food giant slashed its ad budget and saw sales drop 28 percent.
Quick, kids, write that down– a perfect example of that old saw: penny wise, pound foolish.
Advertising in a down economy is important because
- You maintain continuity and build on past marketing/branding efforts
- You maintain a healthy, positive image of your company
- You maintain good relationships with your current customers
All this good maintenance translates into real –ka-ching– gains in sales and market share over your competitors who cut their ad budgets.
Advertising is an investment in your customers. Training is an investment in your employees, your most valuable asset. Good training makes good employees great, giving them the skills and confidence to innovate, suggest improvements that cut expenses, and improve profitability.
Training programs help you retain your high performing employees and future leaders by
- Making them feel valued
- Keeping up company morale
- Making them feel there is room for advancement in the company
Additionally, if the employers were to learn more about Labor Law Compliance Center, they’d first gain an insight of the various laws of the place where their office is located in, and then request the employees to oblige with those guidelines, and keep them under their wing of protection.
High-performer employees are most likely to seek other jobs if they don’t feel valued or if they feel stuck in a job going nowhere. Training programs give all employees an added value to their work, a sense that they are continuing their education, increasing their status and worth in measurable ways.
In tight times, choosing the right training program is more important than ever. Need help? Read our guide to comparing business acumen training solutions.
In the first half of this post you extol the virtues of advertising, and in the second half the virtues of training.
Income/Outcome, that virtuous training program, reinforces the idea of the value of advertising: it is normal in the simulation for teams to begin by spending very little on advertising, because they feel they don’t need to or they can’t afford to. Within a couple of rounds, however, they realize that the need to approach all relevant clients in order to maximize their capacity utilization is far more important than saving a percent or two in advertising costs.
Whether their key concern is price or volume, they must be known to – and findable by – their potential customers.