Why we don't do FREE training or coaching.

I get asked on a daily basis, Dan where's your free training.. Others have it.. Others give it out on daily CRM blurbs, on you tube etc etc.. Why don't you do it?

Here are my 5 reason why I don't give stuff away for free and never will.

Reason #1: Perceived Value

Generally we find that people simply don’t value ‘free stuff’. Think of the last time you collected a ‘bag of crap’ at a conference, where is it now? Have you used the dodgy satchel? Lost any of the pens? Would the answer be different if you’d paid for these items? Would you have paid for them??

If the?perceived value?of your product, or service, is less than its cost to produce or deliver, you might have a problem. And often, giving away products or service for free leads to exactly this ‘perceived value’ vs ‘true cost/value’ disparity. Particularly when it comes to training!

Now, of course there are plenty of scenarios where giving away freebies can be good for business, such as; a loss leader, to generate brand awareness, or as a bit of ‘try before you buy’. But when your core products or services are seen as ‘free’, it is highly unlikely that your customers will ever have a high perceived value of what you provide. Even if they really like it!

This is the first reason why we don’t do ‘free training’. We value what we do. We want our customers to value what we do too. Whether it is $5,000 or $500,000 the cost of your services can be critical in establishing its value.

Reason #2: There is no such thing as ‘free training’

‘Free training’ – possibly the greatest (and most damaging) misnomer of the whole L & D System! In recent years, many Employment and Skills programmes have been partially or fully subsidised at the tax payer’s expense. Leading to many employers, learners AND training organisations actually believing that the stuff that we deliver is free. As if all of the costs associated with delivering and participating in training magically disappear in a puff of smoke the minute a happy sheet is handed in.

Hopefully this won’t come as too much of a shock to readers, but all that ‘free stuff’ that we gave away, wasn’t actually free. Tax payers, i.e. me, you and most companies in this land (I say most, because a lot of the big ones seem to be able to get around this obligation somehow!), paid for this free stuff. Not that I’m sure many of us will actually remember asking for the things that we paid for.

And this is the second reason why we don’t do ‘free training’. We prefer to receive money from people who actually want what we offer. Transparency, I believe the Government calls it. This tends to make for a more ‘discerning purchaser’. Discerning purchasers have clear expectations. So we listen to our customers, and then deliver what they want. Having had a career in a Government funded, heavily regulated, compliance led sector, I can’t tell you how liberating this is!

Reason #3: Practicalities

We need to eat. Seriously, if we don’t get paid, WE don’t get paid. And that means we can’t pay our bills, or buy food. What more motivation do you need to do a good job!

During my career I’ve enjoyed working for large organisations. Some of the best in the industry. Getting, or delivering Value for Money. Insisting on quality. Driving for impact. And all that good stuff. I’d like to think that I’ve always (well mostly) worked hard and tried to make a positive difference. But nothing has ever focussed my mind quite as sharply on ensuring that we deliver things that people want to buy, as running my own business.

We also know that generating repeat business is the most cost effective way to generate business. So, we put everything we can into ensuring that our programmes are valued by our customers, which means they might come back for more. One of our aspirations is to stop selling, not because we don’t like selling, or because we’re not very good at it, but because we want to create an army of advocates of what we do. And they can sell for us! Advocacy can be far more powerful and cost effective than traditional sales.

Reason #4: Impact

At the moment there is a harsh reality in Learning & Development that we need to do more, with less (which you could argue is simply a reality of business). How do we do more with less? Through greater efficiency and effectiveness. How do we do become more efficient and effective? Developing the knowledge, skills, competencies and ideas of our people must be at the heart of this. So, from our perspective, we don’t see investment in training as a choice, it is a commercial necessity. And that’s without considering all of the other reasons why investing in your people is so important for your business. The real choice must be about investing in the right training. Training that will deliver the improvements that you and your business needs.

Our training programmes make a difference. Of course we’d say that, but so did over 95% of the people that came onto our programmes in the last 10 years. We had a new client doubled their sales with 1 training session. Most business fail on their business development strategy.

Our training programmes are designed, developed and delivered by myself a 26 year veteran of the industry. I was selling cars with my dad at the age of 26 and got into Real Estate at the age of 18 and owned my first business at the age of 19. We could probably get away with delivering with cheaper resource, but we don’t, and never will. I know people want me, so I selectively allocate my 20 days per month to people who pay and are coachable. We constantly refresh our content to ensure that we’re up to date with the latest sales strategies and best practice. We share the latest knowledge, but most importantly we help our participants to develop the skills, competencies AND the ideas and connections they’ll need to make a difference to their organisation and their own career.

We know that the true cost of attending training can be quite a few times the delegate fee, by the time you add up the salary and associated costs, short term loss of productivity etc… (if you didn’t know this already, whoops, hopefully this won’t put you off! Rather, we hope that this short lesson in business acumen may help to showcase our credentials), so taking time out to train can be a big investment. And we know that getting a return on this investment is critical. More so than ever, in these austere times!

We pride ourselves on being ‘impact focussed’. Which sounds very technical, but really it’s quite simple. We regularly ask ourselves and the people that we work with, so what? What’s the difference that we’re trying to make? What do we want to be different, or better? To ensure that we deliver the desired impact, we always seek to understand and respond to the needs of individuals and organisations.

Our approach means that we’re not always the cheapest option. But as a wise person once said, ‘Quality is remembered, long after the price is forgotten.’ Something that we very much believe in.

Reason #5: Practicing what we preach

So, our final reason for not ‘doing free training’ is very simple too. We wouldn’t have real credibility in our market or a sustainable business, unless we are able to establish a positive perceived value for our services. Clients are often asking me to teach them how to sell value and even charge more. Who would I be to discount or not charge when your asking me to help you with this. I would'nt do it to the integrity of ur arrangement.

However, we also recognise that in the current climate, short term affordability is a key factor for many organisations and individuals in making purchasing decisions. So, if you don’t think you can afford to access our services, but you do think they are of value, speak to us and if we can help we will. We care hugely about what our sector does, so if being more flexible in our pricing enables us to support smaller or less well-off individuals and organisations to develop and grow, then we get to feel even better about what we do too. Plus, you never know, this might just pay back commercially some time in the future. It often does.