With Quality, You Only Cry Once
“With Quality, You Only Cry Once.” I think this was once a message in a fortune cookie, but it was one of my dad’s favorite sayings when he talked about the cost of services and programs.
Never, in a million years, did I think I’d follow in my father’s footsteps. He was a nuclear physicist, and I was a vagabond backpacking, beach bum dive instructor, sailboat captain and bartender.
When my dad was in his 30’s he started his own company with 2 partners – Industrial Training Corporation. The idea was built from the fact that they came from a background doing nuclear training. They trained people to run powerplants and subs. From there he branched out and began doing training in all kinds of heavy industry from laying pipe, heavy industrial electrical, and more. He traveled all over the world selling training programs.
When I was in my 30’s, I finally stopped rambling and started working in the building industry. And by my 40’s I had my own training company, though very different training than my father. Working in the building industry training in a tiny niche of online sales, I’ve been able to finetune my program working with dozens of builders across the country, and I know what works and what doesn’t work. I adjust and customize our approach depending on the builder. Whether it’s custom, semi-custom, on-your-lot, production, local, regional, mom-and-pop, a developer or a real estate company – there are certain foundations that will remain the same but different approaches and strategies need to be addressed. We don’t require one set of tools or the same process for each builder.
While I know there may be cheaper options out there to find and hire someone to help you set up an OSC program, I always come back to my father and his advice. He once told me about a customer that wanted to buy their training programs but didn’t want to use them the way he recommended. In the end, he knew that the lack of implementation would lead to failure instead of success. Rather than make a buck, my dad wouldn’t sell the programs. He knew it would be a short-term gain in his pocket for the ultimate failure of the client.
It’s with this integrity, intention, and quality that I’ve built my business on. Just like we don’t want to waste materials when we build, measure twice cut once, why would we want to do the same thing over and over again with a poor result when it comes to our online sales counselor programs.
Setting it up right once, hiring the right person, and training them well will not be an expense, it’s an investment into your future success. Quality. You’ll only cry once.