We recently heard a retail executive say, “We probably should review our training programs, but we’ll spend the money somewhere else. For now, our training is good enough.”

That exec could be right or wrong. The problem is that “good enough” usually means “not good enough.” It often signals that a company is ignoring important opportunities by agreeing to live with the status quo – opportunities like a chance to increase sales, gain an edge over competitors, increase customer satisfaction and repeat sales, reduce turnover, and enjoy other benefits that can have a big impact on the bottom line.

Have you fallen into “good enough” thinking? Here are some indicators that can help you tell.

Your Workforce Has Changed, but Your Training Hasn’t

How has your workforce changed since you designed your current training programs? Has it been one year, two years, five years or more? If you look at your employees today, you could find that when you designed your training, only 10% of your workers were millennials but that today, 60% of them are. Or maybe only 20% of your employees were native Spanish speakers when you designed your training and today, that percentage has risen to 40%.

Changes like those are not threats. They are opportunities to increase the productivity of your employees with a training investment that pays a significant ROI on every training dollar you spend.

Your Employees Are Now Working in Multiple Locations

Let’s say that you are a retailer that had two stores five years ago, but that you now have 10 stores in five states – yet your training has not been updated. That is not an unusual situation. If similar changes have taken place in your company, it could be time to consider delivering your training to a more widely distributed workforce using mobile technology.

How can you decide whether training on mobile devices can work for your company? One way is to take the quiz, “Is Training on Mobile Devices Right for You,” posted recently right here on this blog.

You’ve Accepted the Idea that Some Problems Just Can’t Be Fixed

Have you developed blind spots and agreed to live with substandard results in one or two key areas? Maybe you don’t have enough repeat customers or you are getting negative reviews online. Or perhaps your field technicians do a “pretty good” job of servicing the equipment you sell – they could be doing a little bit better – but hey, that’s good enough, right?

Companies that fall into that pattern are often missing a chance to increase profits by training their employees more effectively. Let’s say that you are a retailer that earns $2 million a year from sales on the selling floor. If you can train your salespeople to sell only 10% more on an average transaction – a goal that can be very effectively reached through training – that means that you have the potential to increase your sales by $200,000 by making a training investment that costs a lot less than that.

Training cannot solve all problems. But if you are living with unsolved, nagging shortfalls, we invite you to speak with a Tortal Training consultant.

You’re Facing Turnover and Low Worker Satisfaction

This is another area where “good enough” thinking can cost you more money than you realize. For example, it is tempting to think “All these young workers today have low loyalty, they’re not going to stick around anyway, so why throw away money to train them?”

Effective training plays a very big role in increasing employee retention. When workers know how to do their jobs better, they experience less frustration and stay longer. When your commissioned salespeople sell more and increase their income, they value their jobs more and are more hesitant to leave. And of course, well-trained employees add more income to your bottom line while they are with you. Because they stay with you longer, you don’t have to spend the money to recruit and train their replacements. It is another example of how a modest investment in training can pay you very big returns for every dollar you spend.

So, Is “Good Enough” Good Enough for Your Company?

Chances are that you would never say that your products are “good enough,” that your advertising agency is “good enough” or that your company reputation is “good enough.” Why should you settle for “good enough” in the performance of every member of your workforce?

We invite you to speak with a Tortal Training consultant to discuss how reviewing your training can open the path to greater profits, efficiency and success in year 2017 and beyond.