Pretty much any coach has said that during a losing streak, but imagine your favorite team right before the season starts. You pull out your favorite jersey and call your friends while the chicken wings are frying because you are pumped! You just know this year they are going to go all the way. Then you read that the team owner has decided to cut practice down to one day a week to save some pennies. He believes the team is good enough to play at a high level because after all, he sure pays them enough! As a fan, you are thinking, "What is wrong with this guy? Is he crazy?” Of course, the team gets worse as the season roles on, players quit and they look like a middle school team playing Alabama. Their fan base depletes tremendously with tons of revenue lost, but hey, it looked good on paper before the season started right? No! It’s not right and now you have to rebuild.

Smart coaches know that their team needs daily motivation and practice to stay focused. Just like a player without practice, an employee will eventually quit because they are not successful and they lose more than they win. Nobody likes to lose and they will eventually feel the defeat.

How does this scenario play out in your business? How many times have you said, “We are in a rebuilding stage?” Why do we go through rebuilding stages that cost us customers, employees, and profits? I call it the:

~Never-Ending Cycle of losing dollars to save pennies.~

If your first question this year is “how can we cut training costs?”, you fall on the saving pennies side. If your first questions is “how can we invest in our people?”, you are on the path to discovering dollars. It really is that simple! Yes, you can always spend hours looking at numbers and find smart ways to cut wasteful spending, but investing in your team should not be up for debate. Without them you have no business so their training and coaching should be on the top of your priority list.
Continuing to invest in your team will help them develop new skills, reach new levels of success and enhance morale. All lead to a winning team as they increase your dollars many times over. This seems like a much more profitable option than saving pennies.

So which one are you going to be this year? A good coach that develops your team and increases your revenue, or a penny pincher that constantly has to rebuild due to losses and turnover. A consistent training plan that will help your team grow and be successful in all aspects is needed to make sure you are not losing those dollars or employees to save pennies.

Now I have one final question for you. Who would you like to be your coach?

Kristopher Hampton & The Fixed Ops University Team