A large part of my role here at The Alta Group relates to lease training and education, so I am constantly assessing learner needs and attitudes. Just the other day I was talking about lessors’ approaches to training with Mike Pochan, a friend and fellow educator. As befits any pair of old dogs, we ended up talking about the ‘good old days,’ and how people took their training more seriously back then. The next logical question, of course, was “What has changed?”
Well, for one, the industry has become more knowledgeable. People are more well-informed about the rules, etc., than they were 20 years ago. This explains a drop in the number of people going through equipment leasing training. It does not address, however, what I view as a change in attitude. Mike talked about how everyone in his old company had to go through a rigorous training program – one that yielded huge payoffs in the long run. We just don’t see this kind of commitment anymore. Are lessors too focused on short term results that they are sacrificing long-term benefits?
Another possible factor we discussed is the increasing role of software and automation. Has software reduced the need for people to go beyond simply pushing the buttons and actually understand what they do? Few people understand how to price a lease, for instance, but they do know how to plug it into SuperTrump. Although not suggesting that lease training is life or death, how would you feel if your doctor took the same approach and put some data into the computer, pushed a button, and then read you the diagnosis? The diagnosis may be right, but, unless you fit the exact parameters of the program, it may not be right. In this case, you want someone to think, ask the right questions, and develop the right answers. Do your customers deserve less?
Shawn,
As an industry veteran of almost four decades, I couldn't agree more with your observations. Keep up the good work.
John Semon
CEO
The Lessors Network
Posted by: Anonymous | January 19, 2006 4:23 AM | Permalink to Comment