You can spend thousands of dollars and hours on marketing and advertising but one negative interaction will undo all that hard work.

The front-line team is the public face of your organization. If they are frustrated, harried, not knowledgeable, incompetent or rude you will alienate your customer (plus her circle of influence). Numerous retail studies have demonstrated that it is human nature to complain about our negative interactions while we rarely repeat positive ones. While we cannot completely eliminate negative interactions (or at the very least, a perception that a negative interaction has occurred), we can do our best to minimize them by effectively training our team.

We talk about the benefits of training but few want to foot the bill. In fact, throughout the past few years of economic stress, the training budgets of most companies have been whittled away. However, consider the cost of one lost resident—due to a negative showing for example—and you could easily justify the cost of a basic training program.

Engaging in a program of effective training results in two broad areas of benefit: improved morale and increased knowledge. Employees view education as the employer’s investment in them as well as a signal that they are valued. This results in an improved outlook towards the employer, towards the job and themselves. This morale boost results in more positive customer (as well as coworker) interactions. Conversely, when employees become stagnant their results and customer relations become stagnant. Training counteracts this tendency.

An increase in knowledge is a benefit to everyone within the organization. It results in fewer ‘silly’ questions to the supervisory or support staff and thus saves time for everyone involved. It empowers the employee to respond to questions and situations with confidence. (This confidence is also evident to the customer and imparts trust.)

Components of a Basic Training Program:

Clear expectations prior to hiring – Clear expectations are set from the beginning of the relationship, the job interview. At that time a job description should be made available to the the applicants expressly outlining job duties, responsibilities and chain of command.

Initial orientation – The initial training should include a review of the Policy and Procedure Manual (specifically where to find information), an explanation of Fair Housing and why it is important, a basic review of the job duties and a review of technical tools.

Refresher courses – Periodically classes should be held that review concepts that have already been taught. This serves as a reminder and should allow for discussion on other creative ways to fulfill the job duties as well as updated information to help each team member stay current.

"Expand your horizon" educational opportunities – Course work that offers mind-expanding resources and concepts should be offered to your longer-term team members. This helps each team member grow beyond their current position. Ideally all handouts and take-back materials are designed to be easily shared/recycled with co-workers. This expands the educational cycle.

Throughout your training, consider the different learning styles of adult learners. Studies have found that we learn better and retain more information when there are ‘linkages’. Build on previous material. In addition, some of us learn better by doing, some by hearing and others by seeing. Ask your students how they best process information.

As you create or build on your current training program, consider the following tips:

1. Create an expectation of continued growth. Inform new employees that you value on-going training and will invest in it. Share this value with your existing team and ask them if there are any areas in which they would like additional knowledge. Take every opportunity to highlight training opportunities and encourage team members to take part.
2. Create an atmosphere of learning. When a subordinate comes to you with a mistake, ask, "Did you learn from this experience? If so, what?" When someone comes to you asking for direction, ask, "If you were me, what would you say to do?" Encourage multiple solutions to issues—this forces a thoughtful approach; not just a reaction to the easiest solution. Also take the time to follow up with team members regarding their training. I was discussing this with my friend, trainer and author Kathy Harmon. She recently blogged about the "abandoned child" syndrome.
3. Establish a ‘lending library’ (physical as well as online links to excellent articles and blogs).
4. Establish routing for trade journals so that everyone on your team has the opportunity to read information and be exposed to ‘outside the company’ thinking.
5. Offer education reimbursement if a member of your team is interested in pursuing formal higher education that applies to your business (see your HR department first).
6. Value experimentation – let your team know that mistakes will not result in their execution! (In other words, do not penalize for mistakes.) The ability to approach problems creatively will bring far more rewards to your organization than a rigid response. (Note: this does not necessarily apply to technical or Fair Housing issues.)
7. Encourage sharing amongst your team – ask seasoned team members to share examples, share resources, hold panel discussions, relate things learned, excellent articles shared via e-mail, etc. with the balance of the team.
8. Utilize on-line educational resources. (For an example, see Kathy Harmon’s "My Leasing Coach".)
9. Encourage peer training/mentoring by pairing new hires with seasoned team members. This enables the new person to spend needed training time with someone who is also in the trenches. It also helps them understand the unspoken and unwritten corporate culture more quickly. Kathy Harmon gave me a caution that sometimes this results in passing on bad habits. Her cure: "Remind a veteran that this learning experience goes both ways and request the employees to consistently report on what they learned from the newer staff members."
10. Hold cooperative educational events with other companies if your training budget is tight.

Training is rewarding to every person involved. You senior team members engaged in mentoring learn and grow even more due to their sharing and teaching. New employees recognize the value placed in them as employees and your customers understand that you have professionals catering to their needs—not just a warm body. This also reduces costs—employee turnover drops resulting in less time, money and energy being spent in identifying and retraining a new person. In addition, resident turnover drops as satisfaction with the people representing the company increases.

Team training: a classic example of win-win!