I have been touting the benefits of our Training Program here at Consumer Energy Solutions for a while now, and for good reason. Training employees is time well spent and an incredible return on investment.

Here at CES we have a course called Make More Money. The effectiveness of this training never ceases to amaze me. Every single lead generator and sales rep in our company does this course as part of their mandatory training.

The title of this course might sound crass, greedy or materialistic but I have learned that money is a tool that anyone can learn to use—key word being learn. So let me put this in perspective.

When people have as their goal “make lots of money” they will often find it very unrewarding—even if they achieve it. And in Sales, when that’s your goal, it can open the door to unscrupulous dealings.

But there’s more to it, I have seen people with newly found money quit their jobs with the intention of going on a permanent vacation—golf every day, long walks on the beach, fine dining, time with friends and family, etc. I went through this myself and found I could only do golf every day for about 2 weeks. And as far as time with friends and family—well most of them had jobs and were often not available, so I had lots of down time and was going stir-crazy. I had to have more in my life for this to be the “good life.”

The missing element was PURPOSE. This hit me like a brick as I was “living the good life.” I decided to get busy and did. I studied, I applied what I studied, I included others, and found meaningful causes that I discovered I really wanted to support. And I had the means to do that! That’s when I realized the value of money as a tool to achieve other ends.

It’s a tool anyone can learn to use. And it’s fun. American teacher, author, and artist, Julia Cameron said,

“What we really want to do is what we are really meant to do. When we do what we are meant to do, money comes to us, doors open for us, we feel useful, and the work we do feels like play to us.” –Julia Cameron

So what does this all have to do with a course called Make More Money? One of my passions is helping others win. I love to see another figure out how to achieve goals and succeed big! This short little course helps the sales reps in my company shift their viewpoint upward about what they can do in this company. They learn the ins and outs of the energy industry and what they are really doing to help our customers (purpose), they gain knowledge to achieve even more than what their own expectations started out at (sales skills), and they gain the ability to actually DO it successfully. One step at a time they get better and better at what they do. And guess what, they make more money!

This knowledge and ability is then owned by the sales rep; it’s not something they lose. They can apply what they have learned to anything they do in life and often do just that. Gaining useful knowledge and ability is a method of achieving expanding success! Henry Ford knew this when he said,

“If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability.”

Business is not always easy. There are barriers, unexpected turns and stressful times to get through. But when you have a team that is bound together with the common purpose to help our customers, in possession of the knowledge and skills to achieve goals and then becomes hell-bent on doing it there is nothing that can stop them. Not economics, not government regulations, not competition, not even natural disasters! Nothing stops them. I know this from first-hand experience. These are things that purpose, knowledge, and ability can withstand and are the real measure of wealth.

“The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money.” –Anonymous

Here’s what some of my sales reps have to say:

“Make More Money is, I think, the best training by far. It actually helped me learn a little bit of patience, helped me learn to listen and acknowledge people in my everyday life—not just for this job.” –V.S.

“This course (Make More Money) has expanded my knowledge and thus confidence. As a result I have seen a marked improvement in my sales!” –R.A.

“When a thought is formed and the very imagination in a person finds a way for those thoughts to trickle down to their fingertips and craft a design, I find myself wondering where I can go beyond this training, beyond this job. This stuff sets my gears turning.” –S.H.