The Buyers Guide to Choosing a Training Consultant

1.  Why now?

   • Are we suddenly facing new challenges?
   • Has this been needed for some time?
   • Is there any particular reason that we haven’t done this til now?

2.  Why do we need someone from outside? Don’t we have some internally that could do this?

   • Do you have someone in-house with the training design & delivery skills for this?
   • Will they have the experience from different businesses and sectors that your people could learn from
   • Do your internal trainers or managers have the time to be tied up with the TNA, Design of Materials, Delivery & Reinforcement of the training

3.  What do you want from the training?

   • Increase in Sales?
   • Improved Customer Service?
   • Increased Performance?
   • Better Teamwork?
   • Better Communication throughout?

4.  How will you know if you have achieved it?

   • What will ‘good look like?
   • What improvements are you expecting to see

5.  What is the Delegate’s M.LD.?

   • What do you want them to do More of?
   • What do you want them to do Less of?
   • What do you want them to do Differently?

6.  What is the format for the training course?

   • Purely Instructor-Led Training?
   • Online Learning?
   • Pre-course Reading?
   • Scenario-Based Learning
   • Role Plays?
   • Pre/Post-course Webinar?
   • Assessment before, during, after?

7.  Who are the trainers and for how many hours will these trainers be physically leading the training?

   • How many days (or hours per day)  can you afford for the delegates to be in training?
   • What are your ‘must haves’ or ‘would like to haves’ for the course?

8.  How many delegates can you afford to be in training at any one time??

9.  What is my overall budget for this & how will I measure my ROI?

10.  Apart from the training, are there any other conditions and costs involved? Where and when is the course held?

    • Where will the course take place, In-house?
    • If off-site, is the cost of the course to include lunch for delegates, or do they settle their own costs?

11.  Who in my business sector has run this course?

    • Ask for referrals – names, emails, phone numbers

12.  Will I need to provide a member of my own teams to attend the course as a Subject Matter Expert?

    • Do my Team Leaders or Line Manager need to attend the course so that they can reinforce the training back in the workplace

… ask the Training Consultant

1.  How much do you charge?

2.  Are you insured?

3.  How long have you been a Training Consultant

4.  Can you provide samples of your work?

5.  What other clients have you delivered training programmes for?

6.  How many iterations are included?

7.  Do you offer a satisfaction guarantee?

8.  How long do your clients typically stay?

9.  Do you have any testimonials or some past clients that I could speak to?

10.  What’s your availability/turnaround time?

11.  What are your payment terms?

12.  What do you need from your clients in order to be able to do a good job?