I remember the days of struggling through school and thinking of how I couldn’t wait to be done with school and learning. I haven’t reached that day yet and have long since come to the realization that my once dream day will never come. In business there is always a need to keep learning new skills and perfecting them more and more. Two organizations that have had considerable impact on me and my business have been Toastmasters and Sandler Training.

You’ve probably heard of Toastmasters before, and probably still a bit confused on it. It’s far more than learning how to give a proper toast at a wedding. Through my work with Toastmasters I learned the art of public speaking, overcame my anxieties and fears, and took huge steps in my leadership development. With Toastmasters I was given an outline of the speeches to give and the process to follow to develop and craft each speech. Each speech in order focusing on a new skill to develop and work at. When I start my speeches, I was terrified and gripping the podium like it was the lone piece of flotation in the middle of the ocean. By the time I completed the first workbook, I was giving speeches without notes and freely walking on stage with no anxiety or fears and most importantly – no ums and ahs.

Another organization that has made a huge impact on my business has been Sandler Training. About 2 years ago a Sandler franchise opened up in the Green Bay area. Sandler breaks down the sales process into 7 simple steps and coaches you through how to do each one perfectly and move on to the next. I thought I was good at sales before I started with Sandler Training. I wasn’t. But after a year and half of weekly meetings and diving deep into the teachings, things have changed significantly for me. I’ve learned the steps to better sales and more importantly gained even more confidence.

One thing I’ve taken away from both of these organizations, is the need for coaches. No matter what level we’re at in life, whether a rookie salesman at a company, the owner, or a professional athlete, the need for great coaching never ends. In both Toastmasters and Sandler Training, I gained new coaches that were able to help me learn the skills I needed to learn and more importantly help me put them in place in my daily life.

If your sales or business are struggling, I would highly recommend looking at both of these great organizations to get in touch with and start working with them. Both will provide an outline and a proper way of doing things that you’ve likely never thought of before. Sometimes it’s not a huge change that’s needed, just a simple little change in one area can make all the difference. The day that we can stop learning isn’t coming, and I’m glad it’s not coming. With each new skills I know I keep getting better and my business keeps getting stronger and that is allowing us to make an even bigger impact on the world.