How to Evaluate a Good Training Company

A post from our Training and Coaching blog

One of the most frequently asked questions that we get asked is what makes us different from other training companies? If you are considering using companies for training that you might not even have heard of before, how did you know that they would do a good job and which company should be chosen if you contacted more than one?



Here are a number of criteria that will help you pick a good training company:

1. What accreditations do they have?

Most companies will have some sort of accreditations. The best accreditations are those that are not simply accrediting a vendor's own courses. Rather, look for bodies that are not endorsing their own but the quality of training in general. At ZandaX, we do not have just one supplier because we have ILM endorsed courses for many of our Business Skills courses and also the Institute of IT Training for IT courses. Similarly, we have ISO9001 accreditation so that you know our processes are designed in a way to provide quality training, regardless of the actual course type.

2. Do they train their own courses?

The best training companies to contact are those that provide their own training, rather than operating as resellers. In the case of companies that function as resellers, you lose the ability to ensure quality when running your own courses instead. While ZandaX do use some partners for specific courses, the vast majority are those that we have designed and train ourselves. This means that we can take action when listening to client feedback, update courses to ensure they are current and check that the trainers we use are continually being monitored and assessed. Therefore, a good quality of trainer is guaranteed.

3. Do they try to offer everything?

Some companies want to supply absolutely everything. The reality is that almost no company can be experts in every single subject or topic. While a company can provide a broad range of subjects, you should beware of any company that offers absolutely everything. The likelihood is that they are either resellers or have people covering subjects that they are not really qualified in. At ZandaX, we admit we cannot do every single thing but what we can offer, we do extremely well.

4. Do they listen to what you are asking for?

Have you ever spoken to a company that does not seem to want to listen to what you need and are almost determined to get you to agree to their suggestion even if it does not meet your needs?  Would it not be better to deal with a company that seems genuinely interested in why you are looking at training and would like to try and provide you with the best solution possible?

5. Will they provide you with what is needed?

Having hopefully listened to what you want to accomplish with your training, is the company able to provide you with the correct solution? Are they able to tailor a course if necessary? At ZandaX, we even offer our clients bespoke course builders on our website that allow you to choose the modules that should be covered. In most cases, not only would you be getting bespoke training but even the manuals that each delegate would receive will be tailored to your requirements as well.

6. Do they believe in competitive pricing?

Having listened to what you need and you have ascertained that they can do what you are looking for, is their pricing competitive? Or are they charging you the earth to create a tailored class? At ZandaX, by tailoring a course using our bespoke course builder, the tailored class is the exact same price as it would be for a standard course. As we offer competitive pricing, we even guarantee a price promise which states that if you find a better price from an equivalent company, we will match or better it.

7. How big are their classes?

Always look to see how big a training company's bespoke classes are. Perhaps the reason that they are so cheap is because they have massive class sizes and you are really receiving more of a lecture than quality training. At ZandaX, we do not allow more than eight delegates on one of our desktop IT courses and no more than twelve on a Business Skills course. We believe in small quality size bespoke classes so that, even within a group, you are receiving individual attention.

8. Can they make your life easier, or better?

As somebody that looks after your company training, is the training company capable of making your life easier? What tools do they offer for you to use and what would you pay for those? At ZandaX, we offer an extended range of facilities which include a free skills appraisal, free bespoke course builders and a portal for clients that book a lot of training. This portal provides an organization with their own unique login and allows a greater degree of flexibility in regards to how bookings for a free skills appraisal and other facilities can be made and authorised.

9. Would they have a dedicated account manager?

If choosing to use a specific company, would they have somebody dedicated to your company that can help with any queries etc.? Most good training companies would have some sort of system that would allow this so any further communication becomes easier as they recognise what has happened before and try to provide a level of consistency for you. At ZandaX, we try to ensure that one person deals with a company as far as possible. You will know that there is somebody that understands your company's situation and how best to match goals on each occasion.

10. Are courses and classes guaranteed to run?

If you do make a booking with a company, are you sure that the courses will always run? Or, do you get called later where you have to move delegates due to low turnout? At ZandaX, on any of our desktop IT and Business Skills courses, classes are guaranteed to run. That way, you know that you will not be inconvenienced at a later point by needing to move dates around.

Hopefully these points will help you to confidently choose a great training company. In summary, the company should be trying to make your life easier, while providing the correct solution in such a way as to not come back to you later and provide inconvenience. Should you have any queries about how ZandaX can help, do not hesitate to call.

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