Brian Tracy is one of the top sales trainers and consultants in the world. He has been called a "Sales Guru" and "Motivational Superstar" by such leading magazines as Selling and Selling Power. He is the author/narrator of many best selling video programs offered through your Business Training Library membership including: Psychology of Selling, Asking Your Way to Success, Relationship Selling, Time Management for Salespeople, Customers for Life, and Service Excellence.

You can find many of Brian Tracy's programs in our latest Lending Library catalog including a 14-part series The Effective Manager, an outstanding 30-part series called Maximum Performance and the internationally acclaimed 30-part Successful Selling series.

In the last 20 years Brian has trained more than 500,000 salespeople personally in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. He is the Chairman of Brian Tracy International located in San Diego, California.

Recently Business Training Library interviewed Brian Tracy for News & Views. Below are some excerpts from that interview.

Q: Business Training Library Account Executives speak to 20-30 high-level managers from a wide variety of industries every day. Some of those mangers are immediately attracted to our service and signup for membership. But, many will either ask for material to be sent to them or put off a decision for months even though they seem to be very interested in trying to create a learning environment in their organization. In your opinion, why is it that most managers don't train employees?

Most managers that I talk to recognize that continuous learning in today's marketplace is essential. They know they are in the "Information Age." They want a competitive high performance organization but they just don't know where to begin. There are five key reasons why managers don't train their employees.

They Don't Have the Time...They are so busy doing more and more with less and less that they simply don't have the time. And, of course, this can be fatal to an organization over time. What happens to a company in today's competitive marketplace who doesn't continually invest in upgrading the skills of their employees? It's the same thing that would happen to a championship football or baseball team that doesn't practice every day. Soon, they are no longer a winner.

They Don't Know How to Do It...Many managers are confronted by employees who want training. These people want to develop their skills and help their companies succeed. Their managers just don't know how to respond. So, like many people, when they don't know how to do something they will avoid it.

They Don't Know What Material to Use...There are literally thousands of books, and videos available to companies for training purposes. So, which ones do they choose? This is why my management, sales, and motivational materials are so valuable. We have carefully selected the materials, modularized the content so that each video is full of good ideas that can be easily applied in the workplace.

They Don't Know How to Follow It Up...One big concern many mangers express is they don't know how to measure the value of the training that their employees receive. With my programs, I recommend that managers use the workbooks to gain an "action commitment" from employees such that the manager need only to follow up on that commitment.

They Don't Know How to Get People to Apply the New Skills Learned...Again, the way to justify the investment in training employees is to measure the results. Each of my programs keeps in mind how adults learn best. So they will learn, retain, and apply what they have learned immediately. Workbooks provided with my programs will offer suggestions on how to introduce each module, how to set up the room for best results, how to present exercises to gain the greatest value and how to get a commitment from the employee that what is being presented will be acted upon.

Q: If you could offer a piece of advice to the business managers we talk to every day, what would that advice be?

First of all I would ask them a few questions. One of which would be, if they could change just one thing in their organization to make it more productive what would that be? I know from experience, my video programs and workbooks will help managers learn how to delegate more effectively- to get more done with fewer people. They will learn how to build teams and motivate people. To prioritize objectives and manage their time more effectively. To set strategies and plan every area of their responsibilities more efficiently.

Q: So, your saying, once you know where the pain is, only then can you can prescribe the appropriate medicine. Is that right?

Exactly. I want to know what the customer needs, what they are trying to accomplish before I recommend a curriculum to be of the greatest benefit. I imagine this is much the same as your Business Training Library Account Executives do now with the people they talk with every day.

Q: What final recommendation do you have for the many executives who are trying to improve their own personal performance standards everyday?

Each one of my Maximum Performance videos are designed to help managers communicate more effectively, handle problems more creatively, work better with their teams. I always remind people, your brain is like a muscle. The more you learn, the stronger it becomes, and the more you can learn. So I would tell them commit yourself today to becoming one of the best educated, most skilled and most effective people in your field. There are no limits!