This business is blatantly advertising their customer service training.

A new franchise of Wahlburgers is opening up a block away from where I live in Downtown Orlando and last night there was a sign on their door the likes of which you don’t often see.

“Training in Progress. Look forward to serving you soon.”

How would you feel if you saw this sign at your local restaurant? What about your bank? Or your doctor’s office? Would it make a positive difference for you if you knew the staff of the business you are visiting is training their staff so that they can serve you better?

As I continued walking, the next window featured several large sticky sheets covered with words and phrases.

“The 4 C’s: Control, Confidence, Composure, Communication”

“WAHL = Welcoming, Attitude, Honesty, Loyalty”

I’ve spent the last decade in customer service and sales training, presenting at meetings andworkshops for hundreds of organizations. I love these sticky sheets. I’ll write all over them and then stick them around the conference room so that the content continues to be seen and processed even when we’re not talking about it. In-between breaks I watch employees take photos of the sheets, so I know how important they are to the people who are participating in the training.

But this was a first for me – a company openly sharing their internal training with the outside world, essentially proclaiming: “Hello potential customers! Not only do we care about treating you right, here is how we’re teaching our employees to do it.” That’s a powerful message. And it’s a great way to advertise their internal training.

Seeing their training posted on the window made me think of the businesses I’ve trained. Most of my clients keep their internal training a secret from the outside world – they don’t put out press releases about it. Perhaps they don’t want to suggest that their staff is still learning — they would rather be perceived as already perfect. Or maybe they don’t want their competitors to know that their business advantage is their well trained staff.

But I wonder: what would happen if more businesses did what this new restaurant is doing? If your business advertised that it is training its employees how to “Think Like A Magician” to increase customer satisfaction, how would that impact the perception of your business?

Do you keep your employee training a secret, or do you tell your customers about your efforts?

You don’t have to be a new business to advertise that you are learning, growing and getting better. Being transparent about your training can send a powerful message to your customers. And, as evidenced by my desire to now visit the soon to be open Wahlburger, it can get new and potential customers to see your business in a whole new light.