Why Not?
1. We can't afford it
But can you afford not to have it? Look ahead. Where do you want your company to be in 5-10 years? What new markets do you want to enter. Also think of the demographics of Finnish population and consider the implications of EU membership. Finland is quickly becoming a much more international country as guest workers will be needed to replace an aging population and as EU worker mobility increases. Your company will need properly qualified people with the right language skills.
2. We don't have the time
Our most typical course is 90 minutes per week and, especially for individual students, we can arrange this flexibly on a weekly basis - it need not be the same time every week. For students who cannot even fit this into their schedule, we can offer occasional half or full days of training. We can offer lessons before, during or after working hours. We can offer weekend training. If you or your people need language training, we will find a schedule suitable for you. We can also do more frequent training or longer sessions for those who want to improve more quickly.
3. I just never liked studying languages at school
We promise you, this course won't be like at school. We focus our classroom time on activating our students - getting them to talk and use the language in a safe environment with correction and instruction. Our teachers are nice people, and fun to be with, but at the same time very professional. They will help you to relax and enjoy conversing in the target language. Our group sizes are small, 2-6 students (though we are also flexible about this) in order to ensure plenty of student talking time.
4. We are a domestic company. Very few of us really need other languages
Again, look to the future. Where do you want your company to be in 10 years. Will you be satisfied to always be limited to Finnish markets? And what about those Finnish markets - are you sure that Finland's domestic market itself will not become more international. Even if your people do not need and will never need another language at work, language training for their personal use can still be a perk to show them how valuable they are to you. It can help to build bonds and loyalty to your company and also help to build that team spirit which leads to greater productivity and general enjoyment of their work.
5. C.C. Communication doesn’t look “professional” enough
Yes, it’s true that we don’t invest a lot of money in flashy sales materials and slick sales people and presentations. We don’t do much advertizing in the newspapers like some of our competitors. Our office is a bit outside of the center. Our prices are so much lower than some of our competitors’ that it might be easy to imagine we are not in the same league. We don’t produce our own brand-name books. But please don’t let appearances deceive you. While our competitors spend significant portions of their budgets on looking professional, we spend our efforts on being professional.
We use the best books and materials available from publishers like Cambridge and Oxford combined with materials specially selected and created for each company, student or group. We send our teachers right to your office to make the training as convenient as possible. And the reason we can offer those lower prices is because we don’t spend so much money on marketing. When it comes to our product - your language training - we don’t skimp. You would be very hard-pressed to find a language school with teaching staff as well-qualified and experienced (and nice too!) as C.C. Communication’s. We take your training seriously, and professionally!
6. You’re too expensive
When we hear this argument, it is usually from someone who has not compared our prices either to other business language schools or other types of training their company receives (such as IT training, management training, etc.) or someone who is comparing us to state funded schools which do not really offer a comparable product (they offer large, impersonal groups, usually Finnish rather than native teachers or less experienced native teachers and fixed rather than tailor-made courses). High quality tailor-made language training is a big investment, but C.C. Communication’s prices for quality service are among the lowest you will find in Finland.
7. We already have a supplier and your prices are “about the same”
Firstly let’s look at the price issue Some may think a 5€ difference in unit price is “about the same” without thinking more deeply that it represents about a 7% difference which is considerable. Of course, with one 20 unit course (the normal minimum) there is only a savings of 100€. But imagine you have three courses going from September through May with 90 minute per week training. This 5€ per unit difference will now save your company well over 1000€. C.C. Communication’s prices are 25-40% lower than some of our competitors’. You are really uselessly throwing away your company’s money when we can offer you as good or better quality training for less money.
Secondly, let’s look at the situation that you already have a supplier or past experience with a supplier and your people are either satisfied or happy with their teacher. Faithfulness to the supplier who has higher prices is somewhat foolish, but faithfulness to a certain teacher your people really like should definitely be considered. The teacher is very linked with the product in this business. Still, if the price difference is significant, you should still investigate what teachers the lower cost supplier has to offer. Ask to meet the teacher they would supply you. Ask for a couple trial lessons or, if you have a lot of training in your company, have a trial group or individual training with the less expensive supplier before you commit your whole language training program to them. If your more expensive supplier tells you they have to change your teacher, that is especially a good time to try out the less expensive supplier.
8. Our levels in the languages we need are already high enough. We have people who can handle what we have to do
But will you always have those people? What if they go on a long sick leave or maternity leave? What if they get poached by your competitors (who offer them more opportunities for training and professional development)? Have you checked recently that they agree with you about not needing to improve their skills? What if your customer base changes - if you enter new markets? Will English and / or Swedish skills always be enough? Should you be considering preparing now to enter new markets in 5-10 years? Don't dare to be short-sighted. Don't let your competitors beat you in preparing for the future.
Language training is a good investment - a good investment in your staff and the future of your company.