There’s no denying times are tough at the moment, many businesses and indeed professionals simply don’t have the same disposable income in the current economic climate, so it’s no surprise that both individuals and organisations will be looking for the best deals on any training solutions they might need.

If you’re looking to enroll in a marketing or management course, it can be very tempting to head straight for the ‘cheapest’ deal. It seems a no brainer to go for the option that isn’t charging as much and of course if they’re paying for it, it’s likely your boss will be more inclined to go for the cheapest option too.

But hold your horses!

Pricing can be deceiving. Sometimes courses which appear cheaper on first glance can actually end up being more expensive for you in the long run both in terms of literal price and cost to your time and resources.

Cheaper courses might not provide the same quality of service and level of training you need and you may end up having to shell out more to bolster the learning and develop the skills you wanted, costing you more.

American salesman, author and motivational speaker Zig Ziglar used the analogy of purchasing a bike. You can either pay for a cheap model less sturdily made and incur a steady stream of additional costs in terms of maintenance and repairs before it inevitably becomes beyond repair far quicker than you’d like, or you can pay that little bit extra to begin with to ensure a higher quality quality product built to last.

Can you afford to waste money on a sub-standard product?

Here’s why a cheaper course may actually be more expensive in the long term. 

Even if you’re completing a course part time and studying in your free time, usually when you undertake an additional qualification or training, the studying will demand a significant investment of your time. You’ll likely find yourself taking the odd hour at work to attend a live webinar for the course for example, or taking time off for your course exams if you have to take them in person or using up some of your holiday time to study. 

This can have a significant impact on your productivity and keeping up with your workload and lead to increased stress. It can also cost literally if you’re having to work overtime for free in order to keep up at work.

Whilst, particularly if your organisation is paying for your qualification, they may be more understanding in terms of the workload they give you, you don’t really want to juggle the dual responsibility of work and study any longer than necessary as it can cost you a lot of energy and mental space and possibly income if you find you have to ask to go part time whilst studying. In an extreme scenario you could even end up being demoted or disciplined or even lose your job if you are not keeping up with your responsibilities and failing to balance your studies with your work.

Less expensive courses often take longer because they are more self-directed and you are left to work through the content at your own pace. This can not only make studying even more stressful for some people, but the longer the course is, the longer you will be left potentially falling more and more behind and struggling to make up the time at work.

In contrast more ‘expensive’ providers will cost significantly less in times of your time, professional marketing qualifications like those from the Digital Marketing Institute for example can be achieved in as little as 8 weeks, plus with providers like us at MMC you’ll benefit from much more structured tuition and classes helping you get through your studies and achieve the qualification you need as efficiently as possible.

There’s nothing worse than paying for something, only to realise it doesn’t actually do/ give you what it said it would.

This can essentially be the case if you go for a less expensive course provider. Unlike more premium options, less expensive learning providers probably are so because they haven’t sourced the best academic tutors or experts in the field to teach on their courses. They are also unlikely to have invested in developing the very best learning materials by consulting with designers to create a more engaging learning experience.

This may not seem like an issue at first glance, you may think you’re willing to sacrifice slightly on quality to save on price. However, consider that going for a course which is below standard on quality can actually mean you haven’t learnt what you needed to from it. If a course does not cover the practical learning and skills you need in your role in enough detail for example, or a teacher doesn’t know their stuff and can’t instruct you properly in a certain area, you might find yourself returning to your work no further ahead than where you started. You could be left without a full understanding of the industry and what’s expected of you in your role, particularly if you’re a beginner to marketing or management.

Not only could this result in you having to shell out for yet another, better course or additonal training but this could also have a serious cost in terms of your productivity and future prospects. If you’ve not received proper training, you’re unlikely to be able to do your job as well or progress within the organisation. Without the right training, you’ll likely miss opportunities to grow professionally and may not be able to meet performance goals. 

When employees do their jobs well, they tend to receive more opportunities for progression, professional development, and special projects.

Going for a more expensive provider can do far more to help you progress in your role and get promotions and find new opportunities and a well-known and well-regarded qualification is more respected amongst employers.

As we know, marketing and management are both fast-paced industries, the theories and practices of which change quickly. Professionals need to stay up to date to stay ahead of competition. 

Continuous learning and development to ensure your knowledge stays up to date with the industry is important in any field, but perhaps none more so than marketing and management where consumer and employee trends respectively, change so fast you can essentially be left unable to properly carry out your role unless you engage in learning to ensure you have the most relevant knowledge.

Having the proper knowledge and professional capabilities to carry out your role is vital to continued success and it’s your job to stay on top of and replenish your skills and knowledge throughout your career through additional learning.

For additional learning to have an impact it also needs to be continuous. Truly successful professional learning is sustained