McKay Allen’s November 15 post, “Sales Training Without Accountability Is Pointless,” on Sales & Marketing Management contends that monitoring and measuring are the only way to improve training ROI.

Allen, an integrated content manager at ContactPoint, which develops marketing technology to capture, analyze, integrate and apply phone-based customer intelligence to enhance marketing and sales, explains that the biggest question with sales training isn’t whether employees remember what they were taught, but whether they DO what they are taught.

Indeed, the transfer of training is a perennial topic for most trainers—and sales training is no exception. Unlike other lines of business, however, sales teams typically use various technology tools that can be used to evaluate the stickiness of training efforts.  

Enter call recording and scoring. Allen writes, “Call recording and scoring is sales training’s best friend. It is actual accountability. And it isn’t just for call centers.”  

According to the post, here’s how it works:  

• The scorecard measures specific elements of a sales call that are critical to making the sale—factors that sales trainer taught workers to do.

• Companies can create customized scorecard or use an industry best practices scorecard already in the system. These should include factors that sales trainers stress, but have never been able to measure.  

• You can compare scores over time to review improvements or pinpoint consistent stumbling blocks. 

• Anyone can listen to the call and check out the score: managers, sales people, trainers, and so on. You can review calls during training, sales meetings, or performance reviews. You can even use the call recordings and scores as part of an incentive program.  

Bottom line: Higher scores = more sales. 

To learn more, read the complete article at http://www.salesandmarketing.com/content/sales-training-without-accountability-pointless.