Sales Training: Meet My Friend…Accountability

ContactPointSales training is great. It teaches skills and produces immediate results.

But, unfortunately sales training only truly changes behavior long-term if there is accountability.  The ASTD (American Society for Training & Development) says that only 19% of people who receive one-time sales training see any kind of sustained performance improvement.




Now sales training has a new friend: actual accountability. This accountability comes in the form of technology, invented and patented by a company called ContactPoint.

ContactPoint provides sales training (really good sales training, in fact), but they take it two or three steps further.

ContactPoint’s patented technology records and scores customer interactions. The technology, called Mentor, records actual sales calls at random (not fake mystery shopping calls).

The calls are scored based on an industry specific best practices scorecard. Mentor basically measures specific elements of a sales call that are critical to making the sale. Things like: Did you ask the prospect’s name and use it? How was the tone of your voice? Did you ask open-ended questions? Did you actually ask for the sale? Each of these elements, and many more, are scored on a 0 – 100 scale. There are scores for each element and then an aggregate score.

Higher scores = more sales. Data shows that if you score over 80 on the Mentor scorecard you are 3 times more likely to close the sale than someone who scores under 80. Mentor is that accurate.

How to Use the Recordings and Scores

You have access to the recordings 24/7 on a secure online dashboard. Managers can listen to them. The rep that was recorded can listen to them. (Or anyone you give the password). You can play them during sales meetings or during individual performance reviews. The calls and the scores are available anytime you want them.

Additionally, you can generate reports based on almost any piece of data you choose. You can compare the scores of two reps against one another. You can compare specific elements of the call. You can see how employees are doing over time, how much they’re improving, or what’s holding them back. You can even determine exactly what element is keeping them from making the sale.

How Does ContactPoint Use the Calls and the Scores?

ContactPoint provides ongoing, individualized coaching based on the calls and the scores. Twice a month the rep will meet with a ContactPoint coach over-the-phone. They will listen to recorded calls together, review scores and set specific goals for improvement. This continues until scores consistently reach 80 to 90 and sales improve.

 

This is a guest post by McKay Allen from ContacPoint.

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