RIDGEFIELD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--How much have you spent on training your employees? And what was the result? Poole Resources, Inc., a leader in providing market-based management consulting and training solutions for clients, today announced the general availability of Virtual Coach™ , a revolutionary system that makes training "stick". Virtual Coach™ is a recipient of the 1998 Communicator Crystal Award.

A leading-edge performance measurement system, Virtual Coach™ brings linked operations and productivity improvement, performance management and training interactivity to the business world, without cost-prohibitive investment in computer hardware. Using Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology, Virtual Coach™ provides management with highly customized statistical measurement, feedback and coaching on employee performance, appropriate to a number of applications. These include, but are not limited to, Customer Service and Selling Skills, Account and Territory Management, Product Knowledge, Leadership Development, Business Planning and Employee Profiling.

After years of seeing millions of training dollars go up in smoke, Poole Resources developed Virtual Coach™ to keep training up and alive in businesses, after traditional training is completed. Too many training packages are sold based on the activity of installing a program, without clients fully realizing that the results obtained after initial training has occurred are the only true measure of return on investment.

Barbara Poole, Founder and President of Poole Resources stated, "Virtual Coach™ gives companies the ability to assess the bottom-line effectiveness of their training investment. It provides management with the tools necessary to measure and coach individual employee performance, not in a classroom, but in the work environment, when and where it counts. The technology gives clients speedy results and tremendous flexibility, by providing fully customized performance tracking. And, unlike flat CD-ROM programs, Virtual Coach™ is the only System offering fully customized interactivity for each employee and manager in a company. Virtual Coach is a revolutionary management tool that integrates performance improvement with company operations."

Recently installed for Allied Domecq Retailing USA (Dunkin' Donuts, Baskin-Robbins, and Togo's), Virtual Coach(tm) will be providing field management with coaching on skills for conducting store visits.

CONTACT:
Poole Resources, Inc.
Barbara Poole, 203-894-8405