A sales compensation plan is one of the most critical components of a business; changing or improving it as a business scales can be pretty tricky. However, organizations that leverage data and data-analytics tools stand a better chance of modernizing their compensation plans to create a better experience for their salespeople. This process has two-fold benefits; one, the sales team is better motivated; two, better sales raise revenue.
What is Commission Analytics?
Commissions analytics is a powerful tool for improving your sales team's performance. It's a way of analyzing the data collected by your Sales Performance Management Systems and using it to make important decisions about how you compensate your sales staff.
Commission analytics use various data about the performance of individual reps (such as how often they call on new customers; whether they stay on the phone with their targets until they make contact; etc.) to determine necessary KPIs and compensation plans. This information empowers managers and executives requiring accurate information to make significant investments like hiring new employees.
Modernizing your compensation plan
For many organizations, compensation plans are a critical part of their culture. They define how people work together and what they value in one another. These plans can also be a tool for attracting top talent and retaining them.
While modernizing your compensation plan, be transparent about pay structures and metrics. If you have already established clear guidelines for performance management at all levels of your organization, then ensure everyone knows exactly how their performance is evaluated (and rewarded).
Employees must understand what they need to do to receive an award or promotion. Transparent policies help define roles and motivate the staff.
Data-driven compensation plans
Data-driven compensation plans help you understand where your salespeople are making their money and what they need to do to increase their earnings.
Data insights help you draft an effective commission and incentive plan; it eases a major bottleneck because most companies struggle with either lack of data or the inability to draw meaningful conclusions from the available information.
Next steps in sales compensation planning
- Create a data-driven compensation plan. Use data from your CRM, ERP, and other business tools to create a commission automation process that drives the right people through the proper channels based on their performance and goals.
- Align with CRM, ERP, and other business tools integrated into your organization's workflow. This step will ensure that every employee can access accurate information about their performance and draw meaningful conclusions.
Invest in automation
Many companies invest in automating the commission process, which allows for collecting and analyzing large amounts of data to make more informed decisions.
Automation allows for more efficient use of resources. For example, a salesperson could be paid based on the number of orders they close and not the hours they spend working. Automation also allows you to collect data from many sources and combine them into one system without crunching all those numbers manually.
Automation can help you make better decisions about what's best for your organization and its sales team by providing accurate information about how well each employee performs at each stage in their career trajectory — from entry through retirement or parting of ways.
Data analytics can help unlock valuable insights for companies
The benefits of using data analytics to inform your sales compensation plan are numerous, and Blitz offers real-time insights and analytics dashboards and exports business data for reporting. Our platform integrates easily with tech tools like CRM and ERP. Check our complete list of integrations here
Want to learn more tips and best practices for boosting your sales team morale and productivity? Visit our blog