Technology has led to the automation of many business practices. However, there are methods that can still be termed as outdated and inefficient as compared to the advanced tools we have today. An excellent comparison is the use of excel spreadsheets against automated systems.
Let’s take an in-depth look at the components associated with each and why it’s time for you to shift from the old ways to the new and advanced systems.
Top Reasons to change from an excel sales performance standpoint to an automated system
Even tough excel is indeed a powerful tool for mathematical collection and manipulation of data, it lacks the essential features that meet all the needs of a sales commission business.
Excel spreadsheets face the following downfalls in processing commissions:
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They are prone to errors
Research shows that more than 80% of them contain errors since humans are subject to making them when manually feeding in the data, forgetting to save, accidental deletion among many other reasons.
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They are time-consuming
Processing commissions in Excel will take more time than if you were using commission tracking software. All the creation, manual edits, and calculation set-ups involved with Excel are also physically and mentally exhausting.
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They have restricted analysis
The primary reason for the need of processing commissions is to pay employees their dues. So, what about analyzing the data? Every business needs to conduct regular performance analysis to ensure its people are up to par with the expected standards. Doing so with excel is a complicated process that takes up too much time.
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They suffer from inefficient audit trail
There is never an easy way to pull records of previous payments done in Excel. The task requires manual input, where you have to go through all the files while picking out the right transactions you need.
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Complex formulas
Excel spreadsheets are full of complicated equations that are hard to execute. And even when you do manage to find your way around them, the task only gets more difficult as the number of users, employees, or sales grows.
As the owner of such an entity, you want more than simple calculations of data. You need refined accuracy in identifying any missing commission payments, more accurate communication with your agents, and an overall analysis of your sales performance.
The benefits of commission management software
Commission tracking softwares has been proven to reduce errors by up to 90%. When using them, the data required to run the calculations are set up once, and you will never have to update them over and over again. It is also easier to make changes to the amounts paid or the percentages. Moreover, you’ll finally avoid the tiresome messes created by wrong clicks on Excel, such as the accidental deletion of a single cell.
Companies that rely on sales management software save a lot of time since the process is automated. This means that the time that would have been used by sales representatives performing shadow accounting is used more to conduct sales work. This, therefore, brings in more profits to the company.
For efficient performance analysis of your business, a commission tracking software provides all the necessary data for the assessment of an employee’s performance. These advanced tools can even generate real-time graphs that improve how you monitor the performance. This makes it easier to identify top-performing employees and sales reps who may need more training or guidance.
Sales commission software provides users with ease in checking payments for all the sales representatives. You can also have the payment for a specific individual pulled up and drafted into a pdf file.
Sales management tools provide simplicity in formula execution and management as compared to Excel spreadsheets. And it doesn’t matter how big your company or data grows – all that will still be managed without much difficulty.
Switching to a commission tracking software
Although the thought of transferring to a new system seems like a daunting task, it will save you on a lot more in the long run. You will have an easier experience in tracking, processing, and analyzing commissions.
One of the best service providers of such tools is Blitz. It’s the perfect sales management software that provides workflow automation that helps administrators manage vast volumes of sales commissions transactions.
Moreover, you will be able to import and export documents within its systems and track the performance of your sales representatives in real-time. Blitz will allow directors and business owners to maximize the value of their investments.
One of Blitz's main idea is to stop using Excel and work together with the client for a suitable sales commission software to automate your sales compensation process with best practices. All this is done in order to promote organized management of data and provide comprehensive insights into the trends of the sales department.
Get in touch with us today!