Sales Performance Management is the collective strategy of a company’s revenue operations functions. The objective is to improve sales productivity, operational efficiency, and the effectiveness of sales processes. Leveraging a data-driven, customer-centric approach, SPM ensures a process to improve business strategy alignment across an organization, emphasizing achievement of company goals and objectives.

The most effective businesses adopt a continuous evolution approach to their SPM program. Through consistent monitoring, businesses are able to quickly adapt their strategies to meet current business demands in an ever-changing market.

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Key SPM Terminology

Commission: A payment made to an individual as the result of a sale or renewal
Quota: The revenue goal for a period of time for a salesperson to sell for the business
Territory: The collection of accounts or geography that is assigned to a particular salesperson
Compensation Plan: An agreement outlining the commission payment terms for a salesperson. Typically also includes terms and conditions for a sale to qualify for commission.
Commission Rate: The percentage of sale or amount that will be paid for a given sale
Attainment: The calculated performance against a quota over a period of time
Accelerator: An increase in commission rate that is tied to set levels of attainment to quota
Ramp: Reduction or elimination of a quota for a newly hired sales representative that allows time for the individual to develop new business
Draw: A payment made to a newly hired individual that may come in the form of a bonus or a guaranteed commission payment for a period of time following the start of employment
Clawback: Clawback refers to any commissions or spiffs (see below) that have been given out, but are required to be returned due to special contractual circumstances
Spiff: An immediate bonus for a sale, or advancement of a sales opportunity. Typically, spiffs are paid, either by an employer or third party, directly to a salesperson for selling a specific product or service.

SPM - Continuous Evolution

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01

Sales Planning

  • Quota
  • Territory
  • Capacity
  • Compensation Design
02

Compensation Execution

  • Incentive Compensation Management
  • Reporting
  • Data Integration
03

Optimization

  • Pipeline Analytics & Forecasting
  • Performance Analysis
  • What-If Modeling

Sales Performance Management Components

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Sales Planning

Sales planning plays a critical role in business success by enabling organizations to set achievable targets, allocate resources efficiently, and develop effective sales strategies that align with their overall objectives. By leveraging proven strategies, a business can optimize their incentives and resources, developing a fair and equitable sales plan that motivates the sales team to execute their portion of the sales strategy.

- Quota Planning & Management

Sales quota setting involves determining specific targets or goals for sales representatives to achieve over a certain period of time. This process usually considers factors such as a company's sales objectives, market share growth, current pipeline, and a salesperson's past performance. The primary outcome of setting sales quotas is to motivate sales representatives to perform at their best and to ensure that the company achieves its revenue and profitability targets. It also helps the company to allocate resources effectively and to identify areas that require improvement or additional support. Successful sales quota setting requires careful planning, communication, and ongoing monitoring to ensure that sales representatives are motivated and supported to achieve their targets.

- - Quota Setting Methodologies

There are several quota setting strategies that organizations can use, depending on their specific goals and circumstances. Here are a few examples:

Top-Down Quota Setting

In this approach, quotas are established based on the overall sales targets of the company, which are then allocated to the sales team. This strategy ensures that each sales representative has a clear understanding of their role in achieving the company's sales objectives.

Bottom-Up Quota Setting

This strategy involves setting quotas based on the historical performance of individual sales representatives, considering their strengths and weaknesses, as well as the specific market conditions they are working in. This approach can help ensure that quotas are realistic and achievable for each salesperson.

Objective Quota Setting

In this strategy, quotas are set based on specific performance metrics such as the number of sales calls made, the amount of revenue generated, or the number of new customers acquired. This approach can be helpful in aligning individual sales goals with the company's overall objectives.

Territorial Quota Setting

This strategy involves setting quotas based on specific geographic regions or territories, taking into account the unique characteristics of each market. This approach can help ensure that sales representatives are focused on the specific needs and opportunities of their respective territories.

Hybrid Quota Setting

This strategy combines elements of multiple approaches to create a customized quota setting process that meets the specific needs of the organization. This approach can help ensure that quotas are fair, achievable, and aligned with the overall sales strategy.

- - Influential Quota-Setting Sources

When setting quotas, it's important to consider various input sources to ensure that the quotas are realistic and achievable. Here are some input sources to consider:

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Historical Data

Analyzing historical sales data can help identify patterns, trends, and areas of strength or weakness.

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Market Analysis

Conducting thorough research of the total addressable market; including factors like customer needs, competition, and economic conditions. Analysis can inform quota setting by providing insight into the opportunities and challenges facing the sales team.

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Sales Rep Input

Soliciting input from sales representatives can provide valuable information about their individual strengths and weaknesses, as well as their insights into the market and customer needs.

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Company Goals

Understanding the company's overall sales and revenue goals can help ensure that quotas are aligned with the company's objectives.

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Resource Availability

Consideration of the available resources such as the sales team size, budget, technology, and support infrastructure can ensure that quotas are set at a level that can be supported.

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Management Input

Analyzing historical sales data can help identify patterns, trends, and areas of strength or weakness.

- Territory Planning & Management

Sales territory planning and management refer to the process of defining, organizing, and assigning a fair and equitable account base to sales representatives, with the goal of optimizing sales productivity and achieving revenue targets.

The process begins with analyzing historical sales data, market trends, and customer information to identify potential opportunities and gaps in the existing sales coverage. This information is then used to design a sales territory map that outlines the specific regions, industries, or customer segments that each sales rep will be responsible for.

Once the territories have been defined, sales managers must then ensure that they are effectively managed and optimized to maximize revenue potential. This may involve monitoring and adjusting based on sales rep performance, identifying new sales opportunities, and managing customer relationships within each territory.

Effective planning and management can help organizations improve sales productivity, reduce costs, and drive revenue growth. By assigning the right sales rep to the right territory, organizations can improve their ability to identify and pursue new business opportunities, while also improving the quality of customer engagement and satisfaction.

- - Territory Setting Methodologies

There are several sales territory planning methods that organizations can use to design and manage their sales territories. Some of the most common methods include:


Geographic-based method: This method divides the market into geographic regions, such as zip codes, counties, or states. It can be helpful in identifying and targeting region-specific customer needs and preferences.
Account-based method: This method assigns sales reps to specific customer accounts, either by industry, size, or revenue potential. It is useful when there are a limited number of key accounts that require specialized attention.
Product-based method: This method assigns sales reps to specific product lines, allowing them to become experts in those products and target customers who are likely to be interested in those products.
Hybrid method: This method combines two or more of the above methods to create a customized sales territory plan that is tailored to the specific needs of the organization.

- Capacity & Attrition Modeling

Sales capacity planning is the process of forecasting the sales resources needed to achieve revenue targets. This involves analyzing historical sales data, current market trends, and business objectives to determine the number of sales representatives, the territories they will cover, and the expected sales quotas for each. Sales capacity planning helps organizations to ensure they have the right number of sales resources to achieve their revenue goals while avoiding over- or under-staffing.

Attrition modeling is the process of predicting the likelihood of sales reps leaving the organization or changing roles within the company. By analyzing historical data, organizations can identify factors that may lead to attrition, such as compensation, job satisfaction, or career growth opportunities. This information can then be used to create a model that predicts which sales reps are most likely to leave and when. This enables organizations to take proactive steps to retain their top sales talent, such as offering training and development opportunities, adjusting compensation, or improving working conditions.

Sales capacity planning and attrition modeling are closely related and are both critical components of effective sales resource planning. By accurately forecasting sales capacity needs and managing attrition, organizations can ensure they have the right sales talent in place to achieve their revenue targets while avoiding unnecessary costs associated with over- or under-staffing.

- Compensation Plan Design

Sales compensation plan design is the process of creating a structure that incentivizes and rewards salespeople for achieving specific goals and objectives. These plans typically consist of a combination of base salary, commissions, bonuses, and other incentives.

The primary objective of a sales compensation plan is to motivate salespeople to achieve specific sales targets and objectives while aligning their efforts with the overall goals of the company. A well-designed sales compensation plan should encourage salespeople to focus on selling high-margin products, generating repeat business, and building strong relationships with customers.

The design of a sales compensation plan should take into consideration a number of factors, including the type of products or services being sold, the size and complexity of the sales organization, and the competitive landscape. In addition, the plan should be flexible enough to allow for changes in the business environment and should be regularly reviewed and updated as needed.

Some key components of a sales compensation plan include:


Base Salary

This is the fixed component of the salesperson's compensation package.

Commission

This is the variable component of the compensation package that is tied to the salesperson's performance. Commissions can be structured in a variety of ways, including a percentage of the total sales volume, a percentage of the profit margin on each sale, or a flat rate per sale.

Bonus

This is an additional incentive that can be offered to salespeople who exceed their sales targets or achieve other specific objectives.

Incentives

These can take many forms, including prizes, trips, or other rewards for achieving specific goals or milestones.

Draw Against Commission

This is an advanced payment against potential future commissions. At the end of a draw period, an employer may require a payback or deduction from total commissions.

When designing a sales compensation plan, it is important to consider the potential costs and benefits of each component, as well as the potential impact on sales performance and employee morale. By carefully designing and implementing a sales compensation plan, companies can help ensure that their salespeople are motivated, productive, and aligned with the company's overall objectives.

- - Commission Structures

There are several types of sales commissions that can be included in a sales compensation plan. The most common types of sales commissions include:

Straight Commission

This is a commission that is paid based on a percentage of the total sales volume generated by the salesperson. In a straight commission plan, the salesperson's earnings are directly proportional to their sales performance.

Graduated or Tiered Commission

This is a commission structure in which the commission rate increases as the salesperson reaches certain sales milestones or quotas. This structure is designed to incentivize salespeople to continue to increase their sales performance.

Residual Commission

This is a commission structure in which the salesperson receives a commission on sales generated by a customer over a period of time. For example, if a salesperson sells a subscription service, they may receive a commission on each monthly payment made by the customer.

Profit Commission

This is a commission structure in which the commission rate increases as the salesperson reaches certain sales milestones or quotas. This structure is designed to incentivize salespeople to continue to increase their sales performance.

Incentive Compensation Management

At the heart of Sales Performance Management lies the effective administration of incentive compensation. This involves ensuring that employee commissions are paid accurately and promptly, while providing real-time visibility into commission calculations. When executed successfully, these factors can lead to increased employee satisfaction and retention, with the goal of meeting the overall company sales objectives.

Process standardization and automation within the ICM program leads to improved efficiency, accuracy, and productivity for compensation analysts. This allows them to shift from day-to-day maintenance and disputes, to spend more time on performance analysis and proactive sales strategy calibration.

- Deal Crediting & Allocation

Deal crediting is a process that involves assigning credit or recognition to sales representatives or teams for their contribution to closing a deal. This process is important in organizations with complex sales cycles that involve multiple touch points with customers, such as enterprise-level sales.

Deal crediting typically involves assigning a percentage of the deal's revenue to each salesperson who played a role in closing the sale. This percentage can be based on various factors, such as the salesperson's level of involvement in the deal, the value they brought to the table, or the region they cover.

The process can be manual or automated, depending on the complexity of the sales cycle and the organization's needs. Manual processes involve tracking deal progress and assigning credit manually, which can be time-consuming and prone to errors. Automated processes involve the use of specialized software that can track sales activities, assign credit automatically based on predefined rules, and calculate commission payouts.

Effective sales deal crediting and allocation can help motivate sales teams by ensuring that they are recognized and rewarded for their efforts. It can also help identify areas for improvement in the sales process and enable the organization to optimize its sales strategy for better results.

- Compensation Calculations

Calculating compensation is the process of determining the amount of pay or rewards that an employee is entitled to receive based on their performance, contribution, and other factors. These calculations can vary depending on the type of compensation, such as base salary, commissions, and bonuses, and the specific metrics used to measure performance, such as sales targets, customer satisfaction scores, or project completion rates.

To calculate compensation accurately, organizations typically define a set of rules or formulas that consider various factors, such as performance metrics, commission rates, revenue goals, and payout thresholds. These rules and formulas can be customized to suit the organization's specific needs and goals and can be adjusted over time to reflect changes in the market, industry, or company strategy.

Compensation calculations can be done manually, using spreadsheets or other tools, but they should be automated using specialized software or systems. Automated compensation calculations offer several advantages, such as increased accuracy, faster processing times, better tracking, and improved reporting capabilities.

- Approval Workflows & Dispute Resolution

Compensation workflow approvals and dispute resolution refer to the processes involved in reviewing and approving metrics of a compensation plan and resolving any disputes that may arise related to associated payments.

The approval workflow typically involves a series of steps that ensure the accuracy and validity of compensation plans and payments. This may include verifying the eligibility of employees for compensation, reviewing the performance metrics used to determine the amount of compensation, and approving quotas, compensation plans, and payments. The approval workflow can require multiple levels of approval and automated notifications to ensure that payments are processed in a timely and efficient manner.

Dispute resolution, on the other hand, involves the process of resolving any disputes that may arise related to compensation payments. This may include disputes related to the amount of compensation, eligibility for compensation, or any other issue that may arise. Dispute resolution typically involves a review of the relevant data and documentation related to the dispute, followed by a decision on how to resolve the issue. This may involve changes to the compensation plan or payout amounts, or other corrective actions.

IN OUR OWN WORDS

Sales operation decisions fuel the sales engine and drive company growth. Therefore, it is critical to lay a strong foundation in technology and best practices. So many companies automate incentive compensation and stop there. But ICM has become table stakes in effective revenue operations. To truly maximize potential and gain a competitive edge, strategic operational technology must be leveraged across the Sales Performance Management ecosystem."

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Kendra Hannon
Director, SPM Practice Lead
at ATG Cognizant

Performance Analysis

Sales performance analytics is the process of using data to measure and analyze sales performance. It involves tracking and analyzing key performance metrics, such as sales revenue, customer acquisition rates, customer retention rates, and sales conversion rates.

Sales performance analytics is important because it provides businesses with insights into their sales performance and helps them identify areas for improvement. By analyzing sales data, businesses can identify trends, patterns, and opportunities that can be used to optimize sales performance. It can also help sales managers to identify top-performing salespeople and provide coaching to underperforming salespeople.

Moreover, sales performance analytics enables businesses to make data-driven decisions that can have a significant impact on their bottom line. It helps businesses to evaluate the effectiveness of their sales strategies, allocate resources effectively, and optimize their sales processes to maximize revenue and profitability. Ultimately, sales performance analytics is critical for businesses that want to stay competitive in today's fast-paced, data-driven business environment.

- Types of Performance Analysis

There are several types of sales performance analytics that businesses can use to measure and analyze their performance. Some of the main types include:

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Sales revenue analysis: This involves analyzing sales revenue trends over time to identify patterns and trends that can be used to optimize sales performance.
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Customer acquisition analysis: This involves analyzing the rate at which new customers are being acquired and the cost of acquiring those customers.

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Customer retention analysis: This involves analyzing the rate at which existing customers are being retained and identifying factors that contribute to customer churn.

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Sales conversion analysis: This involves analyzing the rate at which leads are being converted into sales and identifying factors that contribute to successful conversions.
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Sales pipeline analysis: This involves analyzing the status of sales opportunities in the sales pipeline and identifying areas for improvement.

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Sales team performance analysis: This involves analyzing the performance of individual salespeople and identifying areas where coaching and training are needed.

Businesses may use one or more of these types of sales performance analytics, depending on their specific goals and the data available to them. By using sales performance analytics to measure and analyze performance, businesses can identify areas for improvement and make data-driven decisions.

Pipeline Analytics & Forecasting

- Sales Pipeline

Businesses may use one or more of these types of sales performance analytics, depending on their specific goals and the data available to them. By using sales performance analytics to measure and analyze performance, businesses can identify areas for improvement and make data-driven decisions.

The sales pipeline typically consists of various stages, such as prospecting, qualifying, proposing, negotiating, and closing. At each stage, the probability of closing the sale increases, and the sales rep must take specific actions to move the prospect to the next stage.

Sales pipeline analysis involves examining data related to each stage of the sales process, such as the number of prospects at each stage, the conversion rates between stages, the average time it takes to move a prospect from one stage to the next, and the value of deals at each stage.

By analyzing this data, sales managers can identify bottlenecks in the sales process, take corrective action to improve conversion rates, and accelerate the sales cycle. For example, if a high percentage of prospects are dropping out of the pipeline at the proposal stage, the sales team may need to refine their proposals to better meet the needs of prospects or provide additional information to address any objections.

Sales pipeline analysis can also help sales managers forecast future sales revenue by examining the number and value of deals at each stage of the pipeline, enabling organizations to better align sales targets with the revenue forecast and adjust their sales strategies when needed.

- Sales Forecasting

Sales forecasting is the process of estimating future sales, revenue, and trends for particular products and services. Organizations have a higher likelihood of achieving better accuracy when adopting these best practices; implement a clear and concise sales process, align the forecasting method, understand the sales cycle time, forecast in real-time, refine the sales forecast over time.

There are several types of sales forecasting methods that businesses can use, including, but not limited to:

QUALITATIVE FORECASTING

This method involves gathering opinions and judgments from experts or consumers through surveys, polls, or focus groups. Qualitative forecasting is often used when historical data is not available or when a product or service is new to the market.

QUANTITATIVE FORECASTING

This method involves analyzing historical data, such as sales trends, seasonality, and other relevant factors to predict future sales levels. Quantitative forecasting is often used when historical data is available and can be analyzed to identify patterns and trends.

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TIME-SERIES ANALYSIS

This is a statistical technique that analyzes historical data to identify trends and patterns in sales over time. Time series analysis can help businesses identify seasonal patterns, cyclical trends, and other factors that can affect sales.

REGRESSION ANALYSIS

This is a statistical technique that analyzes the relationship between sales and other variables, such as price, advertising, or consumer demographics. Regression analysis can help businesses identify the factors that are driving sales and predict how changes in these variables will affect future sales levels.

MARKET RESEARCH

This method involves gathering data on market trends, consumer behavior, and other factors that can affect sales. Market research can help businesses identify new opportunities and trends in the market and adjust their sales forecasts accordingly.

An organization can use a combination of these forecasting methodologies to produce accurate forecasts. Armed with these insights, the sales and leaderships teams can better create a financial plan, allocate resources, evaluate performance, and make sound strategic decisions.

Program Administration

A compensation administrator is responsible for managing and administering a company's compensation program. Their primary role is to ensure that the organization's compensation practices are fair, competitive, and aligned with business objectives.

The specific responsibilities of a compensation administrator may vary depending on the size and complexity of the organization, but typically include the following:

Compensation communication: Communicating the compensation program to employees, including how it works and how it aligns with their career development and performance goals.
Compensation data management: Managing data related to compensation, including maintaining accurate records, generating reports, and ensuring compliance with relevant regulations.
Performance evaluation: Working with managers and HR to evaluate employee performance and determine appropriate compensation adjustments.
Compliance: Ensuring that the organization's compensation practices comply with relevant laws and regulations, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Equal Pay Act.
Stay up to date with industry trends & regulations: Keep abreast of changes and developments in compensation practices and regulations in their industry. Attend conferences, read industry publications, and participate in professional associations to stay current on the latest trends and practices.
Benchmark against competitors: Conduct regular benchmarking against their competitors to ensure their compensation program remains competitive. Compare compensation levels, benefits, and incentive plans to ensure their organization is offering a package that is attractive to potential employees and keeps current employees engaged and motivated.
Automate where possible: Look for opportunities to automate routine administrative tasks, such as data entry and reporting, to free up time for higher-level work. Consider using compensation management software that can streamline workflows and provide more accurate data and analysis.
Collaborate with stakeholders: Work closely with HR, finance, and senior leadership to ensure that the compensation program aligns with overall business objectives and is financially sustainable. Involve stakeholders in the design and implementation of the program, and regularly solicit feedback to ensure that the program remains relevant and effective.

Who Benefits from SPM?

Sales Leadership
Benefits include increased visibility to calculation of commission payments, transparency and reporting, business insights and performance monitoring, analytics and reporting

Sales Reps

Adoption of SPM typically takes sales representatives from a monthly spreadsheet-based statement via email to on-demand summaries of commissions and performance to quota, all with significantly higher accuracy

Financial/Sales Ops

Finance and Sales Operations team see major gains in monthly close cycles through the automation of commission processing and a reduction in errors from manual processes. The real-time information flow means that disputes are resolved far in advance of a close process, rather than days of stress after distributing monthly spreadsheet statements.

Human Resources

Visibility into the compensation process assists in faster issue resolution, business insight and performance reporting

Accounting

Spreadsheets are replaced with a widely accepted system-of-record for variable compensation. Auditing capability is greatly increased.

Customers

When an organization's Sales Reps, Account Managers, and Customer Care teams are aligned with compensation appropriately this positively impacts the overall customer experience

SPM Key Concepts

Territory Management

Commission calculation is the cornerstone of SPM. Rules-based calculation engines allow for one-time setup of compensation plans, decreasing processing time and eliminating errors. Most commission calculation engines can perform complex commission crediting, overlay, and user-maintainable rate calculation logic.

Plan Document Creation & Routing

Many SPM solutions provide detailed template and workflow functionality to automate the creation, distribution and acceptance of compensation plans. Based on existing configuration, plan documents can be auto-created and populated with quotas, rate calculations, and terms and conditions. Workflows distribute plan documents to sales managers and representatives for electronic approval, providing a straightforward way to approach plan acceptance and tracking.

Dispute Resolution

Line item detail on commission calculation means disputes can be submitted related to specific line items for resolution. Increased detail, communication and tracking lead to transparency and fast resolution of any issues.

Approval Workflows

Audit capability is greatly enhanced through workflows for payment approvals, compensation plan routing, and dispute resolution. Many solutions offer multi-level acceptance or rejection, routing issues or requests directly where they belong.

Reporting & Analytics

Centralized data and tied-in reporting platforms allow for aggregation and reporting that doesn’t require compiling multiple data sources into spreadsheets or BI tools. Reporting on sales and territory performance, cost of sales, accruals or payroll reports are all typically available in an SPM solution.

Performance

Automation of performance and ranking reports foster healthy competition and motivation within a sales team. In many SPM tools, rankings are refreshed on demand. Performance tracking is streamlined and providing new business insights, even which contributors are at most risk of attrition based on compiled empirical data.

Benchmarking

Due to the enormous amount of cloud-based data available across thousands of businesses, data scientists have successfully anonymized data across industries to create accurate benchmarking. This new data can be used to help administrators and planners to make informed decisions around compensation, quota setting and even the appropriate number of components in a compensation plan.

Territory Planning

Creating equitable territories and makeups that enable a salesperson to meet their assigned quota are critical to any sales plan. SPM can take it even further by automation territory design based on opportunity and travel distance, minimizing travel time so that reps can spend more time selling.
IN OUR OWN WORDS

Moving from archaic spreadsheets and endless manual processes into an integrated platform solution puts any business on the cutting edge. Real-time, accurate calculations for sales reps provide new transparency that influence selling behavior. The complex and arduous process of compensation administration and planning becomes highly simplified and automated. Incorporated reporting and analytics create new visibility into the business. Everybody wins."

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Gracie Sanford
Director of Strategic Alliances
at ATG Cognizant

People, Process, and Technology of SPM

People

Sales Performance Management (SPM) is typically the domain of a company's sales organization, although, depending on the type of products or services offered, SPM may originate with either the Product or Operations group.

In most organizations, the Finance org is also heavily involved, while companys that are tightly-aligned to a common set of KPIs would also have Customer Success, Customer Service, and perhaps Marketing in the mix. And, as with all ecosystem domains, the folks from I.T. have their fingers in the pie as well.

Sales

Product

Operations

Customer Service

Customer Success

FINANCE

FINANCE - Billing

I.T.

Process

ATG maintains a set of 100 key business processes to support the management of customers and revenue for businesses. Forty-three of these processes originate or are impacted by the SPM function, with the majority of those being performed within the Sales Organization. Below are the key processes that are touched in SPM, categorized by the organizational unit that owns the process:

SALES

Attrition Modeling

Method of mitigating financial risks and risks to achieving the organization's sales quota by modeling the expected attrition by sales reps' throughout the sales year.

SALES

Commission Calculation

Rules-based calculation engines allow for one-time setup of compensation plans, decreasing processing time and eliminating errors.

SALES

Compensation Plan Administration

The administrative aspect of managing compensation plans for a sales organization.

SALES

Compensation Plan Documentation Routing & Acceptance

The template and workflow functionality to automate the creation, distribution and acceptance of compensation plans. Based on existing configuration, plan documents can be auto-created and populated with quotas, rate calculations, and terms and conditions. Workflows distribute plan documents to sales managers and representatives for electronic approval, providing a straightforward way to approach plan acceptance and tracking.

SALES

External/Partner Transaction Management

Management and integration of any of third-party resellers/partner, or large enterprise customer, transactions that including selling, billing & collections, and account management.

SALES

Quota Setting

Process to allocate the expected contribution towards revenue goals across territories.

SALES

Quote - Product / Service Discount

Configuration of product and service discounts relating to certain criteria (e.g. volume discounts, geography, trying to win the deal, etc.).

SALES

Quote - Product / Service Pricing

Configuration of features and attributes of products and services prior to a sale. Typical in a custom solution environment.

SALES

Sales Credit Assignment

The process of identifying deal ownership and assigning credit or split credit accordingly.

SALES

Sales Credit Rollup / Rollover

How an organization assigns sales credit appropriately to multiple parties for commission payout based on hierarchy or reporting structure (rollup) or horizontally as a deal influencer (rollover).

SALES

Territory Planning

Defining equitable geographical sales territories, based on market factors and customer intelligence data, that enable a salesperson to meet their assigned quota.

SALES / FINANCE

Sales Reporting

Collecting and analyzing data to inform on key sales and company performance metrics, including revenue and cost analyses, individual and team performance, employee churn, and sales to business model alignment.

SALES / FINANCE

Payroll Output

The process by which commissions are finalized for payment in a period; this includes data and calculation validation by the Sales department, as well as approvals and issuance of payment by the Finance or Accounting department.

SALES / FINANCE - BILLING

Clawback Processing

Executing the payment back of any commissions or spiffs that were paid out but required to be returned due to cancellation or special contractual circumstances.

SALES / FINANCE - BILLING

Commission Dispute Resolution

Submitting a commission calculation or ownership for review and resolution under the premise it is incorrect.

SALES / CUSTOMER SERVICE

Renewal Processing

Methods used to renew a customer's services, may be manual or automated. This could apply to the renewal of maintenance and support for Perpetual products, or renewal of a subscription term for Cloud products.

PRODUCT

Bundled Product Introduction Process

Configuring and introduction of a bundled product or service to the product catalog and supporting systems. Includes definition of product/bundle attributes, pricing rules (usage, recurring, non-recurring), discounts rules, product/service lifecycle, revenue recognition, and reporting attributes.

PRODUCT

New Pricing Introduction - Existing Construct

This process is for creation of a new pricing rate for an existing construct. For example, creation of a $24.95/mo. plan for a geography that previously had been at $27.95/mo.

PRODUCT

New Pricing Introduction - New Construct

This process is for creation of a new pricing construct for an existing product or service. For example, creation of a monthly subscription where previously there had only been annual.

PRODUCT

New Product Introduction Process

Introduction of a new product or service to the Product Catalog and supporting quoting, ordering, contracting, provisioning, ticketing, invoicing, payment, usage, and revenue recognition systems. Includes definition of product attributes, pricing rules(usage, recurring, non-recurring), discounts rules, product/service lifecycle, revenue recognition, reporting attributes, and bundling concepts.

PRODUCT

New Product Introduction Process - Mobile

Configure attributes and introduce new products and services, with specific focus on making the product available on mobile devices.

PRODUCT

Promotion & Discount Introduction

The configuration of standard, pre-defined promotions and discounts of products or services.

OPERATIONS

Proactive Customer Notification - Operations Focus (CC Expiry, Payment Received Notification)

A proactive approach to notify customers of pertinent payment information, particularly keeping Credit Cards current to limit number and impact of reject processing.

OPERATIONS

Service Provisioning / Activation

The process of activating or de-activating a service or product for a particular customer.

I.T.

Cross-Training of Monetization Ecosystem Components

Process for training organizational resources

I.T.

Data Stewardship Across Monetization Ecosystem

Process of assigning ownership and sources of truth for data within the organization.

I.T.

Maintenance & Oversight of Monetization Ecosystem

Process around assuring that all touchpoints and connections in the ecosystem are optimized and working to their full potential.

I.T.

Monitoring & Testing of Vendor Functional Releases

As ecosystem components release updates and patches, each is checked and tested to confirm all systems are working together as required by the business' requirements.

I.T.

Security Oversight of Monetization Ecosystem

Process for maintaining and controlling access and permission to ecosystem components.

I.T.

Vendor Management of the Monetization Ecosystem

Management of ecosystem component vendors including proactive communication of changes and general relationship nurturing.

FINANCE - BILLING

Credit Card Processing

Methods to receive credit card payments including authorization, payment gateway, processing, interchange, and credit card success/failures.

FINANCE - BILLING

Invoice Finishing & Delivery

Typically, billing engines produce raw invoice or statement data. Often, external applications are used to package this data for presentation on a paper invoice, electronic distribution, or alternate media. Most billing engines have rudimentary invoice presentation capability.

FINANCE - BILLING

Payment Processing

The steps taken to process different payment methods from customers.

FINANCE - BILLING

SOX/Regulatory Compliance

The ability to provide proof of internal controls to prevent fraud and material misstatements.

FINANCE - BILLING

System Auditability

Provides assurance that source system data is accurate, and a paper trail exists from a transaction to financial statements.

FINANCE

Collections / Treatment Processing

For net terms customers, the ability to pro-actively manage a process to collect money from customers who have fallen behind in the periodic billing. These are processes specifically designed to keep customers, that for one reason or another have balances in 30-60, 60-90, etc., day buckets.

FINANCE

Commissions Processing, Referral Fees, and Clawbacks

The process of tracking sales commissions, referral fees paid to partners, and sales rewards programs.

FINANCE

Currency Conversion

The point within a multinational company's sales cycle where currency is converted. This conversion may occur at the transaction or during the commissioning process, and must be carefully monitored to ensure accurate conversion rate and payment amount, and to enable standardized reporting.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Cross-Sell Processing - Ongoing

A central method for increasing Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) and is the process of selling additional product(s) or service(s) to a customer during the customers' entire lifetime with your company. This process is separate from Cross-sell Processing - Initial order.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Proactive Customer Notification - Success Focus (Recommendations, Advice of Charge, Overage Notifications)

Exceeding customer expectations by using data and triggers to notify them of an opportunity or looming risk.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Up-Sell Processing - Ongoing

A central method for increasing Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) and is the process of moving a customer to a better or higher version of a product or service throughout their lifetime with your company. This process is separate from Up-Sell Processing - Initial Order.

CUSTOMER SUCCESS

Retention / Churn Monitoring

The process of monitoring customer turnover.

ALL

Daily, Periodic, or Ad Hoc Reporting (ETL, Report, Dashboard)

Movement of data between domains to create a single source of truth for reporting and dashboarding. Includes key metrics such as revenue analytics and other KPIs

Technology
Incentive Compensation Management (ICM) is the core of SPM. Ensuring that commissions are paid accurately and on-time, coupled with real-time visibility to calculations translate to higher employee satisfaction and retention. Finance, Account and Sales Operations gain from process standardization and automation, resulting in more time to analyze enhanced data and optimize planning.
IN OUR OWN WORDS

Month-end close is hard. Equitable quota and territory setting? That’s tricky too. And don’t forget about building/executing effective compensations plans; it’s basically an art. Our team of experts know the challenges that sales leaders, administrators, and reps face every day. Our combined expertise span industries, technologies, and stages of organizational growth. We work HARD to bring our customers goals to life, using best-in-class practices and processes."

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Hannah Sackett
Xactly Practice Lead
at ATG Cognizant

Key SPM Vendors

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ESSENTIALS

Founded: 2005
HQ: San Jose, CA
Company Type: Privately Held
Website: www.xactlycorp.com
Delivery Method: Cloud

OVERVIEW

Xactly Corporation develops cloud-based, enterprise-class incentive compensation solutions that enable employers to design and automate compensation plans which align employee incentives with business goals.  

 The Company’s SaaS solutions optimize sales performance, employee behavior, and strategic decision making while reducing risk and error rates in compensation calculations. Xactly is the first fully cloud-based, multi-tenant provider focusing solely on the incentive compensation and employee and sales performance management markets. 

PRODUCT & SERVICES:

  • Sales Planning
  • AlignStar - Territory Management
  • Sales Resource Planning
  • Benchmarking
  • Incent - Incentive Compensation Calculations
  • SimplyComp - DIY incentive compensations
  • Commission Expense Accounting
  • Planning Performance
  • Connect - open API platform

TARGET MARKET

Xaclty target organizations in many industries of any size. 

CUSTOMERS

  • LinkedIn
  • SanDisk
  • Salesforce
  • Rosetta Stone
  • Workday
  • Honeywell
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ESSENTIALS

Founded: 2003
HQ: Toronto, Canada
Company Type: Public
Website:  www.varicent.com
Delivery Method: Cloud

OVERVIEW

Varicent Software is a global pioneer in Incentive Compensation and Sales Performance Management that delivers innovative, industry-leading solutions for finance, sales, human resources and IT departments in high-performing companies across industries. 

PRODUCT & SERVICES:

  • Reporting, dashboards, and analytics 
  • Composer and calculation engine 
  • Workflow routing and scheduling 
  • Integration with Watson Analytics

TARGET MARKET

Varicent target organizations in many industries of any size. 

CUSTOMERS

  • Siemens Healthineers
  • Louisiana-Pacific Corporation
  • Tektronix
  • Ferguson
  • Colt Technology Services
  • Zions Bancorporation
  • S. Bank
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ESSENTIALS

Founded: 2006
HQ: San Francisco, CA
Company Type: Publicly Held
Website: www.anaplan.com
Delivery Method: Cloud

OVERVIEW

Anaplan platform offers a leading scalable Sales Performance Management software that has an all-encompassing power of connected planning. Anaplan can help a business prepare for the unexpected, organize multiple moving parts, keep the business moving in unison, and maintain the necessary processes as company growth occurs. The forward driving architecture has the capability to achieve business goals through connected planning. 

PRODUCT & SERVICES:

  • Reporting, Dashboards, and Analytics
  • Operations Planning
  • Budgeting and Forecasting

TARGET MARKET

Anaplan targets organizations of many industries of any size.

CUSTOMERS

  • Carter's
  • DocuSign
  • Sonos
  • United
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ESSENTIALS

Founded: 2017
HQ: San Francisco, CA
Company Type: Publicly Held
Website: www.captivateiq.com
Delivery Method: Cloud

OVERVIEW

CaptivateIQ platform offers a software solution that offers data integrations, compensation management, Reporting tools, and Collaborations. The inclusivity of CaptivateIQ platform allows for easy connection to Salesforce, NetSuite, Snowflake, and more. CaptivateIQ has the ability design plans that push your teams to grow, create reports that enhance business decisions, as well as simplifying how your employees get work done and communicate. This commission platform streamlines commissions for every team, allowing for a completely automated process. 

PRODUCT & SERVICES:

  • Reporting, Dashboards, and Analytics
  • Sales Performance Management (SPM)

TARGET MARKET

CaptivateIQ targets many organizations of varying industries and size. 

CUSTOMERS

  • Envoy
  • Affirm
  • Udemy
  • Intercom
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ESSENTIALS

Founded: 2013
HQ: Chester, PA
Company Type: Privately Held
Website:www.optymyze.com
Delivery Method: Cloud

OVERVIEW

Optymyze platform combines cloud, analytics, and business process automation with a no code development. The enablement that no code offers is not limited to continuous integration, seamless deployment, multi scalability, end-to-end automation, multi-industry solutions, and overall process unification. Opymyze empowers growth, success, change, and to think bigger.  

PRODUCT & SERVICES:

  • Reporting, Dashboards, and Analytics
  • Sales Performance Management (SPM)
  • Development Process Automation
  • Workforce Performance Management
  • Business Process Automation

TARGET MARKET

Optymyze targets many organizations of varying industries and size. 

CUSTOMERS

  • McKesson
  • Office Depot
  • US Bank
  • Echo
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ESSENTIALS

Founded: 1977
HQ: Redwood City, CA
Company Type: Public 
Website: www.oracle.com
Delivery Method: Cloud

OVERVIEW

Oracle Sales Planning and Performance Management (SPM) offers a unified sales planning with smart view, predictive planning, and flexible modeling. Oracle’s platform allows businesses to use sales planning, quota management, territory management, incentive compensation, and Forecasting software to enable business success. Oracle SPM, when utilized, will help sales teams and operation staff to optimize incentive compensation, quota management, and territory management tools. This cloud-based software will allow for better planning with deeper insights.

PRODUCT & SERVICES:

  • Sales Performance Management (SPM)
  • Sales Planning Management
  • Quota Management
  • Territory Management
  • Incentive Compensation
  • Forecasting, Dashboards, and Analytics

TARGET MARKET

Oracle SPM targets organizations in any industry. 

CUSTOMERS

  • Liberty Mutual
  • Nasdaq
  • Vanguard
  • PayPal
  • Morgan Stanley
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ESSENTIALS

Founded: 2006
HQ: Irvine, CA
Company Type: Publicly Held
Website: www.performio.com
Delivery Method: Cloud

OVERVIEW

PerformioSalesPerformance Management (SPM) gives businesses the power to make confident informed decisions. The flexibility allows for a customizable plan design as well as a fully auditable commission processing system. Performio’s integration capabilities extend to Salesforce and NetSuite to make data management simple. The power of the data management and connection tools combined with powerful reporting unleashes an empowered sales team with capabilities to cut down on deal closure times with improved efficiency.

PRODUCT & SERVICES:

  • Sales Performance Management (SPM)
  • Reports, Dashboards, and Analytics
  • Sales Representative Portal
  • Financial Planning and Audit Logs

TARGET MARKET

Performio SPM targets organizations in many industries of varying sizes. 

CUSTOMERS

  • Vodafone
  • BrowserStack
  • Globalpayments
  • Ondeck
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ESSENTIALS

Founded: 1972
HQ: Newton Square, PA
Company Type: Public
Website: www.sap.com
Delivery Method: Cloud

OVERVIEW

SAP Sales Performance Management (SPM) has been utilized through the acquisition of CallidusCloud that has enhanced the SPM abilities of SAP. A comprehensive combination of commission management, territory management, and quota management has allowed for SAP to be a leading provider of SPM. With the right foundation, SAP Sales Performance Management can deliver accurate forecasts based on trends that will ensure business success. Companies running on SAP can expect to increase their sales, have comprehensive solutions, and a rounded sales performance management cloud-based platform. 

PRODUCT & SERVICES:

  • Sales Performance Management (SPM)
  • Commission Management
  • Territory Management
  • Quota Management

TARGET MARKET

SAP targets organizations in many industries, including, energy, financial, telecommunications, healthcare and high tech. Target organizations are typically small-to-medium enterprises. 

CUSTOMERS

  • Globenet
  • Adobe
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ESSENTIALS

Founded: 2018
HQ: Salt Lake City,  UT
Company Type: Privately Held
Website: www.spiff.com
Delivery Method: Cloud

OVERVIEW

Spiff Sales Performance Management (SPM)is a real-time dashboard that can create reports, give visibility into teams and plan, and help with quota management or attainment. In one all-encompassing system, representatives have the capabilities to connect all their commission systems for a seamless integration.Spiff utilizes a machine learning feature that cuts down errors and saves time so your systems are accurate, and your representatives can spend their time elsewhere. Their fast onboarding and AI supported solution will allow you to manage your business more efficiently with the help of incentives.

PRODUCT & SERVICES:

  • Sales Performance Management (SPM)
  • Sales Compensation
  • Team Management
  • Quota Management
  • Planning Management

TARGET MARKET

Spiff Sales Performance Management (SPM) targets many companies in many industries. 

CUSTOMERS

  • Lucid
  • Sendoso
  • Algolia
  • Workato
Downloadable Documents

ATG Sales Performance Management Practice

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ATG Xactly One-Page Fact Sheet

Open
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ATG SPM Project Kickstart

Open
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ATG Xactly Incent Health Check

Open
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ATG Xactly Application Support

OPEN

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