Bringing sales compensation into light.

Not only does automating the sales compensation management function open the door to solving a variety of traditional compensation challenges, automation can help companies access a variety of efficiencies and opportunities.

For starters, automation unshackles sales data from silos of spreadsheets, allowing key information to be integrated with other critical business systems such as finance, CRM, ERR payroll and more. This enhanced access to information fundamentally improves efficiencies, while also opening up a new level of analysis and insight.

The best way to discover what it takes to drive optimal performance with the least amount of risk is to analyze historical data to see what worked, what didn't and why. For finance, this can mean looking at the most profitable product mix, analyzing which products sold best in which territories and when, how sales-crediting rules are working, when the biggest rep turnover occurs, and more.

This is all critical information that can help the finance organization plan and forecast more effectively, and refine compensation plans to be more effective and profitable for reps and the company alike. It also gives organizations a baseline to compare their data with similar companies in their industry.

Only by leveraging accurate data and timely insights can financial executives hope to alleviate sales compensation risks while motivating and influencing optimal sales behavior. But this kind of big data sales analysis simply isn't possible in a spreadsheet model.

Take Control of Compensation

Establishing and keeping effective control over sales compensation is among the many important things a CFO can do. It's essential to compliance and critical to a company's top and bottom lines. It plays a central role in finance becoming a trusted strategic advisor to the CEO and the board, and is fundamental to running an efficient corporate finance shop. In summary, automating the compensation management process saves time, reduces costs and eliminates the seven deadly risks of sales compensation by delivering:

Ensured Compliance * Unlike spreadsheets, automated sales compensation management systems use built-in compliance rules to ensure transactions and processes meet federal audit requirements. It b even possible to automate the delivery and signing of individual compensation plans by each of a company's sales reps. This step alone has become increasingly important and, in some cases, a legal requirement For...