Your Salesperson, Their Salary
By Karen J. Bannan
Today, if a salesperson works at a large company they can go online at any time to see how close they are to their sales target and how much the sales he or she has already made are worth via software that falls into the sales incentive compensation. This type of software is great for the employee and the business. Employees have instant motivation. They can see when they have to work harder, and they can see real dollars attached to their efforts. Companies love this software, too because it helps them with revenue and expense planning. It also helps them identify and compensate their best salespeople--and get rid of those who aren't pulling their weight.
Sounds great, right? Unfortunately, until recently this software was for larger enterprise. Mostly by default. And even they weren't using it as often as they should have. The market for such software was down. That's about to change, though, according to a new report from research firm IDC. The report, called Worldwide Sales Incentive Compensation Management Applications 2007, says the compensation management market is about to break open. "As organizations' enterprise applications environments evolve and become more sophisticated, automating specific processes, such as sales incentive compensation, creates the vital link between an organization's internal processes and those of its front-office employees. This links an organization's operations with its call to action," said Mary Wardley, research vice president of CRM Applications at IDC in a statement.
This is because of several factors. Most importantly: the rise of Software-as-a-Service options, such as Salesforce.com and Xactly Corp.'s Incent Benefits integration, makes it easy for any company to get their employees on board with little fuss. Compliance is also an issue. Companies need better and more record-keeping; Excel spreadsheets just don't cut it anymore.
How are you paying your salespeople? Do you feel like they are under- or over-compensated? Tell us more in the Comments section.
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