Sales Compensation Past, Present and Future Anyone who has “carried a bag” in a sales role over the past several decades will tell you that the world has changed. Selling in the past required an intimate knowledge of the company’s products and services and how to apply them, prospecting and closing skills, personal initiative and good verbal communications. In addition, to be successful, you needed to be able to get
Outsourcing Your Sales Compensation Part 2: Identifying the “Right” Partner to Implement an Outsourced Sales Compensation Program In part one of Outsourced Sales Compensation, we discussed the strategic nature of outsourcing the sales compensation program. The “right” sales compensation plan not only initiates and reinforces desired sales behaviour, but is integral in allowing the organization to reach or exceed annual sales goals. Further, when the sales organization maintains an inspirational
Creating the “Right” Environment In an effort to “align” salespeople to the goals and strategies of the company, many companies are developing sales compensation plans that are specific to the sales role and customer/territory situation that the individual is working in. This customized approach works particularly well within a framework that applies a common and consistent mix, target total compensation and measurement criteria relative to each role. In the framework
Strategic Initiatives are not for every organization or for every sales role. They work most effectively when used to ensure that not only do the sales get made, but also they are executed in a particular manner or focused on the appropriate customer. What are the pros for using Strategic Initiatives? Some of the positives for the use of Strategic Initiatives in a sales compensation plan are: Behavioral They support
The Sales Resource Group’s President, David Johnston, was published again this week in Toronto-based HR publication, The HR Gazette. David Johnston’s latest article is called Attracting Top Talent: Where Do We Find Another Matt? and considers ways to attract and retain those all-important purple squirrels – the star performers who can make the difference a company’s bottom line. Here’s an extract from the new article. To read the full post, visit
Objectives-based or strategic performance measures in sales compensation attempt to balance the short-term delivery of financial results with longer-term sales growth and increased customer value. Strategic Initiatives (or M.B.O.’s as they were once known), if used properly, have both qualitative and quantitative expectations and outcomes. To determine whether they make sense for your sales organization requires an assessment of their rationale and the pros, cons and requirements necessary to implement
Outsourcing Your Sales Compensation Part 1: Outsourcing as a Cost Cutting Measure or Strategic Initiative? In recent years the practice of outsourcing administrative functions has become increasingly prevalent. In particular, transactional activities that do not add value to the core functions and critical competencies of the enterprise have been targeted for contracting out. Payroll, benefits administration, inventory management, freight and logistics are all tasks often done outside, rather than monopolizing the
The Sales Resource Group’s President, David Johnston, was published this week in Toronto-based HR publication, The HR Gazette. David Johnston’s latest article on sales compensation strategies is called Who Owns the Incentive Compensation Plan? and considers why so many incentive programs have failed to meet expectations, what are the root causes of lack of commitment and ownership by the executives, and how to create sales comp plans that will actually work. Here’s an
The Canadian Professional Sales Association’s Sales Compensation Strategy podcast series launched this month – promising to tackle the big issues connected with sales compensation, business strategy, and employee recognition. Learning how your sales compensation program aligns with your business goals, and how sales marketing and service strategies will help to achieve those goals is critical in today’s highly competitive local and global economies. This series will feature experts in sales compensation that have
Segmented Customer Targeting and Life Cycle Value As companies are moving more and more toward having fewer salespeople on the street, those larger accounts become more critical, and as a result it’s really gets into customer segmentation. When you’re segmenting your customers into your A, B, and C type customers, then you need to have a strategy for your compensation program that says here’s what I need in terms
