In many companies, salespeople don't know how they're doing for weeks or months. It is even more difficult to figure out how many and what kinds of deals they'll need to meet their quotas.
Fremont, CA: Sales performance management (SPM) is a collection of operational and analytical functions that automate and integrate back-office operational sales processes in order to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness. Incentive compensation management, quota management and planning, advanced analytics, territory management, and gamification are examples of SPM capabilities.
Some useful tips to increase sales performance are listed below:
Giving Salespeople Analytics
Salespeople can check-in at any time to see where they stand in relation to their quotas. In many companies, salespeople don't know how they're doing for weeks or months. It is even more difficult to figure out how many and what kinds of deals they'll need to meet their quotas.
Fortunately, today's sophisticated software can automatically show salespeople how much money they have made over any given period and how far they are from their quotas in real-time. The best software even allows salespeople to run "what-if" models to help them figure out which deals to target in order to maximize their income. This modeling can include information about how likely a deal is to close, how similar deals have gone in the past, the salesperson's experience with that company, the likely renewal value of the deal, and more—all complex variables that software handles far more effectively than paper and pencil.
Getting Input from All Directions
Sales leaders used to be dictators; they made decisions, and the business lived or died as a result. Today's forward-thinking sales leaders understand that the more information they can gather from those around them—both above and below them in the hierarchy—the more effective their decisions will be.
What is the effectiveness of your compensation plans? Inquire with the salespeople who are directly affected, as well as the managers who supervise those salespeople. What are the potential consequences of your new idea? Ask people all the way up and down the chain to come up with objections to it and see how effective they are. Allow others to criticize your ideas; it will only strengthen them.
