SiriusDecisions analyst Joe Galvin accurately observed that salespeople will respond to two things: "what they get paid for and what their manager makes important." What managers make important typically involves process and performance. And in the arsenal of sales performance tools, nothing has more power to steer sales behavior and drive superior sales performance than a strategically designed and well-managed sales compensation plan.
So what does it take to get sales compensation right? You start by designing plans that directly align individual and corporate goals. Then you manage the compensation process by providing transparency and visibility in such a way that your compensation system is viewed as a trusted sales performance tool, rather than an erroneous, back-office commission calculation application.
