Building a sales performance management strategy could sound intimidating and like a lot of pressure if you’re unsure of what to do. You don’t want to come across as overbearing or pushy – but you also don’t want to seem floundering or lackadaisical. However, ensuring that you find the right balance is easier than you expect.

Here’s how you can manage the sales performances of your employees effectively.

1. Assert your goals from the get-go

From the beginning, be clear with your employees on what your expectations are, regarding their sales performances. What is their daily target sales quota? How long do you expect them to spend with each client? What should their priorities be? Laying all of this out on the table means your employees know what you want. This means that it’s easier for you to track inconsistencies because an expected timeline and/or goals has/have been established.

2. Remember to schedule events and goals

So often, people rely solely on their memory. This can backfire quickly because the human brain is not as effective at retaining information as, say, a piece of intuitive management software. Keeping track of your to-do list means that you can reflect upon each one as and after it’s passed, meaning you can manage performances and outcomes with ease.

3. Be a leader – not just a boss

If you want to truly understand why an employee is falling behind in their sales performance targets, often the best stance is not to be intimidating. Instead, try adopting more of a mentor figure. Ask them why they think they’re failing, what you can do to help. This will build a rapport in the office, and help your employees feel more at ease. When they feel like this, they’re likely to be more confident and perform better.

4. Use Commissionly

Commissionly is a flexible, advanced platform that will help you keep track of, and manage, all your sales performance targets. Not only this, but you can use Commissionly to send out questionnaires to your employees and clients in an unintrusive manner, gleaning results quickly and effectively. Commissionly can be tailored to the individual needs of your SME, growing with you as your business grows.

What is incentive compensation?

Incentive compensation is a form of flexible compensation, in which how much an employee earns varies depending on how many sales they make and how this benefits the company as a whole. Through incentive compensation, the goals of individual salespeople and the goals of the company are aligned, resulting in improved business outcomes.

Incentives can vary from business to business and can include bonuses, commissions, SPIFs (Sales Performance Incentive Funds), prizes and recognition of employees’ achievements. A successful incentive compensation plan is structured in such a way that employees’ rewards will increase as they make more sales and raise revenue for the business.

The benefits of incentive compensation

• Increase in sales

The goal of incentive compensation is to motivate employees to work harder to meet and, hopefully, surpass their sales goals, therefore boosting company profits. Salespeople are financially motivated, so the prospect of compensation based on improved performance is guaranteed to result in more sales.

• Positive working relationships

The success of incentive compensation is based on employees and employers working as a team to drive the business towards success. Some businesses also organise their salespeople into teams to work towards a common goal, fostering positive working relationships between colleagues and encouraging them to help each other.

• Reduction in turnover

If an employee feels dissatisfied with their work and feels as though they aren’t being recognised or rewarded for their achievements, they are likely to move on to another job that more befits their personal goals. Employee satisfaction depends largely on whether their hard work is adequately rewarded, and incentive compensation is the perfect way to achieve this.

How can sales compensation software help?

Sales compensation software simplifies the compensation process, improving automation and providing transparency for you and your employees so you can work together to boost your business’s profits. Get in touch with Commissionly today and find out how we can streamline your sales compensation plan.

Sales commission software is an invaluable tool for both businesses and individuals. It helps business owners to calculate, with ease, how much they owe their sales personnel. But the right commission tracking software can do so much more. It can also be used to incentivise a sales team.

There are many opportunities for salespeople who rely on earning a commission. However, they must know where they stand at all times. After all, for many, it determines what food they will be putting on their plates. It also means being able to pay bills on time. In short, their commission is their lifeblood.

Sales commission software sets and measures markers

For some salespeople, sales commission software allows them to concentrate their efforts on earning a liveable income. For others, it represents a marker. However, to the ambitious salesperson, that marker is not a goal. It is something to be bettered each time around. It is an incentive to raise the bar – to sell more.

Real-time reporting

To work well as an incentive tool, sales commission software must report in real-time. It means that salesmen and women can see where they are at earnings-wise, at any point in time. It gives them the spur they need to achieve their target income.

Comprehensive flexibility

But there is something else too that good sales commission software needs. It needs to be comprehensibly flexible. Most people like challenges. Provided of course they are achievable. This in itself makes them a great incentive as non-achievable challenges actually disincentivize employees.

Target setting

The best commission calculation software must have a user-friendly interface and be easily programmable. From the company point of view, it makes target setting a cinch. It enables attractive commissions to be set on certain categories of products.

This has two advantages:

1. The first is that it concentrates sales efforts on product categories that need it. Therefore, businesses remain in close control of their targets.
2. The second is for the sales staff. Moving targets around through commission biasing creates new challenges. Challenges motivate the sales team, giving them the determination and will to achieve.

Satisfying both ends of the spectrum

If you’re looking for the best sales commission platform to increase sales and motivate your salesforce, try Commissionly. It achieves the best results at both ends of the spectrum.

A career in sales has many advantages; high potential earnings, company bonuses, and many more, however, it can be a very demanding job from day-to-day. With rejection becoming a part of daily life, a career in sales is about more than making phone calls, it is about using your best skills to draw in a customer and close a sale. You can incorporate these helpful tips into your sales goals, and increase your earning potential.

Listen, don’t talk

Any good salesman will tell you that the more you talk, the more chances you are giving the customer to say no. One of the key parts of being an exceptional sales professional is customer engagement and rapport building; find out what your customer likes, what they look forward to. Use this information to build a relationship and introduce your product as lucrative, based on the information they have given you. The more you listen, the more ammunition you will have to persuade them into a sale, and the more respected they will feel by you, for taking the time to listen.

Gatekeepers are not the enemy

Within many sales roles, a common obstacle will be a gatekeeper. Typically a receptionist or assistant, this person holds a lot more power than they are given credit for, as it is ultimately their decision if you get to talk to the desired individual. In order to pass the gatekeeper, you must befriend them. Find out what their role is within the business, find out what they enjoy to do, and use this information to be passed over to your desired contact.

Unique selling points

In order to succeed within sales, you must create the illusion of need within your customer, and you do this by highlighting unique selling points of your product. Research your competitors, what do you offer that they do not? Use that as an advantage and highlight this to your customers, and stress the importance of these unique features. Never apologize for the price of something, use the unique selling points to justify the price point and press the importance of the product you are selling.

Commissions can be a major part of small to medium enterprises (SMEs). They are a highly effective way of making sure that employees are always doing their best for the company since their pay is directly linked to sales. However, to manage commission payments effectively, specific software is required. To run your company most efficiently you need to make sure this software is a perfect fit for your business.

Here are the features for the perfect commission software for small to medium enterprises:

Sales splits

For any company where more than one person is involved in any sale, sales splits are important. Without this feature, commissions would inevitably go to the person who finalised the sale. However, a sale can be more complicated than that and requires more specifics to properly manage commissions. Multiple team members will probably have engaged with potential clients in order to get to the point of them making a purchase. So only rewarding one person can often be unfair and will have a negative on the motivation of the team. With sales splits, different employees can earn different shares of the commission, so everyone gets paid what they are due.

Manager overrides

If your SME has multiple branches, manager overrides can be necessary. Since each manager is responsible for their own team, they should be rewarded when that team does well. The best commission software will account for this and allow managers to receive a share of their teams’ sales. The best managers will earn more, and everyone will be encouraged to get the team to do better since it’s in everyone’s best interest.

Dashboard & reporting

The best commission software for SMEs will need to account for a company’s need for in-depth financial information. Smaller companies are always looking for room to grow.

In-depth reporting means that SMEs can look for areas of strength or weakness in their company and adjust accordingly, rewarding those that are doing well whilst spotting any issues. Tools to analyse business performance are always important, and good commission software should provide this.

Ultimately, one commissioning software guarantees all of this and more. With Commissionly, your small to medium business can ensure that everyone is fairly paid whilst providing the resources to grow. If you believe your company needs commissioning software like this, contact us, book a demo or start the free trial. Our reliable team of experts can advise on the right package for you, and make sure that your small to medium business can thrive.

Regardless of your company size, sales performance goals should be an intrinsic part of day-to-day activities within the sales department. Without sales performance goals, the sales team will remain unfocused and undriven – implementing such goals will encourage hard work with a great payoff.

What types of sales performance goals should you be incorporating into your company as we launch into the new year?

Reduce cycle time

Cycle time is the amount of time taken for a deal to be closed. Whether it be a transaction or negotiation, you should be aiming to have as short a cycle time as possible. The sales performance goal of reducing cycle times is essential – this is because it ensures your team are working at optimal levels.

Improve customer retention

As your business grows, so too will your target audience change. One sales performance goal that should be set, is to improve your customer retention. More importantly, you want to demonstrate to your clients that, even as your company evolves and changes, their loyalty will be worth it.

Increase sales by achievable amounts

Whether you choose to do it on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, your sales team should be focused ultimately on increasing sales. Whatever specific sales performance goal is set regarding this, make sure the target is tangible and achievable. For instance, setting a sales performance goal of improving sales by 8% by the end of Q1 is achievable – an 80% increase by the end of Q1 is not.

Whether an SME or an independent business, why not decide on your new year sales performance goals using the SMART method? No matter how you choose what goals to set for 2020 and beyond, consider Commissionly to see them through.

Commissionly is a reliable, intuitive platform that can help you motivate and pay your workforce as and when you need. Through quick surveys, you can gauge workers’ enthusiasm and drawbacks; additionally, through Commissionly, you can set sales performance goals and strategically plan how to ensure such goals are met.

If you’re a small to medium enterprise (SME) then you’ll know that every sales target and quota matters and that setting achievable goals is vital to success.

Communicate sales expectations between employees

Whether you’re the manager of the business or an employee, communication is key. Studies have endlessly proven that excellent communication in the workplace drives sales. This is because it creates a rapport between staff members, improving respect and an understanding for each others’ roles.

Therefore, communicating your sales expectations between one another will allow the team to feel bonded and more on the same page – increasing the drive to succeed.

Consider all the factors when setting sales targets

As an SME, you have to get sales targets right. Too low, and employees may start to slack as they feel they exceed expectations. On the flipside, set too high and employees will feel dejected and have low morale. To set effective sales targets, consider the following elements:

• Realistic timelines
  Should you set daily sales targets, weekly, monthly, yearly? If you set a daily sales target, remember that this will be different to a weekly one, and a weekly one to a monthly – and so forth. Adjust expectations accordingly.

• Revenues
  Calculate the revenues needed for the business to succeed. Also, don’t feel let down if these are more varied than you expected. A path of income is income nonetheless. Remember to input all revenues into your sales targets if you want accurate outcomes.

Look at what sales quota suits your SME the best

If you want to drive profit, you have to implement an effective sales quota. Here are the four most common types of sales quota, and what they can be used for.

1. Sales quota based on activity
   Best for SMEs with a variety of touch-points, this style of quota works by measuring how much of an activity an employee does. For example, this could be the NUMBER of sales in a day, HOW MANY calls an employee takes, etc.
   
2. Sales quota based on volume
   Ideal for those SMEs focusing on growing revenue, a volume-based quota focuses on just that – the volume. It tallies up the total generated revenue over a given amount of time. Additionally, it may look at the number of units sold.
   
3. Sales quota based on cost
   If you’re an SME focused on expense control, this is the sales quota for you. It revolves around looking at an employee’s effectiveness at reducing costs. Such factors that implement into this include time efficiency, time invested, and additional opportunities taken.
   
4. Sales quota based on profit
   This is the best quota for the SMEs that offer a range of marketable products or services. This is because a quota based on profit looks at the sales performance of employees, therefore working best when an employee has multiple things to sell.

If you’re part of an SME and wondering how to set sales targets and quotas, consider Commissionly. Commissionly is a platform that aims to simplify the inner cogs of a business. Whether it be ways to pay, motivating your team, or integrating a new aspect, Commissionly does it all. As an SME, any help you can get could make a world of difference. Commissionly is the smart, affordable hand that you can take while going on your business venture.

When working within a sales environment, one of the most important thing you will need to have is goals. However, goal-setting can often be easier said than done, as there are many factors that come into play when setting these.

Keep in mind the acronym ‘SMART’ to give you and your team the direction you need:

1. Specific

Goals are hard to achieve when they are vague. It is much easier to lose motivation with a vague and flimsy goal. By making it specific, you are getting right to the point of what you want. For example, rather than having your goal as “I want to encourage my team to perform well”, it should be “I want to set my team targets which are reasonable and encourage them to meet and exceed them”.

2. Measurable

Having a goal which is measurable is crucial. Being able to measure your progress will also indicate how far you are from achieving your goal. A goal which you cannot measure will not motivate you, as you will have no way of seeing how much you have achieved and how close you are to reaching your goal. By having targets and KPIs, it is a very easy way of measuring sales targets and performance, which will highlight any troubling areas.

3. Attainable

Attainability is important when setting a goal. If you cannot possibly achieve your goal, what motivation will you have for pursuing it? This is the side of you which can aim high but needs to also be realistic. You have the best understanding of your business, and what is achievable for your team. For example, within a sales role, it would be unrealistic to set a goal to overcome all objections.

4. Relevant

Many businesses have many different goals, so making sure that the goals you set are relevant to your business is vital. For example, if your sales team needs to build rapport with clients before making a sale, setting a goal in regards to first contact sales would have very little point. Alternatively, if your sales team are encouraged to make a sale as quickly as possible, then you would want to monitor the team’s conversion rates.

5. Time

Working out the time frame in which you will achieve your goal is one of the most important things you can do, as this will dictate how long you measure your success. It is often recommended to have a few short-term goals, and one or two long-term goals, so you can stay motivated on the present as well as the future.

Keep reading Commissionly’s blog posts to find out more about making the most of your sales team.

Motivation is important within any role, but it is vital within a sales environment. From large call volumes to rejection handling, even the best salespeople have to learn to be resilient and often have to rely on their own motivations to get through particularly difficult days.

Within an organisation, there are a few things that can be done to motivate a sales team and create a positive working environment.

Talk openly about sales commission

One of the biggest motivations of a sales role is money, and this is not something which should be downplayed. Many professionals within sales rely heavily, if not solely, on their bonus and commission. They are strongly aware that this will only be made if they put in the necessary work. And encouraging your team to talk about how much commission they have made in a month, can be motivating for those who may be earning less than their colleagues.

Encourage competition

Competition is a great way of increasing motivation within a sales team. By having weekly and monthly targets made visible to the whole team, it can motivate the bottom performers to reach the same level of expertise as their colleagues. It can also encourage competition among the top performers and boost their sales figures in the process. By having a friendly yet competitive atmosphere, you are encouraging your team to revel in their achievements and to work together to reach the most effective sales techniques for your business.

Visualise sales goals

Another way in which businesses motivate their sales team is by keeping everything visual. It is not a secret that those within sales are in it for the money, so by getting them to set goals and visualise them, can boost performance and ultimately, sales figures. The goals could be a new car, a relaxing holiday, or buying a home. Everyone has goals. Reminding your sales team of these goals whilst at work, is perfect motivation because only they have the power to reach their dreams and make them a reality.

It takes five or more interactions for 80% of prospects to convert into a customer. However, most sales teams will only try one or two times before they start to abandon prospects. This means your sales team could more than double their sales figures, every month, if they persist. So this is something you might want to consider when you create sales goals in the future.

At times, the high number of interactions isn’t even necessary. Some prospects are ready to convert much earlier, but just aren’t closed properly. Again this is missed revenue and commissions.

So, why are sale teams stopping so early? One of the biggest barriers for sales teams is the inability to read the signs that say prospects are ready to purchase. There are four main signs to look for in determining whether a customer is in a position to convert.

Nodding the head

When a prospect is nodding their head, they are agreeing with the salesperson and are aligning their thought pattern to that of the seller. It is a typical, unconscious movement that means they’re ready to purchase. To spot it, you have to have good eye contact and listen to what the prospect is saying.

They repeat benefits

This is a typical ‘ready to purchase’ signal that can sometimes be misread. This is when the prospect repeats a benefit statement for your sales team to validate the benefit. It is a key point because the prospect is letting you know that this is an important aspect to them and they want confirmation that they’ll get it.

If your team are being asked for validation, they should be looking to confirm those details and close deals.

The prospect asks for a price

This is another typical ‘ready to purchase’ signal that can be misread by your sales team. Most salespeople will think that this is an objection or barrier signal and that the prospect is price orientated. However, it could be that the prospect is working out their budget and how to get the cost into it.

However, first, your team might need to rid any last barriers to purchase by ensuring that the prospect has no more reservations. A question like “does the product meet all your requirements?” might be a good start.

They say yes

The most obvious sign. However, sale people may miss this and not close. So, if your prospect says that they’re interested in making a purchase, then the deal should be closed without delay.

Don’t let your team miss out on potential sales. Create sales goals that are double what they are currently doing and retrain them to see the key signs that a prospect is ready to purchase.