New Benchmark Research on Sales Compensation Management Uncovers Paths to Improvement

    SAN RAMON, CA, June 30, 2014 /24-7PressRelease/ -- While most organizations acknowledge that managing compensation is very important to the success of a sales organization, substantially less than half of them can complete the sales commission cycle on a monthly or less basis. That's the finding of "Sales Compensation Management: Improving the Impact to Pay and Incentives to Maximize Revenue," the report released today of the findings of the latest benchmark research from Ventana Research. The research explored trends, best practices and issues in sales compensation management.

The research finds that while more than half (52%) of participating organizations are satisfied with the process they currently use to calculate incentives, a significant percentage are not satisfied and view the process as too slow. The research confirmed that companies face time-consuming challenges involving data-related items like reviewing commission data for quality and consistency and waiting for data and information. In addition, the use of spreadsheets for sales compensation has become a point of major dissatisfaction; three of five organizations acknowledge that reliance on them makes it difficult to manage sales commissions efficiently.

New technologies are playing an increasingly critical role in sales compensation management. Collaboration technology that supports coaching, badges and other awards for achieving sales targets and social recognition for sales is important to sales success, the research finds is being planned for use or is being evaluated, reinforcing the emerging role of gaming techniques or what is called gamification in sales. In addition, the research finds that the use of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets has helped improve the accuracy and timeliness of sales commissions by enabling easier access to and review of information. Deployment of sales compensation management systems is shifting to a cloud computing, software as a service approach.

When it comes to evaluating sales compensation software, the research identifies as the top three evaluation criteria reliability, usability and manageability. The research confirms that Finance and Human Resources increasingly are involved with sales compensation management: Finance wants to improve the process and wants access to information and so in more than half of organizations will sponsor and fund improvements. Human Resources also plays a critical role in improving the process and its access to information and in sponsoring and funding improvements.

"A dedicated approach to managing sales compensation and incentives is proving to be the path to gaining the highest level of outcomes," said Mark Smith, CEO and chief research officer of Ventana Research. "The research confirms that organizations that embrace a dedicated approach can execute better in sales and improve results as found in more than two-thirds of organizations which can reduce the time required for this process, improving communications and most importantly improving the confidence among sales personnel that their hard work is being recognized effectively."

Those interested in learning more about this benchmark research can do so at http://www.ventanaresearch.com/SalesCompensationManagement. The research was sponsored by IBM, Iconixx, Synygy and Xactly Corporation. Ventana Research, a leading business technology research and advisory services firm, provides access to a free copy of the executive summary of the research report.

About Ventana Research
Ventana Research is the most authoritative and respected benchmark business technology research and advisory services firm. We provide insight and expert guidance on mainstream and disruptive technologies through a unique set of research-based offerings including benchmark research and technology evaluation assessments, education workshops and our research and advisory services, Ventana On-Demand. Our unparalleled understanding of the role of technology in optimizing business processes and performance and our best practices guidance are rooted in our rigorous research-based benchmarking of people, processes, information and technology across business and IT functions in every industry. This benchmark research plus our market coverage and in-depth knowledge of hundreds of technology providers means we can deliver education and expertise to our clients to increase the value they derive from technology investments while reducing time, cost and risk.

Ventana Research provides the most comprehensive analyst and research coverage in the industry; business and IT professionals worldwide are members of our community and benefit from Ventana Research's insights, as do highly regarded media and association partners around the globe. Our views and analyses are distributed daily through blogs and social media channels including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+. To learn how Ventana Research advances the maturity of organizations' use of information and technology through benchmark research, education and advisory services, visit www.ventanaresearch.com.

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