Revenue Operations (RevOps) as a role has grown in popularity. In fact, by the end of 2022, 48% of companies had adopted this role, marking an increase of 15% year-over-year, according to Revenue.io’s RevOps Report.

By integrating sales, marketing, and service to adopt the RevOps model, these businesses reap the benefits of increased efficiency, revenue predictability, elasticity, and resiliency. 

RevOps is a win-win for organizations, and many are starting to realize that. For instance, Gartner expects 75% of the highest-growth companies in the world to deploy the RevOps model by 2025.

This trend is causing B2B sales organizations to transition to a data-driven decision-making process using technology that unites workflow, data, and analytics. In fact, Gartner estimates that 65% of businesses will invest in RevOps technology by 2026. 

As a result, the options for RevOps-purposed technology have increased, creating a lot of noise for RevOps professionals shopping for new tools.

To help, we asked leaders from RevOps communities to share their favorite RevOps tools for optimizing the RevOps process. 

Here’s what they had to say.

Natalie Furness, Chief Revenue Officer, RevOps Automated

Natalie Furness serves as Chief Revenue Officer at RevOps Automated, a RevOps services provider specializing in HubSpot implementations and tech stack optimization. 

Natalie’s must-haves: Grammarly and QuillBot

“Grammarly and Quillo are my main co-pilots for content creation, as sharing knowledge in RevOps is very important to me.”

On making Natalie’s job easier: LinkedIn Sales Navigator, PhantomBuster, Cognism, DealHub CPQ

“LinkedIn Sales Navigator, combined with PhantomBuster, is great for mapping people at target accounts for enrichment using a data source. For the UK market, we recommend Cognism.

HubSpot does so much that we often don’t need to look for tools, but DealHub CPQ has been a great addition to transform HubSpot into an Enterprise Level CRM.”

How to prioritize what’s next: Streamline the tech stack

“Evaluate tools regularly. Look for usage, including active accounts and feature usage. Those with low adoption or that duplicate existing tools should be reviewed. Where possible, look to consolidate as opposed to adding tools. Remember, every new tool requires integration management.”

Nicholas Gollop, Founder, RevOps On-Demand

RevOps On-Demand Founder Nicholas Gollop shared a few of his favorites below. He hopes a platform consolidating data across multiple systems that create one view to build a cohesive, complete revenue funnel analysis is coming soon. 

“Some exist, but I haven’t seen one that functions exactly as intended and can adjust to the thousands of different combinations of systems and setups out there,” said Nicholas.

Nicholas’s must-haves: Deduping and lead distribution tool, CPQ, Customer success platforms, data enrichment.

“Deduping allows me to send only things that matter to SDRs and AEs.

CPQ gives us more control over the deal desk function, approval flows, and discounting/legal policies.

Customer Success Platforms give us more clarity and visibility into usage and adoption data.”

On making Nicholas’s job easier: Deduping, CPQ, Customer Success Platforms

“Deduping reduces friction and wasted time across the teams. It also lets them know if the account is part of a larger parent structure.

CPQ helps us ensure customer pricing falls under the company’s general rules of engagement.

Customer Success Platforms provide further insights and minute segmentation of our customer base.”

How to prioritize what’s next: It’s time when current tech no longer meets our needs

“When I realize the tool is failing to meet our increasing demands and needs for adaptation. If we need to bend our policies to make the tools work, then that tool has outlived its usefulness, and we need one that adapts to us, not the other way around.”

Emerson McCuin, RevOps, HAAS Alert

Emerson McCuin, RevOps Manager at HAAS Alert, a collision mitigation service and digital traffic alert system, already leverages AI throughout his day but hopes to see more. 

“I’d love to see AI integrated into data cleanup. I use Insycle for data cleanup, but many of these processes rely on complicated fuzzy logic that isn’t always accurate and fails to pick up on duplicate records,” said Emerson. “For example, ABC Company in NYC vs ABC Company in New York City. I can see that they’re likely the same, but it would take me forever to go through each record. AI could be trained to look for and understand those differences.”

Emerson’s must-haves: Coefficient, ChatGPT, Google Sheets, Supered.io, QuotaPath, Insycle

“Coefficient pulls data from our CRM and other sources into Google Sheets so I can create dashboards for our leadership team, do some fundamental data analysis, or port over to PowerBI if I feel like doing advanced dashboarding.

I use ChatGPT daily to help with Excel formulas, AppScript/VBA code, and light Python coding for data analysis.

Excel is more robust, but I chose Google Sheets because it’s what Coefficient imports data into.

Supered.io is a tool to achieve better HubSpot CRM adoption, among other things.

QuotaPath has completely changed the way we manage quotas and commissions.

Insycle helps keep our CRM data clean by deduplicating and standardizing data formats.”

On making Emerson’s job easier: Streamline and automate processes

“The nice thing about Coefficient is that I can do scheduled data pulls to keep the data up to date.

While I know how to do a bit in each of these areas, ChatGPT has allowed me to do them a lot faster, and I can do more advanced things with these tools than I could without an AI assistant.

Google Sheets makes it very easy to share dashboards with my leadership team.

With Supered I can have a customized knowledgebase right in HubSpot for our reps to use, I can enforce processes, and even do HubSpot training right in HubSpot!

Before implementing QuotaPath, reps were self-reporting quotas in a spreadsheet, which meant a scramble at the end of each quota period, verifying quotas by multiple people, and likely many errors in the process. Now, commissions are automatically calculated based on the data in our CRM.

Insycle is a powerful and somewhat complicated tool, but once it’s set up, the number of duplicates and insufficient data decreases drastically.”

How to prioritize what’s next: When the pain of a process exceeds the pain of change.

“It’s time to add or replace a tool when the pain of a current process is greater than the pain of change. That’s not always easy to determine and requires discussion with multiple stakeholders and an analysis of return on investment.”

Andréa Faria, RevOps, Daloopa

Daloopa RevOps Leader Andréa Faria just wants data solutions that integrate smoothly with her CRM without duplicates or unreliable data. Is that too much to ask for? 

Andréa’s must haves: Jira Software and Jira Service Management, Python IDEs, Zapier

“Jira Software and Jira Service Management: tasks and projects management for internal and external demands.

Python automates and improves data cleaning.

Zapier enabled plug-and-play integration of CRMs and forms with our in-house platforms.”

On making Andréa’s job easier: Jira Software and Jira Service Management, Python IDEs, Zapier

“Jira gave us a full view of the team’s capacity.

Python allows us to manipulate data in a way the old systems and spreadsheets couldn’t handle.”

How to prioritize what’s next: Address new requirements or improve processes

“We start looking when our tech can no longer support new processes or if we find better solutions in the market through research or benchmarks.”

Create your tech stack with RevOps tools you’ll love

Thanks to our four contributors for sharing their favorite RevOps tools, how they know when it’s time to add something new to their tech stack, and tools they wish existed.

We hope you can leverage these insights as you create or finetune your RevOps tech stack.

Schedule time with our team today to learn how QuotaPath can fit into your RevOps tech stack to automate and simplify your sales compensation management process. 

What is Sales Commission Automation?

Sales commission automation is the use of software to automatically calculate, track, and pay sales commissions based on CRM or deal data, eliminating manual spreadsheets and reducing errors. It saves Finance and RevOps teams significant time while giving sales reps real-time visibility into their earnings, and if often draws data from your CRM and sales performance analytics and sends it to your payment systems. 

This is QuotaPath’s bread and butter. Sales commission automation software uses technology and integrates with other solutions to streamline automated commission tracking, management, and disbursement of sales commissions.

QuotaPath, for example, provides teams responsible for commission calculations with a system of truth and a more accurate way to run sales compensation.  

Take Prefect’s finance team, for example.

Thomas Egbert, SVP of Finance for the dataflow automation framework platform, sought to ditch time-consuming spreadsheets. He also wanted to give his sales team transparency into their earnings through a user-friendly experience.

Since automating commission tracking with QuotaPath, “We cut our time spent on commissions calculations by 50%+,” said Thomas. “This platform has significantly upgraded our sales compensation process. QuotaPath saves days of time worth of unnecessary spreadsheets and emails.”

Despite how many organizations quickly find value like Thomas by automating processes that typically slow teams down, 60% of organizations still rely on spreadsheets for manual calculations.

Will you automate a commission tracker app this year?

In this blog, we define sales commission automation, its benefits, choosing the right software, setting up your system, overcoming challenges, real-world examples of success, future trends, and streamlining sales commissions with automation.

Read on.

Why Automate Sales Commissions?

Sales teams lose hours each month manually calculating commissions.

In fact, 20% of a reps’ total time is spent on administrative tasks, taking time away from generating real revenue.

Sales compensation automation removes this burden, increases accuracy, and builds trust—all while delivering real transparency.

By streamlining calculations for multi‑year deals, renewals, demos, specific products, and individual contributors, automation also automatically tags all sales reps involved, tracks commission earnings, and gives reps real-time visibility into current and forecasted income. This method saves time and eliminates errors and issues from calculating commissions in spreadsheets.

Benefits of automating sales commissions

The key benefits of commission calculation automation are that it streamlines the incentive management process and enables easy commission structure optimization. It simplifies steps like earnings calculations, deal approvals, payments, and amortization of sales commissions. 

Automating sales commissions offers many benefits, including:

Saves time: It eliminates manual processes and excessive back-and-forth communication in commission tracking, calculation, and error resolution.

Increased accuracy: Payment calculations occur through CRM to payment system integration, reducing errors and building trust across the sales team.

Eliminates shadow accounting from manual spreadsheets by providing automated calculations.

Enables real time commission visibility.

Improves sales rep motivation and quota attainment by helping reps understand how their actions tie to pay.

Include a link in a new concluding section that says something like how top performing organizations use automation and real time reporting for their benefit

Transparency: Helps quota-carrying team members understand how they earn commissions as well as when and how much in their paycheck.

Sales rep motivation: A greater understanding of the compensation plan gives it the power to motivate sales behaviors that drive business goals.

Single source of truth: Instead of a password-protected spreadsheet or platform, automating sales commissions gets everyone on the same page in discussing sales incentive accuracies or discrepancies.

Greater visibility: Provides visibility into the performance of your sales compensation plans.

In short, automating sales commission processes isn’t just a time-saver—it’s a strategic performance driver. Real-time reporting and automation empower top-performing organizations to act fast, make smarter decisions, and consistently prove ROI. In fact, TechRadar reports that 87% of analysts now use automation to streamline reporting, enabling faster insights and improved efficiency that are central to success in data-driven organizations

Choosing the right sales commission automation software

The global Sales Commission Software Market is expected to triple its 2020 value by 2028. 

So, it should come as no surprise that there are many competitors in the space, including Spiff, Xactly, CaptivateIQ, Performio, Apttus, and, of course, QuotaPath.

Despite the many options available in the marketplace, choosing a sales compensation software partner isn’t difficult as long as you know what to pay attention to during the selection process.

We’ve covered you with what to remember to help you select the right sales commission automation software.

Integration with Your CRM

Your compensation tool should natively integrate with your CRM so commission calculations stay accurate and up to date—without manual refreshes or nightly updates. With QuotaPath, data flows automatically from Salesforce, HubSpot, and other platforms, ensuring your team always works with trusted numbers. Explore QuotaPath Integrations.

Customizable Compensation Plans

Every sales organization evolves. Choose a platform that allows you to easily add new team members, adjust incentives, and test plan drafts against historical sales data. QuotaPath’s AI-powered plan builder and component library make it simple to design and update comp structures as you scale, while providing real-time visibility into plan performance.

Forecasting and ASC 606

Sales leaders and reps need more than a payout tracker—they need accurate forecasting. The right platform should provide quota attainment projections, executive dashboards, and pipeline-linked forecasts. QuotaPath does exactly that while also supporting accounting teams with ASC 606 compliance, ensuring commissions are recognized properly and reported in line with financial regulations.

Setting up your sales commission automation system

Once you’ve selected your commission software, you’ll have to line up a few things to set it up correctly. 

These include:

Step 1: Define Your Commission Structure

• Clearly outline commission rates, rules, and eligibility criteria.
• Decide whether your structure includes accelerators, bonuses, or product-specific incentives.

Step 2: Prepare Accurate Sales Data

• Audit your CRM to ensure sales records are complete and error-free.
• Standardize data entry processes to prevent discrepancies.

Step 3: Integrate With Existing Tools

• Confirm that your commission software integrates with your CRM, payroll, and accounting systems.
• Use native integrations (like QuotaPath’s CRM integrations) to avoid manual uploads.

Step 4: Gather Historical Data

• Import past commission data to create benchmarks.
• Use historical earnings to test and validate new plans.

Step 5: Document Your Commission Policy

• Write out your official commission rules for transparency.
• Make policies accessible to sales, finance, and leadership.

Step 6: Provide Support and Training

• Build onboarding materials for your sales team.
• Train admins on how to manage, adjust, and troubleshoot plans.

Step 7: Assign Decision-Makers

• Identify who is responsible for setup, approvals, and ongoing plan management.
• Align Finance, RevOps, and Sales leadership early in the process.

Step 8: Allocate Budget

• Set aside funds for the software license, integrations, and any required customization.

Step 9: Implement Data Security Protocols

• Ensure sensitive sales and payout data is encrypted and access-controlled.
• Review compliance standards for your industry.

Step 10: Test the System

• Run a pilot group with sample data to validate accuracy.
• Use test scenarios (e.g., multi-year deals, renewals) to confirm payouts calculate correctly.

Step 11: Communicate the Rollout

• Create a communication plan so reps understand what’s changing.
• Share FAQs and quick-start guides to build confidence.

Step 12: Ensure Legal and Regulatory Compliance

• Verify that your system aligns with labor laws and financial reporting requirements, including ASC 606.

Step 13: Define a Dispute Resolution Process

• Establish how commission disputes will be escalated and resolved.
• Use your platform’s in-app communication tools to streamline resolution.

Step 14: Choose Performance Metrics

• Decide which KPIs (quota attainment, payout timeliness, error rates) you’ll track.

Step 15: Set Up Management Tools

• Enable dashboards and reporting features for leaders and reps.
• Ensure analytics tools align with your business goals.

Step 16: Maintain Documentation and Records

• Keep a digital trail of all commission rules, payments, and disputes for transparency.
• Store records for audit-readiness and long-term trust.

Overcoming common challenges

Although sales commission automation ultimately streamlines and simplifies the sales commission process, some common challenges should be considered. Below are the top five challenges and how to solve them so you are prepared when you encounter them.

Challenge #1: Complex commission structures 

Many organizations have intricate commission structures with various tiers, bonuses, and exceptions. Automating these complex structures can be challenging.

Solution: Simplify comp plans by aligning them to business goals and restricting each plan to three components: an accelerator, a standard commission rate, and a bonus.

Challenge #2: Data integration

Integrating data from multiple sources, such as CRM and ERP, to calculate commissions accurately can be complicated, especially if data quality is poor.

Solution: When shopping for a sales commission automation system, remember how easy it will be to integrate the platform with your deal source of truth.

Challenge #3. Dispute resolution

 When commission disputes arise, automated systems need transparent processes for resolution to maintain trust among sales reps.

Solution: Ensure your platform has in-app abilities and task notifications to flag and resolve commission issues for reps and admins.

Challenge #4. Training: 

Scheduling and implementing team-wide training to use the new system effectively can be time-consuming.

Solution: Find a tech partner with a user-friendly interface and multiple options to administer training.

Challenge #5. Scalability

As your business grows, the commission system must scale and adapt to handle increased data volume and complexity.

Solution: During the buying process, ask your vendors for references that have grown and scaled with their platform to share their experience. Pay attention to how easy it is to add new teammates, swap subscriptions, and adjust comp plans. Note, QuotaPath helps resolve these issues with in-app dispute handling, flexible plans, and fast onboarding.

Sales Commission Automation Success Stories

Don’t take our word for it. Sales commission automation works. Here are a few examples of businesses that have benefited from automated commission tracking.

runZero

Problem:
As runZero rapidly scaled, commission spreadsheets became error-prone and time-consuming, leading to frustration and lack of earnings transparency.

Solution:
They integrated QuotaPath with HubSpot, automating commission calculations and streamlining reporting. Onboarding began within four days of signing, and the team was fully automated in under two months.

Result:
Commission errors were eliminated, reps gained transparency into earnings, and the team scaled without the burden of manual spreadsheets.

EverView

Problem:
With 35 complex compensation plans across 80 reps, EverView ’s sellers spent 2 hours per week calculating commissions. Half of the team admitted they didn’t understand their plans and had no visibility into earnings until payday.

Solution:
EverView implemented QuotaPath, consolidating 35 comp plans into just 8, and eventually into 1 streamlined structure. Reps gained 24/7 visibility into attainment and earnings.

Result:
The overhaul boosted rep confidence, improved focus, and drove performance—leading to EverView’s highest sales year ever, where 70% of the team met quota and 20% exceeded 90% attainment.

Blackthorn

Problem:
Blackthorn relied on Salesforce formulas for commission calculations. As the company grew, new teams (SDRs, CS, Partnerships) made commission structures too complex for formulas to handle.

Solution:
They adopted QuotaPath’s sales commission automation platform, onboarding in less than two weeks and simplifying commission tracking across all teams.

Result:
Blackthorn saved 5–10 hours every time a new quota was introduced and experienced three consecutive months of record-breaking sales post-implementation.

Future trends in sales commission automation

Our 2024 Sales Compensation Plan Report revealed four key takeaways surrounding sales compensation plan design, management, and execution, and its impact on performance and commission disputes. 

• 100% of Revenue leaders agree that sales comp plans need improvement.
• There’s a disconnect between how RevOps, Finance, and Sales view the efficacy of comp plans.
• Most sales reps find their comp plans challenging to understand.
• 91% of organizations have less than 80% of their sales reps hitting quota.

Compensation plans must align with the company’s goals to motivate sales rep behaviors and be more straightforward for reps to understand.

Therefore, in 2024, leaders must overhaul their sales compensation plans and processes to align with business goals, increase sales rep motivation, and simplify plans.

Conclusion: Streamlining your sales commissions with automation

Sales commission automation simplifies incentive management by replacing spreadsheets with software to pull data from your CRM to your payment systems. This saves time, reduces errors, builds transparency and visibility, and motivates reps to drive the attainment of business goals.

Selecting the right solution and implementing sales compensation software isn’t difficult, especially with a supportive vendor partner.

Get started today to address the top sales compensation challenges of 2024 quickly. Try QuotaPath with a free trial, or schedule time with a team member for a tailored demo.

According to Ascendix, 150,000 companies used Salesforce as their customer relationship management (CRM) system in 2023. Meanwhile, 113,000 companies used HubSpot, per Backlinko. 

However, these numbers remain in constant flux as organizations pass between the two in hopes of optimizing their processes for the best results.

But which system is truly better when it comes to HubSpot vs Salesforce?  The answer, of course, is “it depends.”

In this comprehensive exploration, we delve into the nuances that set HubSpot and Salesforce apart, unraveling the distinctive features that make users contemplate a switch from one powerhouse to the other. 

We unravel why businesses transition between these CRM giants, from functionality and user-friendliness to scalability and integration capabilities.

Essential App for Sales

HubSpot named QuotaPath one of 20 Essential Apps for Sales.

Read More

And to do so, we recruited some expertise. 

Joining us in this knowledge exchange are Jeremy Steinbring, Founder of RevOnyx, a Salesforce and RevOps consulting service, and Nicholas Gollop, RevOps & GTM Strategy Advisor at RevOps On-Demand. 

Read on as we dissect the differences and uncover the motivations leading organizations to switch.

Whether embarking on your CRM journey or contemplating a switch, this piece promises insights that will shape your decision-making process and pave the way for enhanced customer relationship management. 

Why teams switch CRMs

We’ll start by exploring some of the reasons teams switch CRMs. 

While many transitions share similar factors, there are some outlier cases.

“I’ve led two CRM transitions this year for clients, the first from HubSpot and Salesforce, and the other was the reverse,” said Jeremy. 

The latter marked a particularly unique use case to switch to HubSpot. 

Jeremy said the company had another business under its umbrella, and it grew too complicated to keep the organizations in separate CRMs. So, instead of fitting the second business into Salesforce and splitting 300 users into two buckets, they moved everyone to HubSpot.

“The parent organization needed the basics of a CRM, out-of-the-box integrations, and calendar syncing, so HubSpot made sense,” Jeremy said. 

He added that if you’re on Salesforce, in his experience, the most common reason to come off of it is price.

Reversely, Nicholas led his CloudCall team through a transition from HubSpot to Salesforce for Salesforce’s enterprise appeal.

“While HubSpot is improving significantly, it still lacks a lot of ‘enterprise-level’ features that you absolutely need to run at scale, such as validation rules and better profile management,” Nicholas said. 

When to choose HubSpot or Salesforce

Below, we put together some of the best use cases for either. 

“I look at CRMs like cars,” Jeremy said. “You can buy the $150,000 Ferrari, or you can buy the $40,000 SUV. Both get you where you want to go, but they serve different purposes and are different vehicles.”

HubSpot is more affordable and accessible to get into the product than Salesforce. The user interface is more straightforward, too. 

“There’s less customization that can happen in HubSpot. It’s simpler, and because of that, you can get people ramped higher and build adoption,” said Jeremy. 

But you give up the Ferrari version in the process.

“You sacrifice a ton of functionality. When a team is going enterprise or scaling quickly, usually Salesforce is the better option,” Jeremy said. “It’s also better for someone who wants to build their own tools within Salesforce versus integrating a third-party one.”

For instance, if you wanted to save $20,000 on a lead routing tool, you could hire someone like Jeremy to build it within Salesforce (or put in the request with a developer). 

CRM best practices

Regardless of the HubSpot vs Salesforce debate, both RevOps leaders agreed on the following best practices when rolling out a new CRM. 

Create a business case: “There is always pushback with change,” Nicholas said. “Present a compelling business case to show how much more could be done in one CRM versus the other.”

Documentation: Create a short video library that guides your team through different use cases of their role within the CRM. “This is easier to digest, and you can break it down based on function,” Jeremy said. 

Provide technical documentation for the admin team, such as backend automation configuration. 

Position documentation with tasks that users must do by connecting it to something they know as part of their job.

“Document everything along the way, as this will massively help when running enablement sessions,” Nicholas said. 

Open office hours: As the admin, make yourself available on launch day and in the weeks following to offer support and make changes.

Shadow teams: “Talk to as many stakeholders as possible, from all levels, to ensure the CRM specs are captured correctly,” Nicholas said. 

Mapping: Map out your discussions and draw a literal map of the process flow. 

Take your time on the migration: “Don’t rush,” Nicholas said. “A migration like this is already tough to get sponsorship, so when you do, you need to make sure it goes as smoothly as possible to avoid losing confidence early on.”

Consider hiring someone: This is a monumental task, and will take significant time and resources to move a team from one CRM to the next or start with your first one.

“Whether it’s me or not, you need someone to help you — especially if you’re going through this for the first time,” said Jeremy.

Choosing between HubSpot vs Salesforce

Choosing the right CRM system for your business is an important (and often expensive) decision. It can help you streamline your sales and marketing processes, improve customer relationships, and increase revenue.

However, knowing which is right for your business can be challenging with so many CRM systems on the market. 

This is where Salesforce and HubSpot come in.

Salesforce and HubSpot are two of the most popular CRM systems. They offer a wide range of features and functionality, and businesses of all sizes and industries use them.

But which CRM system is right for your business?

HubSpot is a good option if you are a small or medium-sized business. HubSpot is easy to use and set up, offering various features specifically designed for small and medium-sized businesses.

If you are a large enterprise, Salesforce is likely the better option through its wide range of advanced features and functionality. It can also be customized to meet the specific needs of large enterprises and usually integrates better with third-party tools. 

No matter what size your business is or what industry you are in, choosing a CRM system that fits your specific needs is essential. By comparing different CRM systems and selecting the one that is right for you, you can set yourself up for success.

About QuotaPath

QuotaPath supports RevOps, Finance, and Sales leaders with a trusted, user-friendly sales compensation management system that integrates with CRMs such as HubSpot and Salesforce and invoice systems like Quickbooks. 

Whether you’re navigating the robust functionalities of HubSpot or harnessing the power of Salesforce, QuotaPath ensures that your compensation strategies align effortlessly with your chosen CRM. 

Learn more by scheduling time with our team or sign up for a free trial. 

As active members in the RevOps and Sales professional communities Pavilion, RevOps Co-op, and Women in Sales, we always listen to the questions and conversations concerning quota and compensation strategy. 

Recently, we’ve noticed an uptick in questions surrounding quota relief.

• When should you offer quota relief?
• Who qualifies for quota relief?
• How do you accommodate quota relief for managers of teammates out on leave? 

Companies generally grant quota relief on a case-by-case basis. However, we are starting to see companies standardize quota relief processes to make it more fair across their teams. 

Below, we’ll discuss quota relief for new sales hires, reps on leave, and managers. 

New hire quota relief

Question: How does your company handle compensation for new AEs?

According to several studies (including RAIN Group and HireDNA), it takes an average of 9-13 months for a new hire to be proficient in the platform they’re selling and productive on the sales floor.

For many new reps, that means an unlikely chance they’ll hit their entire on-target earnings (OTE), which they agreed upon when accepting their role. 

So, to motivate your new hires (and retain them), we recommend offering quota relief. 

Here’s how we think about it at QuotaPath. 

For reps to hit their OTE in their first year, you’ll have to increase the amount you pay them over a ramp period. 

You could do this by: 

• Raising the commission rate
• Or, offer other ways for new hires to earn commissions or bonuses

Raising the commission rate

We don’t love this way because you end up paying really high commission rates. For instance, if your standard compensation plan offers $120K OTE with a 50/50 split, that’s an estimated $5K in monthly commissions. Annual quota equals $600K, with a monthly quota of $50K. 

For a 3-month ramp-up period, that looks like: 

• Month 1 = $0 quota
• Month 2 = $12.5K quota
• Month 3 = $25K quota
• Month 4 = $50K quota full quota

So, if you want them to earn full OTE just by paying commission, then in their second month, in order to have them earn $5K in commissions on a $12.5K quota, you end up paying a 40% commission rate. Yikes. 

Offer ramp-up MBOs

The second option is our favorite. You reduce quota, keep commission rates intact, and provide new hires other means to earn bonuses.

For instance, you can offer milestone or single-rate bonuses once a rep completes a series of trainings, hits a prospecting goal, secures X number of demos, etc. 

We like this one a lot. Whatever your management by objective (MBO) is, it’ll help the rep learn your product and positioning better (and faster) and give them an early taste of success before they rely entirely on quota targets. 

For example, in their second month with the org., the reps are responsible for selling $10K each. To fill the delta to hit full OTE, you offer a bonus once the reps run three demos or prospects 10 new customers. 

You combine MBOs with a bonus and reduced sales target. 

Quota relief for leave of absence

Question: How do you adjust quota for reps out on leave? 

Like the standardization of quota relief policies, we’re also seeing a rise in companies solidifying parental leave plans for sales teams.

“At most companies, when a sales rep returns from parental leave, they have a normal quota instead of a ramp quota. So they return to work with limited to no pipeline, yet are paid and evaluated against a fully productive AE quota,” wrote Co-Founder and CEO at Parentaly Allison Whalen in her blog.

Our suggestion: Pay the rep their full base while on leave and a percentage of the OTE they miss out on while on leave. Then, when they return, set up a ramping quota so they have time to refill their pipelines.  

For instance, in this blog on paid parental leave, a sales leader who advocated for compensation policy changes at her organization finalized this proposal:

• Reps on parental leave earn 60% of their OTE while out
• Distributing pipeline opportunities based on the sales cycle stage and splitting a percentage between the rep who takes it on and the rep who is on leave (i.e., the further along the deal, the larger the percentage to the rep on leave)
• Ramping quota upon return from leave (based on sales segment)

What you set the quota ramp to will vary according to your sales cycle. However, remember that it should be shorter than a standard ramp hire because you’re welcoming back a returning employee, not a brand-new hire. If you have a short sales cycle, consider a few weeks of ramp time before holding them to 100%. 

Quota relief for a sales manager

Question:  Is it market standard to also give the rep’s manager quota relief while the reps that directly report to them are on leave? 

For frontline managers, the answer to this question is typically “yes” for reps out on a leave of absence.

However, this will depend on what percentage of their team’s quota the sales manager is held to. If the manager is held to 80 to 90% of the sum of their team’s quota, and the manager oversees a team of 8, the impact of the rep being gone isn’t as high as if it’s a team of 4 reps. 

But if they have a smaller team, and one rep being out for an extended period means a 25%  loss of potential revenue toward the team target, then the manager will receive quota relief to the tune of that rep’s quota.  

As you move up the command in leadership, like a VP of Sales, this relief matters less and less since they are typically held to the financial target number. 

Implementing quota relief

In conclusion, quota relief is a valuable tool for motivating and retaining employees, as well as ensuring fairness and equity in the workplace. Standardize your quota relief policy to treat everyone fairly.

Here are some key takeaways from this blog:

• Quota relief should grant new hires time to ramp up and reach their full potential.
• Quota relief helps reps who are on leave, such as parental leave, to ensure that they are not penalized for taking time off.
• For managers, quota relief ensures that they have a fair chance of hitting goal even if they have teammates out on leave.

Follow these guidelines and make it easier to edit, add, and remove quota relief for your team using QuotaPath. We’ll automate it so that you don’t have to track and change dates while your team is out manually. 

Learn more today by chatting with our team, or sign up for a free trial to kick off your automated commission tracking. 

The process of commission accuracy involves several vital steps to ensure that sales representatives are compensated fairly and accurately for their efforts, including clean data, clear commission structures, and regular auditing and review. 

Getting commissions right is crucial in any business that relies on sales incentives to motivate and reward its sales teams — which, according to this study, 80% of the top-performing companies do.

Not only does commission accuracy ensure fairness and transparency, but it also drives sales performance, promotes a healthy company culture, and establishes trust between reps and their organizations.

However, achieving commission accuracy has its challenges. 

Many organizations need help with commission management, including setting clear commission structures and sales performance metrics, integrating and maintaining accurate data, and aligning sales and finance teams. 

In fact, our 2024 Compensation Report found that 83% of companies reported sales rep exits due to inaccurate commission calculation. A quick LinkedIn survey also uncovered that 42% of people had quit their roles over compensation disputes, and another 45% would if significant commission errors unfolded.

Fortunately, technology solutions can help streamline the commission process, provide more visibility with sales compensation reporting, and minimize mistakes. Regular auditing, review, effective communication, and training are also essential for maintaining accuracy.

This blog will explore these challenges in detail and provide practical strategies and case studies to help businesses increase commission accuracy.

Furthermore, we will discuss the future of commission accuracy and how advancements in technology and data analytics will continue to revolutionize accuracy in sales compensation.

The importance of accurate commissions

Paying accurate commissions is critically essential for various reasons, as it benefits the organization and significantly impacts employee motivation and the overall business environment. 

Here are several vital reasons to invest in accurate commissions:

Motivation and Performance: The core goal of variable pay is to incentivize, motivate, and reward performance. When employees see a direct correlation between their efforts and earnings, they are more likely to stay motivated and consistently perform at their best. But every error you make de-legitimizes (and de-motivates) your team. 

Fairness and Trust: Accurate commissions ensure fairness and transparency within the organization. When employees perceive that their commissions are calculated accurately and consistently, it fosters trust among team members and management. This trust is vital for a positive work environment and employee satisfaction.

Retention and Loyalty: High employee turnover can be costly and disrupt the sales team’s continuity. Accurate commissions help retain valuable talent.

Cost Control: Paying commissions accurately helps organizations manage their costs effectively. Overpayments due to errors can be costly for the company, while underpayments can lead to demotivation and attrition among sales representatives. 

Compliance and Legal Issues: Inaccurate commission payments can lead to compliance and legal problems. Failure to adhere to agreed-upon commission structures or disputes arising from inaccurate payouts can result in legal action and damage the company’s reputation.

Improved Financial Planning: When commissions are calculated correctly, financial projections become more reliable, helping the company allocate resources effectively.

Reduced Disputes: Commission errors often lead to disputes and conflicts among sales representatives and between sales and management. Commission reconciliation consumes valuable time and resources that could be better invested in revenue-generating activities.

Transparency and Communication: Employees appreciate knowing how their commissions are calculated, and this transparency fosters a sense of unity and cooperation within the organization.

Enhanced Employee Morale: When employees feel they are being compensated fairly for their efforts, they are more likely to be engaged and enthusiastic about their work.

Customer Satisfaction: Accurate commissions can indirectly impact customer satisfaction. Satisfied and motivated sales teams are likelier to provide better customer service, resulting in higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Common challenges in commission accuracy 

Despite all of the positives that come with striving for commission payment accuracies, as our data shows, many leaders need help implementing processes to mitigate errors. 

That’s because ensuring sales commission accuracy can be complex, and various challenges can arise in the process, such as the following: 

Addressing these common challenges requires organizations to simplify commission structures, invest in technology solutions, improve data integration and accuracy, conduct regular audits, and provide training and education to sales teams and commission administrators.

Below, we dive into each one. 

Establishing clear commission structures

Establishing a transparent commission structure that makes sense for the business and that reps understand is vital to ensuring accurate commissions.

When the commission structure is well-defined and transparent, it promotes fairness and transparency, motivating and rewarding sales teams effectively.

However, many organizations face challenges in creating and maintaining clear commission structures, which can lead to errors and misalignment between sales and finance teams. 

For instance, our report found that 97% of leaders struggled to design comp plans and cited doesn’t motivate reps, unrealistic expectations, too hard to execute, and too complicated to understand as their top challenges. 

To help, here are 10 best practices to establish clear commission structures.

1. Define Your Commission Objectives: Clearly define your commission plan’s objectives. Determine what you want to achieve with your commission structure, whether driving sales, incentivizing specific products, or rewarding specific behaviors.
2. Set Clear Goals and Targets: Outline your sales goals and targets. Ensure that your sales representatives clearly understand what they need to achieve to earn commissions. Show the math behind the targets in how they achieve X goals for the company and how they are paid when they hit those goals. 
3. Document your Compensation Plan: Produce documentation of the commission plan in a comprehensive and easily accessible manner in a commission agreement.
   
   This document should include commission rates, commission eligibility, payout periods, performance metrics, rules or exceptions, clawback clauses, on-target earnings, quotas, and more. Then, collect rep signature to protect your organization and the rep against potential disputes. 

4. Make the Plan Accessible: Ensure that everyone on variable compensation has access to the commission plan document. This will help prevent misunderstandings and disputes as it offers a place of reference. 

5. Simplify Rules and Criteria: Keep the commission structure as simple as possible. Avoid overly complex rules and criteria that can confuse sales representatives. We recommend keeping it to 3 compensation components or less, meaning that there are three rules or paths for the rep to earn compensation.
   
6. Provide Training and Education: Offer compensation-focused workshops to your sales teams to help them understand the commission structure. Ensure that all team members know how commissions are calculated and what they need to do to maximize their earnings.
   
7. Address Questions and Concerns: Create an open channel for sales representatives to ask questions and seek clarification regarding the commission structure. Encourage communication and promptly address any concerns or disputes.
   
   For instance, QuotaPath enables reps to ask questions and “raise flags” directly on specific deals or payouts where admins are notified and can respond in-app.
   
8. Regularly Review and Update: Commission structures may need adjustments over time to align with changing business goals and market conditions. Conduct periodic reviews to ensure that the plan remains relevant and effective. If it’s not, be ready to implement changes. 

9. Maintain Transparency: Give your team visibility into their past, existing, and forecasted earnings. Include a breakdown of their comp plan and progress of attainment. Bonus points if you use QuotaPath. 

10. Seek Feedback: Solicit feedback from sales teams about their comp plan’s effectiveness. Their insights can help identify areas for improvement and ensure that the plan remains fair and motivating.

How to motivate your sales team

More than 450 RevOps, Finance, and Sales leaders said their biggest challenge with their sales compensation plans is that they don’t motivate their reps. Here’s how to change that.

Read More

Data integration and accuracy

Another way to increase incentive pay accuracy — and one of the best ways, in our opinion — is to integrate your deal source of truth with sales quota management and compensation software. 

When data from various sources is integrated seamlessly, it reduces the risk of errors and discrepancies, leading to more precise commission calculations. It also eliminates data silos.

Some things to pay attention to when connecting two platforms: 

• Data hygiene: You should have processes in place to ensure your deal data is accurate and clean because if that’s incorrect or out-of-date, so will the commissions.
• Real-time updates: Look for integrations that provide real-time updates. This will ensure that calculations are based on the most recent data. 
• Regular data audits: Conduct regular data audits to identify discrepancies, anomalies, or inaccuracies in the integrated data. 
• Data security: Implement robust data security measures to protect sensitive data during the passing to and forth between platforms. 

Regular auditing and review

You should also conduct regular auditing and review of sales commission calculations, even if this process is automated. These processes help ensure accuracy, fairness, and transparency in commission payouts, benefiting the organization and its sales teams. 

Doing so will help you identify and rectify errors, reducing conflicts and fostering trust between you and your sales team. Plus, the whole regulatory requirements around company policies and legal requirements. Moreover, it acts as a cost control because you won’t have to allocate time and resources to address inefficiencies.

Auditing best practices include:

Technology solutions for commission accuracy

You’re here, so you’ve heard of QuotaPath (at least, we hope!). Yet we are not the only ones who can provide commission accuracy. In fact, there’s quite a growing list of competitors. Spiff, CaptivateIQ, Xactly, to name a few, have co-existed in our space for a while. Learn about the nuances between the platforms here.

When evaluating solutions, keep in mind

• Accessibility and Usability: How easily the platform allows for plan creation and adjustments as your business grows.
• Forecasted Earnings: Providing detailed revenue and earning potential reports for executives and sales reps linked to pipeline and quota achievement.
• ASC-606 Compliance: Ensuring commission expenses are scheduled, recognized, and reported by ASC 606 regulations.
• Time-to-Value: The speed at which customers can realize the platform’s value after purchase.
• Accuracy: Confidence in the accuracy of calculations.
• Plan building: Ability to build, test, and validate new compensation plans using past deal data before finalizing plans
• Integrations: Direct, real-time data flow from the source of commission information.
• Rep Accountability: Clear views of sales compensation, goal progress, and commission payment details.
• In-App Communication: Tools for resolving commission discrepancies and maintaining records within the tracking app.
• Support: Reliable and accessible vendor support.
• Pricing: Transparent upfront pricing with no minimum user requirements

Aligning Sales and Finance teams

There shouldn’t be a “versus” mentality unfolding at your organization between Sales and Finance. Instead, the two teams should work together during the sales compensation plan design process to create compensation structures that drive the right business behaviors and metrics and reward and motivate the sales team.

You’ll establish transparency and trust between the two departments, which will only increase once you have consistent, accurate commission payout processes.

The future of commission accuracy

So, what’s ahead for us? The future of commission accuracy will undergo significant transformations in the coming years. 

Technological advancements, increased data integration, and a growing emphasis on transparency and fairness will continue to shape this future landscape.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning will play a central role, allowing organizations to predict commission trends, detect anomalies, and automatically correct errors in real time. This will enhance accuracy, reduce disputes, and improve efficiency in commission management.

Blockchain technology may become more prevalent, providing an immutable ledger of commission transactions, ensuring tamper-proof records, and boosting stakeholder trust.

Data integration and analytics will remain paramount, with organizations streamlining data sources and validating information to ensure precision in calculations. Real-time data flow and instant updates will further cement accuracy.

Focusing on fairness and transparency will remain a top priority. Companies will strongly emphasize collaborative processes that align sales and finance departments. Regular audits, reviews, and dispute-resolution mechanisms will become standard practice.

In summary, the future of commission accuracy will be characterized by advanced technology, data integration, transparency, and fairness. Organizations that embrace these trends will achieve more accurate commission calculations and foster trust. This ultimately drives higher sales performance and satisfaction.

About QuotaPath

Is QuotaPath in your future of commission accuracy? Schedule time with our team to see how our system can increase productivity, payment efficiencies, and compensation optimization.

As you begin drafting next year’s sales compensation plans, wouldn’t it be nice to quickly understand the potential commission earnings and team quota attainment with existing deal data?

In QuotaPath, now you can. 

Draft Plans

Called Draft Plans, this feature enables GTM leaders to design — then test —  comp plans in-app that they’re considering. 

Run plan proposals against existing CRM data to estimate total teamwide commissions, identify potential edge cases, get a pulse on plan effective rates, and see how realistic (or unrealistic) attainment goals are. 

Think of it as a sandbox environment.

Test different plan components. Map your CRM fields and verify calculations with past data before anyone from your team sees it. 

Considering mechanisms to drive gross revenue retention in 2024? In Draft Plans, duplicate your plan. Then, add a multi-year accelerator to see how much you would have paid your team using last year’s sales numbers.

Notice a shift in your sales cycle from 4 to 6 weeks to 9 to 12? 

In Draft Plans, evaluate different quota frequencies to see if moving your team from a monthly quota to a quarterly quota makes sense. Would more reps hit quota and have a greater shot at achieving their on-target earnings under your proposed plan changes? 

Now, avoid guessing and let Draft Plans inform your decision-making. 

Maybe you’re just curious to see the financial implications of increasing the commission rate of a plan. What would your effective rate increase to? Would it take you over the recommended 20% to 25% of your total customer acquisition cost? 

Draft Plans can help address and validate these questions quickly without requiring another spreadsheet.  

Once leadership has aligned on your comp plans, Draft Plans gives you control over the rollout to your sales teams. 

In QuotaPath, prep your plan components and CRM mappings, assign team members, and ready plan verification. Add a few test deals to verify calculations. Then, publish to your teams on your time frame, whether it’s following your sales kickoffs or a manager one-on-one.

Have confidence heading into your next comp plan rollout. 

Plan Details

Additionally, we made it easier for you to edit and monitor the ongoing performance of your comp plans.

Plan Details organizes earnings paths within each comp structure. It also shows the deal data used to calculate commissions and lists the reps under that plan. The performance section reflects how your team is progressing to plan and displays total earnings, average effective rate, and plan attainment by rep.

The next time you want to check performance or edit details, such as implementing a SPIF or adding a new team member, you can do so in Plan Details. 

With Draft Plans and Plan Details:

• Experiment, validate, and verify plan setup: Build plans in the new draft stage to test different setups and mappings and understand performance with the last period’s data.
• Strategically roll out plans to reps: Control the distribution of new comp plans to reps by publishing drafts after you’ve validated the data and are ready. Then, verify comp plans with reps right in QuotaPath.  
• Monitor ongoing performance: See total earnings, average effective rate, and plan attainment by rep for each plan on the plan details page for the past year, quarter, month, or custom date.
• Quickly edit plans: View and edit plans, add or remove reps under that plan, and track rep sign-off from a universal view in Plan Details

Want to see? Schedule time with our team. Check out these new features and create and manage compensation strategies confidently and effectively. 

Although customer success managers (CSMs) have always held a critical role in retaining customers, they have taken on a new level of relevance and responsibility in today’s market.

CSMs once primarily focused on successfully implementing a company’s product or service. However, this past year, CSMs have been increasingly held accountable for customer retention and driving net revenue retention (NRR).

This shift is due to several factors, including:

• The newfound importance of customer retention: In today’s competitive landscape, acquiring new customers is more expensive than retaining existing ones. As a result, companies are focusing more on customer retention and success.
• Changes in the tech market: Companies’ valuation is now also tied directly to the company’s ability to prove profitability, often linked to retention and customer lifetime value. 
• The growing complexity of B2B products and services: B2B products and services are becoming increasingly complex, and customers need more help getting the most out of them. CSMs can play a vital role in helping customers achieve their desired outcomes.
• The rise of subscription-based businesses: Subscription-based businesses rely on recurring revenue from existing customers. CSMs can help subscription-based businesses by increasing customer satisfaction and reducing churn.

As these shifts have unfolded, leaders have had to re-think how to compensate and coach them to drive maximum results. 

Read on to create a compensation plan that is fair, motivating, and aligned with the changing role of the CSM.

First, what is customer success?

Customer success is a business process that helps customers achieve their desired outcomes with a company’s product or service. It is a customer-centric approach focusing on building long-term relationships and ensuring customer satisfaction.

It’s an especially important function, the MVP of an organization even, as it can help businesses:

• Increase customer retention and lifetime value
• Reduce customer churn
• Generate upsell and cross-sell opportunities
• Improve brand reputation
• Gain competitive advantage

What does a customer success manager do?

Customer success managers are responsible for various tasks, including:

How the role has evolved

In previous years, many looked upon the CSM role as an order taker, focused on running successful onboarding, building adoption, and addressing technical difficulties.

That’s far from the case today. 

Now, we are seeing CSMs more involved in the sales process to help develop and deliver presentations and demos before taking over for onboarding. 

“We’re going to see companies train and compensate CS teams like Sales teams,” said Pavilion VP of Growth Laura “LG” Guerra. “We’re already seeing CSMs go through discovery and negotiation training.” (Watch the full webinar here on adjusting your sales motion.)

We’re also seeing CS teams take a more strategic role in growing customer retention by developing and implementing long-term success plans with their accounts while monitoring usage and engagement data to identify high-risk customers. 

Some organizations have introduced CSMs into product development to gather customer feedback and identify new features and functionality that would be valuable to customers. 

Additionally, as companies pivot toward upsells and retention (and away from new biz), CSMs have increased their focus by partnering with marketing to create case studies, testimonials, and referrals.

How to structure CS comp plans

As the role has changed, how organizations pay their CS teams has had to change, too. 

LG, for instance, rolled out a SPIF (yes, a SPIF, typically reserved for your sales org.) to her CS team last spring. 

This involved a single-rate bonus of $100 for every time a CSM booked a meeting with a C-Suite executive, under the theory that the sooner they involved top leadership in the onboarding process, the more likely the account was to renew. They kept the SPIF in effect for a month and will use the results to inform CS strategy. 

Regarding the structure, Nate Sooter, Senior Business Operations Program Manager at Smartsheet, and a former CSM, said that CS comp structures include a good base salary with a 25-30% variable bonus. 

RevOps Leader Jeff Ignacio agreed and shared the following in his substack post: The pay mix is generally around 70/30 for the CSM. A $70,000 salary would pair with a $30,000 OTE (on-target earning). 

“The bonus should be based on metrics that the CS can actually control,” said Nate.

This includes:

• License allocation (Percentage of licenses purchased are activated)
• Active user (Percentage of users active within X number of days)
• Net dollar retention (This metric falls mostly outside of your CSM’s control, but it should be part of their responsibility.)

Jeff also suggested splitting the CS’s variable pay into various segments, weighted accordingly, to avoid tying the compensation only to retention. If you do that, you’re weighing your CS team’s compensation exclusively to a metric they do not have much control over.

“The weighting of each category can vary depending on need,” Nate said. “But I too often see companies put the entire bonus contingent on net retention (or gross retention) and ignore where CS is most effective: Getting customers implemented & active.”

Tip from Nate: Your metric becomes obsolete if you set the active user %
too high or too low. Determining a reasonable goal for CS is crucial.

He added that focusing CS incentives toward ensuring clients use the software as much as possible is helpful for incentive alignment and tees up your renewal team better. 

Customer success responsibility scenarios

For different models of CS comp plans, our friends at RevOps Co-op shared the following.

• CS runs renewals & expansions
  • Pay mix: 70% base and 30% variable
  • Retention goal of 85% gets them a third of their variable pay
  • Commissions from expansions are heavily weighted and have big accelerators
    
• CS responsible for renewals only 
  • Pay mix: 80% base and 20% variable
  • 10% of variable pay is based on a 90% customer retention goal
  • Other 10% is earned from commissions on renewals
  • Plus a $150 SPIF for every upsell and 1% commission rate on final sale

• CS doesn’t actively sell
  • Competitive salary
  • Paid a bonus if company hits retention goal
  • Earns a $150 SPIF for qualified leads to sales plus 1% on final sale

Support with your CS comp plans

If you’re seeking additional help modeling your customer success comp plans or account managers, check out our blog, How to design an account manager commission plan. The roles, although somewhat defined differently, will overlap.

Our team is always available to discuss your compensation strategy and help you run your sales compensation processes more efficiently. Schedule time to learn more. 

This is a guest blog from Sage, the accounting, people, payroll, and payments software provider.

Financial forecasting projects your company’s future financial performance using intricate data and analysis. It serves not only as a road map toward business success but as a key influencer in your strategic financial decisions.

Of all the components of your business plan, it’s one of the most challenging tasks you’ll need to complete. That said, its direct correlation with business sustainability and success also makes it the most crucial.

From evaluating the viability of a new investment to optimizing resources and attracting investors, financial forecasting impacts core business planning processes. So, let’s discuss why creating a financial forecast should be a top priority.

The power of financial forecasting in business planning

Of the many, many reasons that businesses fail, the top reason businesses do so is because they run out of cash or fail to raise new capital. More often than not, such significant losses can be attributed to a lack of strategic business planning. 

Ineffectively allocating resources. Poor sales compensation management. Failing to create specific, achievable goals or prepare for potential risks. These are just some of the mistakes businesses make that lead to financial ruin. 

A detailed financial forecast helps you avoid these pitfalls. Financial forecasting utilizes complex quantitative data—historical data, market analysis, competitive research, etc.—to gain accurate insights into your business’s current and future financial health. In doing so, you can make strategic, data-informed decisions.

For example, you can accurately predict whether you need to reduce staff levels to optimize labor costs or increase them to meet revenue goals. Or, you can assess the viability of a revenue opportunity that you’re itching to take advantage of. 

We’ll explore all the ways that financial forecasting can inform decision-making and drive business growth later on. First, let’s clear up a common misconception—are financial forecasting and budgeting the same thing?

What is the difference between financial forecasting and budgeting?

Financial forecasting and budgeting are often mentioned in the same conversations. While they do complement each other, they aren’t the same thing. 

Budgeting evaluates the financial resources available to your company to allocate resources appropriately. As a strategy, it outlines expenses, projected sales, and cash flow to reveal the current shape of your company’s financial position. Additionally, it establishes the proposed direction that you want your company to head in within a near-term time frame.

Financial forecasting and wider, big-picture financial decisions inform your budgeting strategy. A financial forecast includes an in-depth analysis of historical and current data sets, market conditions, and trends to estimate future profits and revenue. The data it unlocks can tell you whether your company is heading in the direction you want it to go. 

What are the key characteristics of financial forecasting in comparison to budgeting? Here’s a quick summary: 

• Flexibility: Once they’re set, a budget tends to remain static. Financial forecasts are more dynamic in that they evolve and adjust in response to changing ground conditions. 

• Time frame: A budget is concerned with the short term and is usually updated annually. Financial forecasting happens in both the short-term and long-term but primarily focuses on the bigger picture across several years.

• Objectives: A budget is created to reduce and optimize business costs to meet quarterly or yearly goals. Financial forecasting goes beyond cost-cutting to project growth orientation and establish strategies that guide this growth.

5 ways financial forecasting improves the business planning process

What is financial forecasting used for, and how does it improve your business planning process? Let’s find out.

Determines achievable goals for business growth

It’s all well and good having pipe dreams. But it’s working toward realistic, attainable goals that will guide your business to success. 

Financial forecasting provides a clear overview of your business’s historical, current, and projected financial performance. Using this information, you can set performance expectations, make accurate sales projections, identify profitable investment opportunities, and align sales compensation with big-picture business goals.

Getting there becomes much easier when you know the exact route that will lead you to where you want to go. 

Financial forecasting illuminates the steps needed to meet your monthly, quarterly, and annual goals. Plus, it considers the potential risks you’ll come across along the way—more on that later. 

Optimizes business resource allocation

What resources does your business need to meet your goals? Exactly when will it need them? Furthermore, how much will they cost, and what are the potential benefits and drawbacks may they incur?

Every resource your business utilizes—capital, employees, inventory, technology, materials, etc—should be allocated strategically. Financial forecasting enables you to dive deep into the “hows,” “whys,” and “whens” of every resource that you use.  In doing so, you minimize financial loss and maximize return. 

Let’s take labor as an example. To hit your sales goals, you’ve identified that you’ll need to hire new employees. A financial forecast will assess how many employees you’ll require to avoid understaffing and overstaffing, when you’ll need to hire them, and the labor costs associated with doing so.

From there, you can evaluate the financial implications and accurately allocate resources so that they generate a positive return. The same goes for all of your resources, from cash investments to materials. 

Aligning resource allocations with your other business expenses and outgoings gives you a complete picture of your financial performance. 

Gain full visibility of your payments and outgoings by using AP automation software so that you can view how your investments affect your cash flow in real time. Use the data generated by reports to uncover opportunities for further resource optimization and financial forecasting insights.

Anticipates potential financial risks 

Market crashes, operational failures, and supply chain disruptions are examples of potential risks that can have huge financial repercussions. Financial forecasting analyses risk potential and devises strategies to eliminate, avoid, or mitigate the financial impact of these risks. 

Some risks, such as overspending, can be eliminated using a financial forecast to inform accurate budgeting. For other risks, such as supply chain disruptions, you can create a contingency plan to mitigate financial impacts.

There are other potential risks that forecasting can help with, too. Take tax, for example. 

Unorganized record-keeping and tax filing processes increase the risk of receiving a hefty tax bill for which you’re completely unprepared. This can have significant financial consequences. Plus, if your lax processes lead you to submit an inaccurate tax return, it may even land you in trouble with the IRS (or HMRC, if you’re in the UK). 

A thorough financial forecast estimates your future tax obligations, reducing the risk of tax bill scares. Lots of businesses are moving to automated accounting solutions. These solutions ease financial forecasting by automatically adding sales and purchase invoices to your account. You can track and forecast your income and expenses at a glance, guaranteeing accurate tax calculations.

If you conduct business across the pond, self assessment accounting solutions have become mandatory for sole traders in the UK as part of HMRC’s “Making Tax Digital” initiative. That said, 53% of Americans also used online software to file taxes to the IRS last year. So, the trend is undoubtedly catching on as a means to streamline tax filing and drive better financial forecasting. 

Attracts investors through transparent reporting

Without financial forecasting, even businesses turning over a healthy profit can struggle to find investors. Why? Because investors want to know exactly how you plan to succeed. 

Hopes and prayers don’t instill confidence. But cold, complex data? That’s a different story.

Data-rich financial forecasts instill investor confidence as they provide the facts and figures that outline your company’s path to growth. When presented with a granular analysis of all your data, investors can better visualize your success and, consequently, their return on investment. 

Forecasts investment profitability and feasibility

New investment opportunities are always tempting—but are they always worth it?

Whether it’s launching a new product, onboarding new technology, or purchasing real estate for expansion, investment opportunities are everywhere. But if you fail to explore the financial implications of making these investments, you put your company at severe financial risk. 

Financial forecasts are crucial for ensuring your investment is viable and profitable. Let’s take new technology as an example. 

You want to invest in cutting-edge technology to meet your business growth goals. A financial forecast will tell you whether you can afford the initial purchase. But beyond that, it will estimate the ongoing overhead, maintenance, and onboarding costs. It will consider the investment in alignment with future projections based on historical and current market data.

Using these insights, you can evaluate the viability and profitability of the investment to determine its ROI potential. You can do this for every small-scale or large-scale investment, from adopting a sales commission software to acquiring another business.

Prepare for the future with financial forecasting

Financial forecasting generates various large-scale, multi-faceted benefits that directly influence business success. It guides critical data-driven decisions like budgeting, investment viability, and resource allocations. It significantly reduces the negative impact of financial risks and can even help you avoid some entirely. It can also secure the backing you need from investors to bring your growth initiatives to fruition.

Although we unequivocally disagree with this action, companies dialing back compensation plans because their reps “earned too much” is not uncommon. 

It’s something that Cliff Simon, Chief Revenue Officer at Carabiner Group, experienced first-hand during his early career in sales.

Cliff, who sold wireless and Internet of Things (IoT) services for one of the major wireless carriers, earned six figures a year in 2013 while overperforming against his sales compensation plan. 

That’s when his employer switched that portion of his comp plan to a measly $5,000 quarterly bonus. 

What followed? You guessed it.  An exodus of sales talent — Cliff included. 

As frustrating as it was for Cliff at the time, this move sparked his transition to SaaS and ultimately led him to the startup space, where he remains today as a CRO and supports other startups in advisor and fractional executive roles. 

“I went from a 90,000-person company to 30,000,  3000, 300, 35, and employee No. 3 in 2020 at Carabiner Group, where I now lead our go-to-market function,” Cliff said. “It was this downward progression of finding more responsibility, having a stronger impact on the business strategy, and getting closer to the data.” 

We sat down with Cliff to gain insights into his career transition. The revenue leader shared a bit about his journey from rep to C-Suite and offered advice for others interested in climbing the sales ladder from IC to CRO. 

Check out our Q&A below. 

Q&A

Once you worked at smaller organizations, how did the shift begin from sales toward RevOps?

Cliff: Everywhere I went, the smaller the company, the more I got my hands dirty, whether it was comp plan design, territory design, driving metrics and conversion rates, improving the handoff between sales, implementation, and customer success, or managing the sales and marketing relationship.

Also, I lived in Excel spreadsheets more than any sales rep had the right to.

I didn’t realize all those pieces were the connective tissue within RevOps. They happened to be what I enjoyed the most, in addition to signing contracts, which is always fun.

When did you begin gaining more RevOps responsibilities? 

Cliff: I spent a lot of time between 2016 and 2018 doing what would be considered RevOps. I worked closely with my Salesforce admin team and the architect, conducted quality and assurance tests, and helped debug. I constantly ran through the system and tried to figure out what would happen if I clicked this and then that.

Then I started overssing comp plans and was still running sales. And when my boss went out on extended medical leave in 2018, the responsibility to run everything on the GTM side fell to me. 

What other RevOps-related things were you in charge of while leading a sales team?

Cliff: During this period, we were also going through a Salesforce Classic to Lightning migration, and all sorts of stuff was breaking. My team was small enough to guinea pig it, and I’ve always created documentation. So, as we first went through this process, I built essentially our sales playbook. And without realizing it, I acted as an admin while generating anywhere from 54 to 65% of my team’s number. 

As CRO, what teams do you oversee, and how are you improving as a leader? 

Cliff: I’m responsible for our GTM motions: sales, marketing, customer success, partnerships, and RevOps on the GTM side of the business. I also have a hand in financial planning and analysis. 

As far as learning and improving, you need to become unconsciously competent within areas of your role to perform at a high level. Some come from experience and natural ability. Others require a bit more digging in. I was weakest from a marketing aspect, so I spent the first 18 months at Carabiner meeting with one to two marketing VPs or CMOs weekly to put myself through a make-shift marketing school. 

How has your affinity for data-inspired your path to CRO?

Cliff: I like being data-driven, and as CRO, sitting over the entire business, I won’t be successful if I can’t touch all the data points and understand how the entire customer journey works. I would feel significantly hindered if I couldn’t understand why customers choose us, how we address their problems, and how we deliver recurring impact to them long-term. All of that has to correlate to the customer buyer journey. What is the value that they’re hypothesizing that they will receive from us? How do we get into the weeds and solidify that on a later-stage call?

Then, once onboarded, what’s the time to first impact? How do we continue to drive recurring impact and value to their business so they stay with us long-term?

Taking that together, alongside a desire to change the way people perceive B2B sales and using tools to adapt how we sell, it scratches an itch for me. 

What will it take for CROs to be successful this year?

Cliff: The new breed of CRO will have to be far more data-driven than the person who was just really good at sales. You’ll have to understand the “whys.” 

You’ll have to get good at servicing your existing customers and understand how to drive an upsell and cross-sell motion to improve net dollar retention, gross retention, and net promoter scores. 

Lastly, what advice do you have for reps looking to make it to CRO one day? 

Cliff: Take on the things that your boss wants to get done. Don’t wait until they ask. Show initiative, drive impact and value, and find things that interest you. The other is to do the same with new company initiatives. Grab them by the horns and do your best to help the company achieve those aims.

I like numbers and playing with spreadsheets. And because of that, I naturally desired to go toward a RevOps, data-driven world. 

So if something like that interests you, lean into it. 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences with us, Cliff!

About QuotaPath

QuotaPath supports revenue leaders with resources and solutions that help them automate sales commissions, provide visibility into compensation, and motivate reps through forecasted earnings.

Chat with our team, or try QuotaPath by signing up for a free trial to learn more.

Are you asking Sales to fly blind? You wouldn’t try to fly a plane without the necessary data to follow the flight plan. But that’s what you do if you don’t have sales compensation dashboards.

A sales compensation dashboard is a visual display of your sales data in a readily accessible single view. It overviews commonly tracked key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics such as quota attainment, average deal size, commission data, and compensation plan details.

A sales dashboard surfaces valuable information and insights for sales reps, management, leadership, and accounting. These dashboards are essential to guide users toward goal attainment, enable informed decisions, streamline operations, and inspire outstanding achievements.

Why sales compensation dashboards matter

Imagine a world without sales compensation dashboards — one where sales data is spread across multiple channels or spreadsheets, some password-protected.

Tracking progress, gathering insights, or getting answers to compensation questions would become a time-consuming wild-goose chase for reps and managers.

Unable to easily access sales data, leadership would be forced to piece together a view of team performance, wasting valuable time trying to identify and prioritize coaching requirements.

Discrepancies and misunderstandings around quota attainment and compensation accuracy would be commonplace as individuals waste valuable time manually tracking results. This would undoubtedly reduce trust and accountability, leading to costly rep turnover.

Uncertainty around progress toward goals, to the next compensation tier, or which deals to prioritize causes reps to become increasingly unmotivated and frustrated.

Ultimately, performance falls short, and business goals aren’t achieved.

That’s why sales compensation dashboards matter.

Key components

A sales comp dashboard consists of several essential elements, including:

Benefits of using sales compensation dashboards

The advantages of using sales compensation dashboards include:

Improved visibility and transparency: Sales compensation software provides easy access to data and insights that clarify performance against plan and is broken down by comp plan component.

Greater trust and accountability: The ability to see performance and earnings breakdowns based on the compensation plan builds confidence in the plan, boosts understanding, and promotes responsibility for results.

Increased motivation: A clearer understanding of the workings of the compensation plan improves the effectiveness of the plan in terms of driving desired sales behaviors and business goal achievement.

Better decision-making: Sales leadership gains a clearer picture of sales performance compared to the plan, enabling them to draw more educated conclusions. These insights facilitate the comp plan design process as well. Reps also gain clarity, allowing them to prioritize where to focus their efforts for the best outcomes.

Easier coaching prioritization: Sales performance metrics by team and individual make it easier for managers to identify and prioritize coaching needs to boost performance.

Allows leadership to get a quick pulse on team and individual numbers: A sales compensation dashboard provides leadership with an at-a-glance snapshot of team and individual sales performance compared to plan.

Time savings: Sales dashboards consolidate all the necessary information in one view. This eliminates the need for shadow accounting to track individual or team performance. Data must no longer be pieced together from various platforms across the organization.

How to create an effective sales compensation dashboard

“When it comes to sales metrics, a tremendous amount of time is spent reviewing information that leaders can do very little to influence,” wrote Scott Edinger in the Harvard Business Review piece, “Are You Paying Attention to the Right Sales Metrics?”

That’s why it’s pivotal to review business metrics that are most meaningful to your team and leadership. 

Here are some steps to ensure your sales dashboard includes what matters most. 

Identify your goals

First, you want to determine what you want to achieve with your sales compensation dashboard. For example, do you want to improve visibility and transparency, increase motivation, or make better compensation decisions?

Choose the right metrics

Once you know your goals, you can start to identify the specific metrics and features you need to include in your dashboard.

The metrics that you decide to track on your sales compensation dashboard should be aligned with your sales compensation plan and your company’s overall business goals. Some common sales compensation metrics include:

• Sales performance metrics: For example, quota attainment, average deal size, customer churn rate
• Commission earnings metrics: Data such as total commission earnings, average commission rate, commission payout schedule
• Compensation plan details: A summary of the sales compensation plan, including the different components of the plan and how they are calculated.

Choose a dashboard tool

There are various sales compensation dashboard tools available; see our section below for more details.

Set up your dashboard

Once you have chosen a dashboard tool, you need to set up your dashboard. This includes adding metrics and features and configuring the dashboard to meet your requirements.

Test your dashboard

Once you’ve set up your dashboard, it is essential to test it to ensure it functions properly. Have sales reps and managers test the dashboard to confirm it meets their needs and is easy to use.

Deploy your dashboard

Once you have tested and refined your dashboard, you can introduce it to your sales team.

Additional tips

A few extra tips for creating an effective sales compensation dashboard include:

Make it easy to use: The sales compensation dashboard should be easy for sales reps and managers. The charts and graphs should be clear and concise, and the data should be easily interpreted.

Update it regularly: The sales compensation dashboard should be updated routinely with the latest data. This will ensure that sales reps and managers have the most up-to-date information on their performance and earnings.

Get feedback from users: It is essential to get rep feedback on the sales compensation dashboard to ensure it meets their needs. This feedback can improve the dashboard and make it more effective.

By following these tips, you can create an effective sales compensation dashboard that will help you to improve visibility and transparency, increase motivation, make better compensation decisions, and streamline processes for sales reps and managers.

Common metrics tracked

The specific metrics you track in your sales compensation dashboard will vary depending on your sales compensation plan and your company’s overall business goals. However, in the sales compensation analysis, you may want to track metrics like:

Sales performance metrics: These metrics track the sales team’s performance against their goals. Some typical sales performance metrics include:

• Quota attainment: Percentage of sales reps who have achieved their quotas.
• Average deal size: Average size of deals closed by the sales team.
• Customer churn rate: Percentage of customers who have canceled their subscriptions or stopped doing business with the company.
• Customer lifetime value: Total revenue that the company expects to generate from a customer over the lifetime of the relationship.
• Commission earnings metrics: These metrics track the sales team’s commission earnings. Some standard commission earnings metrics include:
• Total commission earnings: Total commission earnings for the sales team.
• Average commission rate: Percentage of sales revenue that sales reps earn in commissions.
• Commission payout schedule: How often sales reps are paid their commissions.

Compensation plan details: These metrics provide detailed information about the sales compensation plan and a breakdown of the different ways in which a rep can earn commissions. Some standard compensation plan details include:

• Base salary: The fixed salary that sales reps earn.
• Commissions: The variable pay that sales reps make based on their sales performance.
• Bonuses: One-time payments that sales reps earn for achieving specific goals.
• SPIFs: Incentives or rewards designed to drive specific sales behaviors to meet short-term goals.

Choosing the right sales compensation dashboard software

There are various sales compensation dashboard tools available. Some are cloud-based, while others are on-premises. When selecting sales compensation software, you should consider the following factors:

• Features: Does the tool have all of the features that you need? For example, real-time data, performance insights, tracking progress toward personal goals and quotas, and forecasting future earnings based on the pipeline. You may also want dashboards for different roles to minimize time wasted navigating the comp data they need most. Does it facilitate effortless communications to resolve compensation issues and eliminate confusion? Does it support the complexities of your compensation structure?
• Usability: Is the tool easy for sales reps and managers to use? Is the user interface intuitive?
• Integrations: Does the tool integrate with your CRM system and other sales tools? If so, is the integration effortless or does it require customization or a developer to make it work?
• Pricing: Is the tool affordable and transparent? Is there a free trial, a startup package, or implementation fees?
• Scalability: Can it grow with the team? If so, does the solution offer additional features to facilitate scaling the software across your organization?

Real-world examples of sales compensation dashboards

No two sales compensation dashboards are the same however, here are some real-world examples to help you create the ideal sales dashboard to meet your needs:

Sales Rep Dashboard

Give your reps a dashboard that enables them to track their performance. Dashboard reporting in this board includes key metrics such as open opportunities, number of deals in their pipeline, meetings booked, and forecasted revenue.

Sales Leaderboard

Tap into the competitive nature of your sales reps by using a sales leaderboard dashboard. Commonly displayed information shown on these dashboards includes the number of completed activities such as meetings, emails, or calls, customer retention numbers, generated MRR, and number of new accounts.

QuotaPath Admin Home

Our Admin Home dashboard provides clarity through a comprehensive view that delivers performance insights into essential compensation metrics and surfaces high-priority sales incentive management tasks.

These tasks include deals awaiting your approval or flagged commission discrepancies and payouts owed. This enables you to manage and keep current with commission-related activities efficiently.

The Admin Home view lets you view your team’s financial goals, total earnings, payouts, and effective rates and discern trends by filtering the data by month, quarter, or year.

QuotaPath Rep Home

Our Home for Reps dashboard consolidates insights, tasks, and deal data history on one screen for easy viewing. This enables sellers to access an overview of earnings per month or quarter, plan payment breakdowns and payouts.

These insights promote accountability and ownership of their sales compensation. It enables them to get answers to their commission plan or payout questions by submitting their inquiry directly from their Home dashboard. This eliminates the need to jump through multiple hoops to get compensation answers.

This dashboard also gives reps an overview of their performance, forecasted earnings according to their pipeline, and task alerts. They can see a monthly breakdown of their performance against their comp plan broken down by comp plan components, such as bonuses, SPIFs, and accelerators.

Reps can add and track their progress toward personal financial goals like purchasing a car, making a down payment for a house, or saving up for a vacation.

Start leveraging sales compensation dashboards

Sales compensation dashboards are essential to streamline activities and achieve individual, team, and organizational goals. Otherwise, you lose visibility, transparency, trust, accountability, and motivation while inhibiting decision-making, coaching, and results.

Identify your goals, your metrics, and your sales compensation software. Then, set up your dashboard and test the deployment. Your organization will function more efficiently, and you’re more likely to meet or achieve your goals.

Looking for additional ways to boost your sales effectiveness? Schedule a chat with a team member to learn more about QuotaPath’s dashboards and sales compensation management, or start your free trial.

The key to success in sales is having a flexible, well-considered strategy in which every member of your organization has a part to play. But regular sales reports prevent even the best strategies from suffering setbacks and help you hit long- and short-term targets.

Analyzing sales data through periodic reporting is the simplest yet most effective tool for monitoring progress, identifying areas needing improvement, and determining where the latest technological and organizational solutions can fit into your operations.

Below, we’ll look at the basic process of writing sales reports and a few types of reports that may help you achieve your goals. Let’s get started.

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What is a sales report?

A sales report outlines a comprehensive overview of a company’s sales performance over a specific period. Reports can measure daily, quarterly, or annual sales. They’re typically used to evaluate sales performance, identify opportunities for improvement, and make informed business decisions.

Sales reports may include key performance indicators (KPIs), such as sales by region, customer segmentation, sales pipeline, conversion rates, and revenue forecasts. More complex or specific reports can include information that may impact sales, such as contact center automation trends, team performance evaluations, or marketing campaigns.

Team leaders or sales managers are usually tasked with writing these reports, incorporating data and analysis related to sales activities, revenue generated, products or services sold, customer trends, and other relevant metrics. Sales reports are valuable for monitoring progress, setting targets, and developing strategies to drive sales growth and achieve organizational goals.

How to write standout sales reports in 6 simple steps

There are many types of sales reports (more on that later), each with specific factors to consider when creating one. Regardless of the type, the general process is the same. These are the basic steps.

1. Determine your objective

First, determine the purpose or objective of your sales report. It could be to evaluate sales performance, track progress towards sales targets, identify areas for improvement, or provide insights for strategic decision-making. For example, if you’re trying to demonstrate the benefits of a new insurance lead gen campaign, you may want to track the number of leads generated and gather data giving you an idea of how many turned into sales calls and, ultimately, conversions.

Defining the objective helps ensure that the report is focused and provides relevant information. It will also help you to determine whether you achieved your initial objective once you’ve finished the report.

2. Identify your audience

Once you’ve determined why you’re writing your report, it’s time to decide who to write it for. Consider who will be reading the sales report. Identify the stakeholders, such as sales managers, executives, or team members, and anticipate their needs and expectations. Adapt the report’s tone, level of detail, and format accordingly to effectively communicate with the intended audience.

3. Select a time period

Determine the time frame that the report will cover. It could be daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually, depending on the frequency of data collection and the reporting needs of your audience. As a rule, daily and weekly reports are less detailed and more concerned with factors like the average number of outbound calls per rep, sales commissions, or short-term sales performance. Monthly or quarterly reports cover the number of deals closed and organization-wide performance.

4. Gather the data

Gather all the relevant data required for the sales report. This could include sales figures, revenue data, customer information, or product or service performance. Ensure the accuracy and completeness of the data by verifying it from reliable sources.

You may need to gather information from several sources, including sales software, remote devices, sales software, CRM tools, and your sales team. This data can be collected in a central database for convenience and easily accessed to produce regular sales reports for management, investors, and other stakeholders.

5. Select key metrics

Determine the key performance metrics that align with your objective and audience. These metrics could include total revenue, units sold, average deal size, conversion rates, customer acquisition, retention rates, or any other sales metrics. Select a combination of quantitative and qualitative metrics that offer a comprehensive view of the sales efforts.

6. Choose engaging visuals and publish

Present the data in a visually appealing, organized manner. Use charts, graphs, and tables to visualize the data and make it easier to understand and interpret. Choose visuals that align with the objective and resonate with your audience.

Select standout pieces of information — like a significant sales target reached due to the effort — and present them in callout boxes or alongside engaging imagery to make them more impactful and memorable.

Once the report is finalized, publish it in a suitable format, such as a PDF or shared document, for easy distribution and reference. Alternatively, if you plan on making reports public, you can set up a new site using Only Domains to share your findings with stakeholders. Your new page can serve as a repository of sales metrics for easy access and referencing.

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5 types of sales reports

Sales pipeline reports

A sales pipeline report is a visual representation of a potential customer’s stages during the sales process. It provides an overview of the sales opportunities at each stage, from initial contact to final closure. 

For example, if you’re trying to sell the latest payroll processing software, a pipeline report might measure the rate at which prospective customers turn into qualified leads, generating more revenue. It may also highlight which industries seem most interested in payroll software and tend to convert. 

The report typically includes information about the number and value of deals and the probability of closing each opportunity. A sales pipeline report helps sales teams and managers track the progress of deals, identify potential bottlenecks or areas of improvement, and forecast future sales revenue.

In a sales pipeline report, opportunities are typically organized into different stages: prospecting, qualification, negotiation, and closing. Each opportunity is assigned a probability of success based on its current stage and the historical conversion rates of deals at that stage. The report allows sales teams to prioritize their efforts, focus on high-value opportunities, and allocate resources effectively.

Won and lost deals analysis reports

These reports systematically analyze the deals won by the company and those lost, providing valuable insights into the sales process and overall performance. They typically include key metrics such as the percentage of deals won versus lost, average deal size, the average length of deals, and the average duration of sales cycles for both won and lost deals.

This report aims to uncover trends and patterns that may explain the differences between won and lost deals. It explores factors such as the reasons for winning or losing the deal, the competition faced, the effectiveness of the sales strategy, the product or service offering, pricing, negotiations, and customer satisfaction. 

By examining these factors, companies can identify their strengths and weaknesses. That enables them to make informed decisions on improving their sales process, increase win rates, and drive revenue growth.

Sales call reports

A sales call report is a detailed record of interactions made by a salesperson with customers or prospects during sales calls or meetings. It provides an overview of each call’s activities, discussions, and outcomes. These reports aim to determine whether sales staff are meeting sales targets and, if not, to determine why.

Sales call reports can also illustrate the effectiveness of your current sales call strategy. For instance, declining sales rates in your outbound team area could alert you to the need for an innovative solution, such as selecting the best power dialer to keep your call center competitive. It can also help you pinpoint strategies that are working effectively. 

Average deal size reports

Average deal size reports cover insights into the typical monetary value of sales deals closed by your team. Their biggest benefit is in predicting revenue based on current sales patterns. This is a critical source of information for determining where to take your sales strategy in the future.

If, for example, you set a sales target of $250,000 per sales representative per quarter and the average deal value is about $5,000, you’ll see that each representative needs to close at least 50 deals in a given quarter. This is a great tool for giving your team clear on-the-job performance guidelines within the report’s specified period.

Conversion rate reports

A conversion rate report analyzes the proportion of sales leads or opportunities that result in a completed sale. They typically include detailed statistics such as the number of potential opportunities, the number of actual conversions, and total conversion rates.

Conversion rate reports may also delve deeper into specifics, showing conversion rates by product, region, sales representative, or other factors. Monitoring these metrics can yield insight into the outcomes of sales strategies and areas in need of improvement. It can also help you determine which sales tactics have higher conversion rates.

Gain a competitive edge with effective sales reports

So there you have it: the basic process of writing sales reports and a few of the more common types. Adopting the best sales reporting tactics and practices can go a long way toward making your company more competitive. But investing in the best resources and personnel is also important, from cloud-based dialer software to specialized lead generation experts.

Find out more about what Convoso offers to help you achieve your sales goals. Sign up for a free demo today.

Over 20% of sales reps find themselves tangled in commission payment disputes at least once per year, leading to 9% of those reps quitting over it.  

That’s according to a new report that surveyed more than 450 Finance, Sales, and RevOps leaders from SaaS.

Many of these errors stem from earnings miscalculations, which increase with every additional formula and rep you must keep track of. 

Today, we launched Streamlined Payout Workflows to help. 

Run commissions more accurately — and faster than ever with our new guided process. 

Make commission payment efficient

Streamlined Payout Workflows, which cuts the clicks it takes to process commissions in QuotaPath in half, organizes deal and payout information by rep so that those who run commissions can approve earnings and schedule payouts from a universal view. 

Instead of toggling between spreadsheets or pages within your sales compensation software, with Streamlined Payout Workflows, view commission at the deal level and approve earnings, set eligibility rules, and schedule payouts all from one spot. 

Meet our new inbox-zero approach to commissions below:

Now, account for your entire revenue team’s earnings data in an efficient guided process

Commission approvals have never been easier (or faster).  

See for yourself by starting your free trial, or schedule time with our team to learn more. 

About QuotaPath

QuotaPath partners with revenue teams to manage sales compensation more efficiently. With a library of free resources that support compensation plan design and strategy and an automated commission tracking platform, QuotaPath aligns teams, saves time, and increases earnings accuracy.

Missed our last product update? Check out our auto commission rates tool that calculates commission rates without formulas and breaks down views for your reps to foster comp understanding and accountability.