QuotaPath and HubSpot are all about metrics and helping you make data driven decisions. It’s critical to understand your sales metrics to be able to accurately manage and grow your revenue. Which is why we partnered to create a free tool for you.

Sales Metrics Calculator

We partnered with HubSpot to build this all-in-one Excel template to calculate the sales performance metrics you should keep an active eye on. Easily calculate 12 key performance indicators, from Average Deal Size to Revenue by Product, to Employee Turnover Rate…and more!

Download it FREE here

How to measure key sales metrics

Average Deal Size

Average Deal Size, or Average Contract Value, is exactly what it sounds like. The average size of your deals. Looking at this alone won’t be very helpful. Tracking Average Deal Size over time, across regions, between reps, or for groups of reps might reveal a sweet spot or opportunity.

To calculate it, pick a time period—month, quarter, or year. Record deals won and revenue generated during that period. Divide the total revenue by the number of deals.

Win Rate

Win Rate is a ratio of Closed/Won and Closed/Lost deals. For continued growth you want to see an increase of deals won over time.

To calculate win rate percentage, take the total number of deals won divided by the total number of deals.

Tracking the reasons for lost deals will give insight into areas of opportunity.

Demo to Close Ratio

Demo:Close Rate forecasts an average of how many demos need to occur in order to win a deal. If you don’t use demos, this might be meetings held, calls, etc. Substitute for your needs!

Again, these metrics are more valuable outside a vacuum. Reducing the number of demos held would be a healthy indicator that you’ve nailed your messaging and are growing your business.

How to set sales quotas and manage commissions

Quota Setting

We know a thing or two about setting quotas, and we like to write about it. For now, we’ll focus on one type of quota set based on revenue. Quotas help set the bar for performance. You want your quota to be attainable enough for 75% of your reps to hit it every period.

To set your quota, you’ll need to know your sales rep’s On-Target Earnings (OTE) and select a multiplier. The standard multiplier for SaaS companies is 5x. Depending on sales cycles, revenue, and company it usually ranges from 2 to 10 times OTE.

Commission Calculator

There’s so much opportunity for insight with solid commission tracking. Commission tracking can give you insights into sales cycles, seasonality, rep and team performance, and so much more. We get really excited about designing compensation plans and commission tracking and would love to chat with you more on that. To track commissions, you’ll want to record the close date, contract amount, and commission earned. These calculations can get complicated quickly, but we take all the work out of commission tracking for you.

Revenue sales metrics to know

Customer Acquisition Cost

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is the total required spend on sales and marketing to close a deal. CAC decreasing over time is a healthy indicator of a growing business.

Calculate CAC by summing up total sales and marketing spend and dividing it by the number of new contracts. Be sure to include ad spend, salaries, commission, software costs, and other sales and marketing activity expenses.

Customer Lifetime Value

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), or Lifetime Value (LTV), is the average revenue a customer provides before churning.

To calculate it, you’ll need the Average Deal Size — which you will already have if you use the free Sales Metrics Calculator. And the average lifetime of your customer.

This metric is valuable when compared to your Customer Acquisition Costs. You’ll want to ensure you’re making the money you spend on sales and marketing back before a customer churns.

CAC-to-CLV

And here we are! Measuring the correlation between the last two metrics we calculated: Customer Acquisition Cost and Customer Lifetime Value.

To calculate it, you’ll divide CAC by CLV. A 1 or higher means your customer is giving you more revenue over their lifetime than you spent on acquiring them.

Revenue by Product

If you sell more than one product, you’ll want to measure Revenue by product to analyze the popularity and profitability of services.

Your sales team is going to love this metric. It will help sales focus their effort with data around the products moving the needle. Pro-tip: You can also track this in QuotaPath by setting up Paths, or what we call variable components of your team’s comp plan. So many of our customers are able to track revenue over time and optimize their plans accordingly!

Customer Retention Rate

Related to Customer Lifetime Value, Customer Retention Rate measures your churn rate. The lower this number is the healthier your growth will be. Choose a consistent time period to measure and stick to it.

To calculate it, you’ll record how many customers you had at the start of the period,. hHow many customers are at the end of the period,. aAnd, how many new customers were acquired during the period.

Revenue Churn

Revenue churn is how much revenue was lost in a given period. There are two ways to look at this—Net Revenue Churn and Gross Revenue Churn. Net churn factors in upsells, gross churn does not. The lower your churn number the better, and it can be a negative number.

To calculate Gross Revenue Churn, subtract Total New MRR/ARR from your period Ending MRR/ARR and divide by Starting MRR.

To get your Net Revenue Churn number you will start with your period Ending MRR/ARR. Subtract Total New MRR/ARR. Add Total Upsell MRR/ARR. Divide by Starting MRR/ARR.

Employee Turnover Rate

Sales is a high turnover industry. Benchmarking employee turnover rates will not only indicate how happy your employees are, but give you insights to plan for hiring and company growth.

Take the number of employees lost during a time period, divided by the total number of employees.

That’s a lot of metrics to track and manage. Luckily, you don’t need to remember that or any of the formulas if you use the Sales Metrics Calculator spreadsheet template.

And, for a commission tool that motivates reps, learn more about QuotaPath.

One of the first things you learn in business is that when you’re ready to close, you always approach the decision makers. Any other tactic is a waste of time. This is particularly true in sales. After all, pitching to someone who doesn’t have any power is as inefficient as it is ineffective. But how do you know who’s capable of giving you a “yes” that actually holds water?

The truth is that there is rarely just one decision maker at a company. Perhaps more importantly, there’s more than one type of decision maker. Understanding what motivates people in power will help you tailor your approach to your audience. Once that’s done, you’ll know how to save time and speed up the process. Even better, you may finally have the edge you need to send your close rates soaring.

The Champion

Of all the types of decision makers you’ll eventually encounter, The Champion is one of the most enjoyable. That’s because they’re the person who wants to buy a solution every bit as much as you want to sell them one. The Champion is interested in problem-solving. They might be the actual decision maker. Or they could be the person taking the demo and relaying all the important bits to the decision maker later on.

What to look for:

The Champion will go out of their way to help facilitate a deal. They may encourage you to set up additional calls with them or other key players. They’ll likely email you questions about your product or sales process. They’ll also respond to your emails quickly rather than letting time pass to appear “hard to get.” They’re a stakeholder, either literally or because they know that closing a deal will make them look good to their peers and/or bosses. Be on the lookout for someone who’s engaged from the beginning and you’ll likely find The Champion.

The Final Decision Makers

Much as the title suggests, The Final Decision Maker is the person — or people! — who have the authority to sign on the dotted line. They may still have to run your proposal by a business partner or even a board of directors. But still, The Final Decision Maker is the all-powerful entity who can help you hit your sales goal or send you packing. This is not an employee, an assistant, or Bobby from the mailroom. When you meet with The Final Decision Maker, it’s clearly their yay or nay that makes all the difference.

What to look for:

It can be a bit tricky figuring out who The Final Decision Maker truly is. Some organizations use decoys along the way, sending in managers lower on the company ladder to do the majority of the leg work. Sometimes, you can cut to the chase by finding out who has wielded the buying power before. For that, ask around your own sales team (assuming you and the prospect’s company have a history). You may also want to see if anyone from another company in your sales territory has any insight. The Final Decision Maker might also give themselves away by knowing the answers to your process and timeline questions. After all, they’ve been there, done that.

The Signer

The Signer may also be called The Surpriser. Officially, they’re the person responsible for signing off on your contract. But they’re also the person who could come in at the last minute and completely torpedo your deal.

What to look for:

Ideally, you’ll only meet The Signer once everyone is happy with the terms. This should be that moment when everybody in the room is ready to pop a few bottles of bubbly in celebration. You may hear his or her name early on or spot it in the paperwork. They may be CC’d on emails or included in conference calls as a courtesy. Often, they’re kept in the loop so that they’re up to date on important developments. But they likely won’t ask questions or otherwise insert themselves into the conversation unless forced to. Their job is to sign the contract. The rest is just details, and those details should be worked out long before The Signer makes an appearance.

The Legal Decision Maker

In most deals (and especially the big ones), there’s a person in charge of the legal review of your contract. This is The Legal Decision Maker. Their job is to ensure that all items in the contract adhere to the letter of the law, but that’s just the beginning. They may ask questions to clarify certain clauses and ask for language to be adjusted to eliminate ambiguity or mitigate risk. A skilled attorney will also look for boilerplate language that covers potential conflict. This is vital so that all parties know how disagreements will be handled should any arise.

What to look for:

You can spot The Legal Decision Maker by the tell-tale JD that appears after their name. Or you may see a title like General Counsel indicating their status as a top-notch legal eagle.

The Fake Decision Maker

When you’re trying to make a deal, the worst-case scenario is not getting a “no.” It’s getting a “yes” from someone who doesn’t actually have the authority to give it to you. The Fake Decision Maker is a person who claims they can make a decision but can’t. There are several reasons this happens. They may be too wrapped up in their own ego to realize they need permission from higher-ups. They might think they’re in charge of a project and then have their authority stripped away because of someone else’s ego. Or they could just be a liar (harsh, but it does happen).

These fraudsters can ruin a deal and wreck your day. It’s crucial you avoid getting too far into the sales process before realizing you’re dealing with a Fake Decision Maker. Otherwise, you could have to abandon your progress and start from the beginning. That’s after you figure out who you should really be talking to, of course. In some cases, running headfirst into a Fake Decision Maker could derail the deal entirely. To prevent that, get to know what Fake Decision Makers look like. Once you’ve got that down pat, figure out how you can get around them to schedule a meeting with the actual powers that be.

What to look for:

Fake Decision Makers are typically people who lack power, which means they haven’t finished a deal as a decision maker before. They may seem unfamiliar with the buying process and stumble over their words because of that uncertainty. In an effort to cover their tracks, they may be reluctant to let you talk to anyone else in the company. Just remember: If something feels off, something probably is off. Don’t be afraid to retrace your steps, do some company research and make a few phone calls to see who is really in charge. If you’re discrete, you won’t ruffle feathers, and a quiet investigation could save you a lot of time and resources.

Some deals may be as simple as you and a solo decision maker sitting down for a chat. Other deals might involve several stages and more than one type of decision maker. Learning how to pick out a Champion in a crowd can make it easier to close a deal quickly. Learning how to spot a Fake Decision Maker before you spend weeks catering to their ego can save you a ton of heartbreak. In other words, this is a skill worth honing.

For more sales tips, check out some of our favorite sales podcasts of 2020.

“How do we grow better?” Dharmesh Shah asked this very simple question at HubSpot’s INBOUND conference in 2018. It is a fantastic talk if you haven’t heard it before and you can find it here.

It is the very thought that I’ve had since my first founder journey took me on the rocket ship that was TrendKite. In 4 years from founding the company (circa Jan 2013), we went from a napkin idea and $0 in revenue to ~$25 million in revenue. 

We grew fast – the B2B sales team that I was fortunate to run hit 34/36 monthly quotas, grew to 100+ sellers, and was regarded as one of the fastest-growing startups in Austin. We eventually sold the company for $225 million in 2019. It was quite the ride.

However, when I left TrendKite, I became obsessed with the question, “How do we grow better?”. Since the inception of QuotaPath, we’ve had this insatiable hunger to map the customer journey. We live and breathe personas, and are CONSTANTLY talking to end-users to make sure we’re delivering value. Our product roadmap continues to be driven by the end-user. THAT is how we grow.

Along the way, there are certain companies, founders, and investors that help inspire this journey. And no company has stood out as a shining example of this more than HubSpot. I’ve constantly been impressed by their journey from “Inbound Marketing” to a company that will serve millions of customers around the globe to help them grow better.

When we launched our integration with the HubSpot CRM platform earlier this year, this became clear as we’ve doubled our customer base this year already. It is apparent that one of the ways QuotaPath can “grow better” is to partner with a strategic organization that has that very same mission.

With that said, I am very excited to announce that HubSpot Ventures has made a strategic investment in QuotaPath. This partnership allows us to go further with their CRM and have a front seat with their top-tier customers that are trying to solve sales compensation. 

HubSpot customers love to experiment and give feedback and it has been a pleasure to get to work with them. They are at the forefront of growth and scale and will be quick to make sure that you keep pace with them. We love and thrive living in their world.

A huge shoutout to the whole HubSpot team, and one special shoutout to Brandon Greer. Brandon and I have gotten to know each other over the years (mostly forming the relationship during the pandemic) and I think our partnership will play a key role in helping both of us “grow better.”

Read the full story, and learn more about HubSpot Ventures.

Need a new way to incentivize your team? You can’t hand out rewards unless you know whether your team is actually succeeding. Learn how to monitor sales performance and you’ll have your finger on the pulse of progress. Here’s how to set up tracking and make life easier as you and your team race toward a common goal.

What is sales performance?

Sales performance is a measurement of how well a salesperson or sales team is doing their job. In other words, are they selling? And if so, how much? This measurement should be quantifiable, meaning it’s a concrete number or percentage. Sales managers use sales performance to gauge whether their team is on track to meet a predetermined sales goal. In many instances, just achieving profitability or converting a prospect into a customer isn’t enough proof that everyone is on target. Sales performance should be looked at as a relative number to track progress and identify room for improvement.

Why is it important to monitor sales performance?

It’s impossible to know what to do next if you don’t know how you’ve done so far. Monitoring sales performance helps everyone on the sales team identify winning tactics and which approaches may not be so effective. By seeing how your team is performing, you can make smart, educated decisions. Instead of guesswork, you can tweak your game plan based on actual numbers generated and evaluated in real time.

And sales performance monitors more than just total sales, too. There are a number of sales metrics or KPIs you might track, such as:

• Sales per source
• Sales per demographic
• Sales per salesperson
• New customers vs. recurring sales
• Total sales in a defined time period
• Average length of the sales cycle
• Average revenue per customer

Armed with these numbers, you can identify new ways to increase motivation

Why it’s challenging to monitor sales performance when working from home

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s been a sharp rise in the number of people working from home. But the truth is, there’s been increasing activity in the WFH space for years. The number of employees telecommuting from home has jumped by 173% since 2005. Studies find that team members who are allowed to work from home are more productive and more loyal, but there are some downsides.

Getting up-to-date info on lead generation and close rates might be easier when your whole team is under the same roof, but there are alternatives. If your team is working remotely, it’s vital you come up with a way to track and share everyone’s activity. Working in isolation can be demotivating. There are more distractions and more reasons to push off those follow-up calls until tomorrow.

That kind of attitude can have devastating consequences. That’s why you should make it a priority to keep your entire team connected. Send out regular updates. Make a big deal every time someone hits a benchmark. Let there be no mistake that this business is everyone’s business. Stoke the fires of competition by creating a leaderboard and updating it regularly.

Setting clear goals and KPIs

KPIs, or key performance indicators, are values that offer clear, measurable insight into a certain business objective. There are tons of metrics to track on a sales team. The trick is choosing the ones that are the most relevant to your organization. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• New leads and opportunities
• Sales cycle time
• Emails and calls
• Opportunity win rate
• Cost to revenue ratio
• Deals closed

The metrics you choose may change depending on your current goal or campaign. You may even have different metrics for each salesperson. One may need to work on their overall number of contracts. Another may struggle with average deal size.

5 tips for monitoring sales performance

So, now you know why it’s crucial to monitor sales performance, but what’s the easiest way to keep tabs?

1. Leverage your CRM

Seek out customer relationship management (CRM) software that has a visual dashboard. Salesforce and HubSpot help you track your funnel and deliver a bird’s-eye view of performance at the same time. This user-friendly and super transparent approach keeps reps motivated and the whole team on target.

2. Keep your progress front and center

Out of sight means out of mind. Display sales KPIs on a big TV display on your second monitor. A giant whiteboard is a less tech-forward option, but it works well in a pinch. Update as deals move through your pipeline, or use it to compare the progress of everyone on your team.

3. Automate with Slack

Slack is a project management platform that streamlines communication. First, integrate Slack with your CRM. Then, create a dedicated channel, and Slack will automatically pull in all closed/won deals. You’re giving the sales team increased visibility, and you’re funneling data to the whole company.

4. Old-fashioned 1-on-1s

If you’re a salesperson, carve out time to meet with your manager on a regular basis. If you’re a sales manager, same idea, just in reverse. Use the time to review recent calls and uncover any roadblocks that may be standing between you and the finish line. The goal? To strategize how to close the deals in your pipeline and bring in more prospects — over and over and over again.

5. Take advantage of the right tools

Don’t ignore technology. Sales platforms and support software are there for a reason. QuotaPath makes it easy to track your commissions and monitor quota attainment. You can set goals and track your progress, all via an easy-to-use dashboard. Reps can sell smarter, not harder, and make strategic decisions that impact their earnings by forecasting to see earnings potential. It’s another example of gathering key intel to fuel winning strategies, but this time, the tech is doing the legwork.

Empower your team with up-to-date commission tracking and other key tools courtesy of QuotaPath. To get started, create your custom workspace today.

This is a guest post from Cody Short, Community Specialist at Shipt. Interested in writing for us? Contact info@quotapath.com.

The term “sales and marketing” are married to each other for a very specific reason. It’s all about business growth! One can not exist without the other. A company’s marketing team relies on the sales team to effectively pitch the product. The sales team relies on the marketing team to be able to position the product. As a sales rep, it’s easy to forget the work that the marketing team already has done for you and how you can utilize those assets when trying to reach quota. Here are 5 marketing tips that can help you reach your quota!

Know your target audience

This sounds simple, but that’s because it is. One of the first things a sales rep learns when pitching a product is knowing who the product is for. If you’re having a conversation about the product with the right person, then your one step closer to closing the deal! The company’s marketing team are the experts on what the customers think, buying patterns, and location. While they’re gathering that information about the ideal buyer persona they’re also keeping track of industry trends and competitors! Direct marketing can be a powerful tool for promoting your content and engaging with customers on a more personal level, allowing you to build relationships that will convert prospects into loyal customers.

Go after the leads

When I was a Sales Development Rep (SDR) my favorite leads were the inbound leads, for obvious reasons. The inbound leads are the direct results of marketing done right! Obviously, inbound leads don’t lead to a 100% conversion rate, but they can almost guarantee at least one conversation. Then, if you’re able to pitch the product well, the possibility of a second conversation can happen. If you’ve booked a demo with the right contact, but the conversation ends afterwards, that contact can be used as a lead in the future. Always circle back to those people you’ve talked to before and continue to nurture those relationships. Part of nurturing those relationships is making sure they’re subscribed to your company emails so that they’re at least receiving free information on product updates and even industry trends. Which leads to my next point…

Read the marketing content

Your company has created so much content to lure in those prospects so you can have the warmest leads! The content that’s been created usually positions the product, making it easier for you to sell it. Take a line or two from the blog, webinar, podcast, or Instagram post to help your prospect understand how the product can be useful to them. Not only does reading the marketing content help you understand how to talk about the product, but it’s also a good way to keep up with industry trends. Utilizing a website’s chatbot is also a great way to know a business and learn more about its product.

Utilize social media

Depending on the industry you’re selling to, some social media platforms would be better to use than others. For instance, if you’re in the healthcare industry, Twitter is a great platform to utilize. If you plan to engage more audience, you can use Instagram, download lovely free photos, modify them with Picsart’s AI photo editing software, and share about your company. Developing a website is always a great idea; it does not require huge expenses if you have outsourced web design and SEO. If you’re in tech, LinkedIn is the best! Since LinkedIn is a professional networking site, it’s generally used by most sales professionals, no matter the industry. So if you haven’t started using social selling for your company’s product,  LinkedIn is a great place to start, plus they provide the tools to assist in creating leads and even export LinkedIn search results for sales outreach campaigns. You can also use a LinkedIn automation tool that allows you to automate such processes as sending invites and messages for a more efficient outreach process. 

Know the brand

What is the thing that stands out about the product you’re selling? How does your company market that niche or unique thing about the product? ALWAYS talk about that! Driving home that one (or two) unique factors about the product can help further the conversation down the sales funnel. It also helps you sound like you know what you’re talking about and that you’re aware of the needs of the prospect.

Reaching your sales quota is always the goal, and can sometimes feel out of reach. It’s easy to forget about the resources that are made available to you when only using the traditional sales methods. Remember, the sales and marketing teams work hand and hand together. If you follow these steps, utilizing the marketing team’s information then you can become a better salesperson, consistently reaching your quota!

Today we’re introducing a new section of our app called Payouts, and humble brag: it’s awesome. We think so and our early beta testers do too. We’ve heard everything from, “This is AMAZING.” to “Totally game-changing.” and “I love the exports.” And even a few expletives. ???? 

Payouts is a feature built with Sales Ops, Finance, and Accounting in mind. When we think about running payroll, there’s a lot of pain points that organizations experience when paying their reps. 

• Organizations lack a place where they can store their team’s payout records. 
• Payouts are handled in spreadsheets, so there’s no way for everyone to have visibility.
• Reps only see their total earned amount and don’t know what deals they are getting paid out on. They lack insights into when their commissions will actually be paid out.
• There’s no clear audit trail.

Payout is solving for all of these.

Let’s dive into some of the capabilities of this dynamic and collaborative feature.

Auditing, confirming & processing payouts

Clear audit trails make it easy for Sales Ops to review and approve deal earnings. We made this actionable and motivating. Our goal is to “Inbox Zero” your commissions, giving your team visibility into when they’ll get paid while still maintaining a level of control. 

We know it’s hard to run commissions when deal data isn’t correct. Transparency means less work for Ops and more ownership for reps. Reps are incentivized to keep their CRM data up to date so there’s less overhead and more efficiency.

Scheduling payouts for your team

A seamless handoff to the Finance and Accounting team simplifies scheduling payouts. You can create multiple payouts on specific dates or installments to be paid over a period of time.  Clawbacks make it easy to catch overpayments or resolve earned amount issues. If you need to create rules based on client agreements like paying 50% upfront and 50% when the client pays, it’s easy to do. It’s flexible and we provide options for payout schedules.

Plus, reps have their own dashboard to see what’s been scheduled for them and any earned amount that hasn’t been scheduled yet. They’ll know exactly what’s on their paycheck and its deals.

Closing the books

Clean record keeping is important for Accounting. With Payouts, you’ll have an organized and easily navigable view of payout records and their relation to rep’s earnings.

We offer easy exporting to run payroll. You can filter exports based on time, plans, payees, or export all data by rep and enter the data into your payroll processor. Close the books for the period, and you’re done!

Payout records & reporting

Where we really differentiate from other commission tracking softwares is the ability to report payouts by Path. Since plans in QuotaPath are composed of Paths, which are different categories or components of a sales compensation plan, this allows us to uniquely report on the types of commissions being paid out. For example: commissions vs. bonuses, new business vs. renewals, or 1-year deals vs. multi-year deals. This is helpful for Finance to know what they are paying for each of the different types of revenue. By the way, if you plan to have more advanced knowledge and be certified, browse for CPA certification practice and become your own expert.

Made to fit your commission process

Think about it in terms of your company’s journey with commissions and payouts. Let’s say in a normal cycle month, commissions are run on the 15th. 

• Sales Ops can approve deals and audit data before handing it off to Finance.
• On the 15th through the 20th, Finance has easy access to the team’s deals, earnings, and payout records. They can schedule out payouts for the 30th. 
• Prior to the end of the month, reps can go in and double check for accuracy. 
• Finance can export the data so Accounting can run payroll through their payroll processor.

To sum it up, QuotaPath is the very first product to connect earnings all the way to payous, rooted in sales reps visibility. 

Are you ready to get payroll done right? Are you looking to quit wasting time & money on inaccurate commission calculations? Then Payouts is for you. Take a deeper dive into how it works. Or give it a spin with a 14-day trial, all for free.

You’ve probably heard of sales performance software at some point in your career. You may even have colleagues who’ve mentioned their own installs have come in handy. But what does the software actually do, and more importantly, is it worth it?

What is sales performance software?

Sales performance management software helps salespeople and those in leadership positions track a number of sales metrics related to their department. Depending on the platform, this can include:

• Number (and value) of sales
• Length of a sales cycle
• Average contract value
• Incentive compensation
• Total sales compensation
• Quota attainment

All this data can be used for various purposes, nearly all of which contribute to overall efficiency and efficacy.

Key features and benefits of sales performance software

The main benefit of using sales performance software is the ability to monitor sales performance and progress. Automated tracking removes all the guesswork and the capacity for human error.

Imagine you’re loading information into a spreadsheet by hand and relying on manual calculation. One numerical mistake or incorrect entry and every resulting outcome is skewed. Sales performance software paves the way for unparalleled accuracy.

There are other key benefits for your business, too.

Transparency

Forget black box data. Keeping your team in the dark regarding their own sales accomplishments makes people feel uneasy. It’s no surprise that anxious, worried people tend to underperform.

The shared dashboards found on top-tier sales platforms enable everyone to have powerful insight. Your team knows where they stand personally and sees how they’re performing in relation to their coworkers. This can be a major motivator.

Identifying focus areas

Armed with vital information generated by sales performance software, salespeople can focus on strengthening their attributes. The software proactively identifies individuals or processes that need improvement. Now you can steadily collect data to help mentor your team or advise training to achieve better results.

Metrics & reporting

Speaking of metrics, those all-important numbers are easy to find using sales performance software. User-friendly interfaces make reports available at the simple push of a button, and C-suite executives can take a look at will.

How sales performance software can improve quota attainment

Perhaps the best aspect of sales software is the power to fuel growth and inspire everyone to meet the team’s sales goals. Depending on the data, you may change your best practices and create a new plan for growth. Or, you may decide to reward the top performer or create a more targeted campaign for a new product.

Set and track personal and team goals

Important for obvious reasons, goal tracking helps everyone keep the big picture in mind. Review relevant metrics and set goals specific to each individual. Remember, salespeople have different strengths and weaknesses which is why blanket approaches to motivation are underwhelming.

Perhaps you have a team member who is great at warming up leads but has trouble closing. Maybe there’s a newer salesperson who struggles with an overlong sales cycle. With the right software, you can see what these pain points are and set goals designed to nurture improvements.

Help manage the pipeline

Sales pipeline management is the practice of being hands on (or at least eyes on) through every stage of the sales cycle. And this applies not only to one sale but to the entire team’s active and prospective deals.

With a dashboard that displays everyone’s status, you can quickly identify what needs attention ASAP. You can also see what was accomplished in a certain time period. Perhaps more importantly, you’ll see what will be hitting the P&L sheet in the coming days, weeks or months.

Gain easy access to historical sales data

If you want to make accurate sales projections, you need accurate data from past sales periods. This data can tell you a lot about sales cycles and engagement. Review activity by season, month or territory, see which are more active and track information about specific products or salespeople.

Why QuotaPath is the top sales performance software

Sales experts skillfully designed QuotaPath to be the sales performance software your team has been waiting for. Using the QuotaPath platform, you can:

• Understand individual and team earnings and monitor quota attainment
• Align your whole sales team to track performance, results and revenue
• Integrate with existing CRM tools, such as Salesforce and HubSpot, to pull in deal data automatically

All this and QuotaPath is easy and inexpensive to set up and implement. No cumbersome interfaces with a giant learning curve, and no budget-busting onboarding fees. Just expert software that works for your department, your team, and the powers that be.

For more information, reach out to our team, or book a demo and see how QuotaPath can work for you.

Software as a service, better known as SaaS, is one of the fasting growing sectors in technology. Thanks to a sharp increase in the number of people working remotely, cloud-based software is becoming a crucial part of professional success. As a SaaS salesperson, it’s your job to help prospects understand why SaaS matters and what it can do for them. That’s how you earn your SaaS commission. But how do you know if you have the skills to succeed in SaaS sales?

Nothing can determine 100% if someone will be good in this area of sales. However, there are some traits that most of the top SaaS salespeople we know have. And surprise — experience isn’t one of them.

Integrity

Here are your first words of wisdom for today: Churn is the enemy of B2B sales. Selling software as a service is selling an experience. You need to be authoritative, trustworthy and confident. Without these three attributes, you’ll lose customers because they’ve lost faith in you. When customers cancel their subscriptions or opt-out of renewal, that’s churn.

Salespeople who exhibit integrity are truthful and honest about what their tool does. There’s no fibbing about functionality or promising features that don’t exist. That approach doesn’t work because time eventually proves those tales to be false, and the customer knows you’ve misled them.

Sell leads on what a tool really does and how it speaks to their needs. Make truth and integrity your foundation, and the deals will follow.

Curiosity about B2B SaaS sales skills and beyond

Knowledge is power, but no one wraps up sales education and hand delivers it. It’s easier to make a sale if you know about your business and customers. But you have to put forth the effort to gather and take advantage of that information.

Podcasts and books

Load up your smartphone with sales podcasts and audiobooks about B2B sales. Play it anytime you’re stuck in traffic or on the treadmill at the gym. Even prepping dinner or folding laundry at home is an opportunity to soak up some more info.

Know who you’re working for

Learn about the history of your company, its mission statement and its vision for the future. Understanding these things helps to position yourself and your division as a department consumers can trust. Remember integrity? It comes into play again here.

Learn your SaaS product inside and out

You need to know how your SaaS solution works. That means understanding the specs and using the software repeatedly until you can demo like a pro.

If you come off as confused or uncertain, how can the customer have any confidence the software will work for them?

Get to know your audience

At the end of the day, you’re not selling software — you’re selling a solution. Most prospects, B2B or B2C, aren’t looking for a specific item but rather something that addresses their pain points. Whether they need help managing orders, scheduling staff or facilitating team projects, you can frame your product as their answer.

At the end of the day, the more you learn, the better you are.

Grit

In sales, you’re always going to hear “no” a lot more than yes. From cold phone calls to demos, you’ll put a ton of work into warming up leads and attempting to close deals. Too often, your efforts fall flat. That’s sales. Honing your skills may boost your close percentage, but if you don’t hear no, you’re not taking enough risk. It really is as simple as that.

The key is to keep pushing through. Don’t take losses personally. Use every no as an opportunity to examine what you could’ve done differently. Notice we say “differently” and not “better.” Hearing no isn’t a failure.

There are a plethora of ways to approach SaaS sales. Maybe you used the wrong approach. Next time, you’ll know how to tweak your presentation when you encounter a similar audience or pain point. Or, maybe it just wasn’t a good fit. Not every product works for every prospect. Being an ethical salesperson means realizing that sometimes it’s just not going to happen and you need to stop pushing.

Selflessness

Speaking of letting go, a good salesperson learns to put everyone else first. The customer is obviously paramount because without them, we have nothing. But you also need to be a team player. Work as a unit to achieve widespread customer access. Accept critiques in the spirit in which it is intended. Offer positive reinforcement to your coworkers or employees to help recharge their batteries in between pitches.

Many industries work off the idea that a rising tide lifts all boats, but this premise is often forgotten in sales. It’s not surprising. So many sales metrics focus on individual achievement.

How:

• Much is Salesperson A selling?
• Many leads are they bringing in?
• Long is their sales cycle?
• Many demos are they scheduling?

A great salesperson remembers that everyone’s numbers matter, not just their own. Sales managers can help by reframing the importance of teamwork and rewarding employees who look out for more than just themselves.

Improvement focused

There is no “done” in sales. Want a career in which you can settle back in your chair, put your feet up and admire your accomplishments? Look elsewhere. Great salespeople are focused on improvement, sometimes to the point of obsession. That’s where gamification comes into play as a fantastic motivator. Because salespeople want to get better and achieve more, they’re eager for inspiration and specific targets to boost their numbers.

Even a 1% improvement each day leads to meteoric growth.

Competitive

And here we have one of the most recognizable attributes of a stellar salesperson — competitiveness. They want to outpace their own numbers and everyone else’s. The trick is to enjoy competition in a healthy way and not to a negative extent. “Winning at all costs” isn’t really winning. Hurting others to score a deal isn’t a smart way to go, either.

A positive competitive nature makes sales fun. You get to enjoy the camaraderie that comes with challenging your office buddies with who can set the most appointments for that week. You get to see the glint in your employees’ eyes when you set a sales quota for your SaaS reps. These goals fuel hard work and progress, but only if they’re done with positivity and respect.

Organized

Do you know what’s truly awful? Knowing you have a lead on the hook and realizing you can’t close because you misplaced a vital piece of information. Or maybe it’s time for follow-up calls with your existing clients, and your CRM is a mess. Organization isn’t some finicky undertaking that wastes time. It actually saves time by ensuring all the data you need is positioned where you can find it.

Keep your desk and digital workspace organized, and it’ll be easier to organize yourself, too. Set a schedule that helps you remember when to send those “touching base” emails or know when a client’s subscription is up for renewal. Your life will be easier, your team will function better and you’ll serve your clients sufficiently. Win-win-win!

Coachable

Coachable salespeople can take feedback well. They don’t push back when encouraged to try a new approach. This is important because there are so many different ways to nurture leads, entertain prospects and close a deal. You cannot choose one method and expect it to work in every situation.

Many of the characteristics above work best if you’re open to mentorship. If you’re competitive, expert coaching can help boost your numbers and come out on top of department challenges. When you’re curious, your coach can teach you about tried-and-true sales techniques as well as innovative approaches that could change your entire client-facing dynamic. If you want to be more organized, you can learn from your coach how they run their calendar or schedule follow-up calls.

Be open to help, and try recommendations even if they make you feel a little uncomfortable. You may be surprised.

Creative

Lastly, a strong salesperson embraces a creative mindset. They’re willing to try new things and even run experiments to see what helps them sell the most and convert leads faster. This might mean doing A/B testing, which involves taking two different approaches to selling new software and seeing which hits home.

If you deal with tons of emails, try toying with subject lines or personalization. Or, you might create different scripts, depending on which channels your leads came from, such as social media, direct mail or PPC ads.

Being creative in sales is like learning to paint with color when you’ve been stuck with a purely black-and-white palette for years. It’s a gift, and it’s one that can benefit the entire team.

A big part of personal growth in sales is understanding where you are so you can decide on new goals. QuotaPath can help. A unique combination of accurate commission tracking, easy compensation management and a personal sales journal puts improvement at your fingertips. For more information, sign up for a free account today.

Sales are lagging. The average sales cycle is so long that you’re breaking all the wrong kinds of records. And as for team morale, well, let’s just say it could be better. When your sales metrics are sinking, it’s time to learn how to increase motivation. These 20 expert tips can help.

1. Celebrate wins

If you want your team to be a success, make sure they know how many wins count. And not just the big wins, either. While there’s no need to start throwing a party every time someone picks up a lead, it’s important to recognize achievements when they happen. Give a public shout out to team members hitting sales quotas, and deliver bonuses to those shortening the sales cycle. Then watch others strive to join in on the fun.

2. Foster a culture of recognition

While you’re celebrating wins, incorporate other forms of recognition until weekly shout outs become commonplace. These don’t have to be major monetary prizes or even a prize at all. Maybe you’ll mention a salesperson who scored a major deal in that week’s company newsletter. Or, you’ll start every Monday morning meeting with a round of applause for the employees who hit quota the previous week.

3. Learn how to increase motivation with goal setting

People with no idea where the target is won’t know where to aim. Setting goals gives your team members purpose and helps quantify progress and track improvement. Goals should be SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and trackable.

4. Stay healthy

Motivation won’t matter if your team lacks the energy and mindset to formulate and execute a plan of attack. Encourage them to get enough sleep, stay hydrated and take breaks. You can also facilitate health by taking engaging steps, such as holding weekly yoga classes and giving everyone a branded water bottle.

5. Invest in the right tools

Make sure you have all the tools you need in your tech stack. For instance, software that supports team collaboration can keep coworkers connected even when they’re on the road or working from home. Then there’s QuotaPath, which makes tracking commission and other data points easier and more accurate than ever.

6. Keep your data clean

Data hygiene is crucial. By keeping your CRM data clean, you allow for greater efficiency and remove barriers that could otherwise prove frustrating for your team.

7. Build team-wide trust

Build trust amongst teammates, and they’ll work better together, and better for you. Take a look at team-building exercises, but also take the time to understand how your teammates work. Actively tackling communication gaps, especially between managers and subordinates, is also vital.

8. Regular 1-1 coaching sessions with managers

Want your salespeople to improve? Hook them up with mentors and make those meetings routine. When you remove the ability to opt-out, you ensure everyone gets access to valuable guidance — whether they think they need it or not.

9. Team training

The team that learns together wins together. Colleagues can motivate each other by sharing strengths and spotting weaknesses. Look to call recordings and group critiques to boost accountability and motivate the masses.

10. Conflict resolution

Distractions only serve to take the team’s eye off the prize, and drama is the biggest distraction of all. Use mediation and no-tolerance policies to stop bullying and infighting in their tracks.

11. Track performance

Knowing the exact status of professional success can be majorly motivating. If you’re doing well, you’ll want to keep that up. If you’re not, you’ll want to make changes to improve your commission and standing. QuotaPath tracks personal and team quota attainment and earnings, letting employees forecast potential earnings so that they can adjust performance on the fly.

12. Be transparent

Secrets are no fun, and they certainly don’t help anyone. As a sales operations manager or other supervisor, it’s your responsibility to be upfront with expectations. Transparency is how your team understands your expectations and learns how to grow.

13. Make new team traditions

Inspiring employees to be a part of the greater good — the company’s good, in this case — only works if they feel like they belong. Establish new team traditions and watch camaraderie swell.

14. Create a positive working environment

Research shows that highly engaged teams are 21% more profitable. Infuse your department with positive vibes that reach even those employees working from home, and you’re sure to reach your goals.

15. Choose to be a role model

No one’s expecting leadership to be perfect. But you can’t ask your team to do as you say, and not as you do. Be an example of how you want people to act, connect and hustle, and they’re more likely to do the same.

16. Focus on time management

One out of every eight phone calls will need repeating because of missing information.

Ten minutes of daily planning could save as much as two hours of time later on. On a typical day, office workers log onto social media a staggering 77 times and check their digital inbox another 50 times. All these infringements add up. Find ways to make your team more effective and efficient so everyone works smarter, not necessarily harder.

17. Make it fun with gamification

Sales is innately competitive, so it only makes sense to capitalize on the spirit of competition. Gamification uses games — hence the name — to help make selling fun.

18. Keep a positive mindset

Moods are contagious. If you’re angry, upset, frustrated or otherwise marinating in negative emotions, your team is going to feel that tension. Plus, it’s just bad for your health. On the other hand, intentional positivity could inspire your staff to be just as cheery — and prospects will pick up on the good vibes.

19. Face your fears

Being in sales can be terrifying, especially if you’re afraid of hearing the word “no.” It’s normal to have a healthy fear of losing a sale or falling short of the quota. But sometimes tackling those fears is exactly what a salesperson needs to reach the next level. Consider those weak points when setting goals and encourage everybody to work on whatever aspect of sales scares them most.

20. Never lose sight of the big picture

It’s wonderful to learn how to increase motivation and create programs that galvanize your entire team into action. But as you’re focusing on stirring spirits, don’t forget about the big picture. A successful sales department or company is more than meeting a quota or achieving a short sales cycle. Strategy, connection and metrics all help move your team forward.

Need help keeping track of it all? QuotaPath is a powerful sales tool thanks to capabilities that include commission tracking, compensation and more. To see how commission automation can help motivate your team, book a demo today.

Many businesses regard employee evaluations as standard practice, but some studies indicate that not all reviews are created the same. In fact, taking the wrong approach to employee feedback could actually have the opposite of the intended result. To get the most out of your team, it’s crucial to understand the reasoning behind regular employee evaluations. This includes learning how to run them and investigating what tools can help make the process remarkably painless.

Why run employee evaluations?

Employee evaluations are like organizational State of the Unions, albeit on an individual basis. It’s a way for leadership to check in with staff. It’s easy to view these sit-downs in a negative light, especially if you’re on the employee side. No one wants to face a barrage of criticism, even if it’s intended to be constructive.

But the truth is that, when done properly, employee evaluations are a valuable opportunity for all involved. Sales managers and operational supervisors can check in on each member of the team without distraction. They may talk about recent sales performance and/or set expectations for the future. It’s a way to get everyone on the same page and ensure that cohesion carries forward.

These “touch base” meetings also offer insight to how employee performance and the employee’s perception of their performance are matching up. For instance, an employee who views themselves as a chronic underperformer may be letting stress and doubt derail their potential. Painting a more realistic picture and offering guidance could help prevent burnout.

How to run an employee evaluation

There are five main parts to a typical employee evaluation in sales. It’s a good idea to use this guide as a framework to build out feedback sessions that feel thorough, fair and equitable. That said, also focus on simplicity. If you need to discuss non-performance-related issues, schedule a different meeting for that purpose. Is middle management or someone new to a supervisory role leading the employee evaluation? Consider offering some training on how to have meaningful conversations. This could include role-playing, courses on communication and using a list of approved criteria or questions as a starting point for the sit-down.

1. Set the meeting

The first introduction to your company’s employee evaluation system should be made when a new employee is hired. The onboarding process should include a look at when reviews are conducted. You may choose to do a 30-day evaluation of every new hire followed by periodic evaluations — say every six months — thereafter. Or you may conduct all team reviews twice a year regardless of when each employee came on board. The important thing is to be transparent.

As review time nears, it’s nice to send employees a reminder, so they can get prepared. Reinforce the idea that an evaluation is normal and nothing to be scary about, and that it’ll only last about an hour.

2. Gather key data

Sales reviews are based on numbers, so take some time to gather necessary data such as:

• Close rate
• Prospecting numbers
• Sales numbers
• Average contract

You’ll want to know where the employee stands in general terms and how they compare to others on the team. There are also likely key metrics and numbers that are specific to your organization. Don’t worry about having too much data before your call, there’s really no such thing as being overprepared. However, know that it’s possible to overwhelm someone with data if they’re not a data-minded person.

3. Share the data with the employee

Remember, evaluations are not a trap. The contents of the conversation shouldn’t be mysterious or come as a surprise. Part of the transparency discussed above is sharing all relevant data with the employee before the review. This gives them a chance to look over the numbers and formulate any questions or explanations they may have.

Also, ensure you ask the employee what additional data they’d like to discuss during the employee evaluation. There might be something that you’re missing or something that the employee values that they want to share with you. Their performance should not be a mystery.

4. Discuss the data

Now that everyone is equally informed, it’s time to talk about what those numbers mean. While the employee may know their own close rate, they may not understand where they fall when compared to their colleagues. Talk through any concerns with an emphasis on ways to improve. This may mean offering up mentorship or moving straight on to the next step: setting goals.

It’s also important for you to have a near perfect grasp on how you gather the data, what it means, and what good performance looks like.

5. Review old goals and set new ones

If this is the first performance review, you’ll be spending a lot of time talking about goal setting and plans for growth. Otherwise, it’s good to split the time up into both reviewing and setting goals. This way, it’s easy to see whether the employee is acting on previous advice and answering direct challenges. You may want to change their focus to improve a different skill or up the ante with a harder target to really fuel their drive.

When setting goals, ensure you set SMART goals. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Realistic, and Timely. Especially for a salesperson, setting unrealistic goals that can’t be measured is poor management.

How often should I run employee evaluations?

There is a plethora of opinions on this topic. As mentioned before, it’s usually a good idea to conduct at least one employee review soon after hiring and onboarding. But some experts recommend conducting frequent reviews throughout the early part of an employee’s tenure. So while your salesperson is ramping, you should run employee evaluations every month.

Then, after everyone gets to know each other and the employee gets in a rhythm, the reviews can move to a quarterly schedule. This switch often happens around the 9-month mark.

Top tools for running employee evaluations

Getting ready for an employee evaluation is a demanding process. Supervisors already tasked with a number of important responsibilities now have to put considerable effort into gathering and analyzing data for each employee. Depending on the size of your department or team and the breadth of the review, preparation alone can be a full-time job.

From quota attainment and sales numbers to income and incentive compensation, QuotaPath tracks and records key data so you can better serve your company and your sales reps. Resources like MyPath can help salespeople stay organized and track their own historical sales data, too. Combine that with commission tracking and other crucial management tools and your QuotaPath custom workspace could be the key to boosting team efficiency and employee satisfaction all year long.

To see QuotaPath in action, sign up for a free trial today.

Of course everyone tracks quota attainment and overall sales. However, there are a lot of sales metrics out there. We asked a group of sales experts what they think will be the most important sales metrics to track in 2021. Here’s what they had to say.

Heart and commitment

“I believe that the most important sales metric is something no dashboard or CRM could ever measure. It’s heart and commitment. 

How much heart do you have, how much commitment do you have to being 1% better at 1% of the job each day? How willing are you to practice and drill your weaknesses?

If you’re looking for something more traditional to measure it’s how many open-ended questions do reps ask? Who, what, where, why, when + TED questions (tell me, explain to me, describe to me). This number has a direct correlation to major success!”

Matthew Bigelow, Senior Director – Sales Execution at WalkMe

Number of contacts for a closed sale

“For me, the number of contacts you have to make for each closed sale is a vital sales metric. Sales all boils down to how many initial contacts and activity you have to make to generate 1 sale.

If you know this then everything else can fall into place.

It determines the quality of your leads, how well you are qualifying, following up – everything! Many people use the vanity metric closing ratio but that’s assuming you have a qualified opportunity to begin with. There’s loads of work to be done before that!

Once you know how many contacts and how much activity you need to make on a daily basis then you can scale accordingly. Armed with this figure you can then map out your entire sales process and then ticker and improve each stage and see what impact it makes to your overall ratio.

This metric takes into consideration your whole sales process and not just an element of it. I recommend that you then create a number of sub sales metrics to work throughout the process.”

Sean McPheat, CEO of MTD Sales Training

Service billings

“In addition to revenue generated and service booking, service billing is yet another important metric, especially for professional services companies.

This means that the salesperson is not only promising a solution to the problem but also is involved in the delivery and account management as well and also is dedicated to getting things done for customers.”

Houman Asefi, Sales Strategy Executive

Client satisfaction

“Tracking the company’s goal progress is very important. But measuring your client’s satisfaction as well as keeping in touch with your employees will also change the game of sales metrics. It’s valuable to know the customer’s feelings toward your branding and marketing. Of all people, your target audience is the one who can make or break your sales. The counterpart of this is your employees’ performance who could arise or eliminate your competitors. *It’s good to have sharp-eyes in planning and creativity creation, but being watchful to your people leads you to a high level of success.”

Robert Johnson, Founder at Sawinery

Forecast accuracy

“In my personal opinion, forecast accuracy is the most important sales metric. It shows the sales volume estimation which a business can expect to accomplish within a certain period.

Accurate sales forecasts result in a more efficiently run business and sound investments. However, they are primarily an indicator of how well does one understand their customers, and how commanding they are of their pipeline portfolio.

Recommended deviation of forecast accuracy should be normally about +/-5 percent, but it may vary from business to business.”

Martin Seeley, CEO at MattressNextDay

Below the funnel

“There are several aspects of ou company’s sales results that I run analysis on weekly, monthly, and quarterly to see trends, make cash projections, etc. One area that a lot of people tend to overlook in sales analysis is actually below the ‘’bottom of the funnel’’ – how many of your existing customers are paying you more money than last month and how many of your current customers are paying you less. 

Looking at churn by customer type can also give you great insights into what kinds of customers are the most valuable to the business over the long run.”

Tim Clarke, Director of Sales at SEOBlog.com

Opportunities created and win rate

“The two sales metrics I most rely upon are monthly opportunities created and opportunity win rate. 

Opportunities created provides a good gauge on meaningful top of funnel health versus vanity metrics like social media impressions. 

Opportunity win rate then tells me how strong my value proposition is and if I need to address our conversion strategies & tactics.”

David Garcia, CEO at ScoutLogic Screening

Referral generation

“The number one sales metric to track, hands down, is referral generation. Often salespeople will complain about lead quality, but they are really saying that they want hot leads. There is no hotter lead than a referral because the referrer has already sold them by the time they come in. Furthermore, their cost per accusation is much cheaper as well, and if one sale equals two, you dropped your CPL for the other lead as well. 

When we started focusing on referrals, our appointments doubled, without one extra dollar spent on marketing. Referrals. Referrals. Referrals. You must make it your mantra, every customer, from a customer.”

Danny Farrar, CEO/Founder at SOLDIERFIT

Calls to close

“Number of calls to close a sale is a big metric for us. Technically, we can close in one call, though the norm is two calls. The reps who are making sales in one or two calls tells me they really get it. But those who are taking four or more calls means they’re leaving too much doubt and not enough clarity of how we can solve the prospects’ pain points. 

Because time is money, and speed of cash flow is important, we like to close prospects quickly.”

Brian Robben, CEO at Robben Media

Opportunity aging

“I believe the most important metric for a sales rep is the Opportunity Aging report specifically showing the length of time from the last touch/CRM note input.  

This is key in determining both the actual activity with a prospect and also how thorough and up-to-date the rep is regarding CRM and the formal process. Open opportunities that become dated are essentially useless, and this CRM report can help in minimizing those.”

Ken Lambert, President at North American Association of Sales Engineers

Average deal size

“In a team with equal territories and opportunity, the Average Deal Size is a key metric. It represents the salesperson’s ability to negotiate larger orders, sell more services, and be steadfast on price. 

A larger deal provides the business with more revenue from day 1 and/or ties the customer into a longer contract.”

Henning Schwinum, Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Vendux

Quantifiable effectiveness

“As the CEO, and sales leader of an almost 50 person team, one of the most important and often underutilized metrics I use for sales growth is quantifiable effectiveness. 

What impact am I getting from my most time-consuming activities and how can I tweak those results or replicate them with members of my team? 

Instead of spinning our wheels on tasks that don’t produce revenue, we use this metric to eliminate time waste and spend our energy on areas that consistently result in increased business.”

Robert Lewis, President & CEO at Peak Access Solutions

Motivation is a tricky thing. Not everyone is inspired by the same type of encouragement. Some salespeople are after the win. Just getting a “yes” from a prospect is enough to trigger a tidal wave of adrenaline. Others want a little extra in their bank account or something tangible to show off at home. As a sales manager or similar supervisor, you have the freedom to motivate using those goals as your guide.

These team incentives tick all the boxes to help you reinvigorate your sales-chasing squad and get that much closer to your department’s collective objectives.

1. Tie team incentives to sales goals

If you want to promote teamwork, foster the idea that the team that succeeds together also wins bonuses together. When the team hits a goal, everyone gets a bonus. It’s perhaps the simplest incentive on the list, but it’s also effective.

All for one and one for all comes into play here. Strong employees are likely to work hard to compensate for weaker salespeople or newer colleagues still learning the ropes. While those uneven contributions aren’t great for morale in the long run, they do balance out in the short term. No one loses sight of the goal line because everyone needs to make it across.

• Example: Everyone gets a $500 bonus if the team hits $100k in October.
• Example: If the team hits the company’s annual target, everyone gets a $1,000 bonus.

Remember, these team sales goal bonuses can apply to a single launch or campaign or be tied to monthly, quarterly, or even annual goals. The prize doesn’t have to be cash, either. It could be a change in scheduling, a free meal, or tickets to a popular event. Leaders may consider another benefit, such as a spa day to help combat stress. Some people might even like the idea of giving to charity or snagging a prime parking space.

2. Bonuses for hitting quotas

This type of incentive compensation still encourages teamwork but doesn’t entirely tie a single employee’s bonus to other team members’ performances. Instead, each employee that hits their own goal receives smaller bonuses, which are available to everyone on the team. The two out of eight team members who hit their quotas may receive bonuses, or all eight team members might receive them.

This idea creates a solution that promotes cooperation without erasing individual recognition and accomplishment. The approach encourages employees to help each other out but doesn’t penalize high producers if one coworker is lagging behind.

One variation is to award individual bonuses for quotas and smaller bonuses for each team member that also hits theirs.

• Example: You get a $500 bonus if you hit your quarterly quota plus an addition $200 bonus for each team member who hits theirs.
• Example: Each person on the team who hits their monthly quota receives a $100 restaurant gift card.

3. Time off for hitting targets

Who doesn’t like time away from the office that doesn’t eat up sick days or PTO? Offering time off in return for hitting key targets gives hardworking team members a mental break and time out of the office to recharge. By setting targets high, sales managers can still push productivity and meet their own goals while offering an impressive incentive. The work just gets done in less time (and you can see what your team is truly capable of when pushed). In such cases, consider distributing glass awards to the most successful employees and team members to celebrate and honor their accomplishments.

One possible perk of this type of incentive is the opportunity for rewarding something other than sales quotas.

• Example: If the team sets 40 meetings this week, everyone gets Friday off
• Example: If the team sells $100k this month, they get the first week off next month

4. Sub-team competition

Time for some friendly competition! Split your sales team into two smaller teams, and have them compete. Everything they accomplish still goes into the team’s till, so to speak, but there’s an additional win for the “sub-team” that emerges victorious.

• Example: Split your 10-person sales team into two five-person sub-teams. The sub-team who sells the most gets to split $2,000.
• Example: Break a 30-person SDR team into three 10-person teams. The team that sets the most meetings gets $300 per person
  

5. Team speed bonus

When time is of the essence, choose this incentive, which is basically a game of beat the clock — or beat the calendar. If the team hits a specific target by a specific date, everyone gets a bonus. The target could be leads, sales, or meetings. The incentive could be cold hard cash, time off or something else such as remote work days or a coveted sales trip.

• Example: If the team hits its quarterly quota by the end of the second month, everyone gets $300.
• Example: If the team hits its monthly quota early, they get $30 per person for each day left in the month.

6. Team accelerators

Accelerators build on existing compensation plans. If the team hits its quota, everyone gets an extra percentage on top of whatever deal they already have in place.

• Example: If the team hits quota, everyone gets an extra 2% commission on all their closed deals.
• Example: If the team hits 110% quota, everyone gets a $100 bonus for every deal they closed.

7. Team sales cycle bonus

Some team incentives speak to a specific pain point rather than encouraging overall sales. Say you want to shorten the team’s sales cycle. Just give a bonus based on whether the team is able to cycle through the sales steps faster. The size of the bonus can increase depending on how much shorter the sales cycle ultimately gets.

• Example: If the team’s average sales cycle for the month is less than 45 days, everyone gets a $300 bonus.
• Example: If the team’s quarterly average sales cycle is less than 90 days, everyone gets a $50 bonus for each day under the previous average.

8. Team average contract size bonus

Another team incentive that focuses on a specific pain point, this one tackles average contract size. If you want to increase the size of the deals your team is closing, give them a reason to go the extra mile. The bonus can be tied to a general increase in contract value or tiered depending on the size of the increase.

• Example: If the team average contract value rises above $30,000, everyone gets a $500 bonus.
• Example: If the team average contract value is more than $20,000, everyone gets a $400 bonus for each deal over $20,000.

Team incentives should speak to what you need for your team and what your team needs from you. Whether your team members are looking for recognition, opportunity, money or a break, there’s room for everyone to be happy. For help tracking sales progress, logging accurate commissions and more, check out QuotaPath. Sign up for free, create a custom workspace and see how this resource can help you make the most of every incentive.