According to McKinsey, companies with incentive structures aligned with their strategic goals report 30% higher employee productivity and a 25% increase in overall profit margins.
Yet, many organizations overlook compensation as a strategic lever for driving cash flow and profitability.
Our advice? Don’t treat commissions as a cost center!
Businesses should leverage compensation toreinforce behaviors that improve efficiency, strengthen margins, and accelerate cash flow.
Our VP of RevOps, Sales, and Marketing Ryan Milligan and Finance Leader Ryan Macia shared how organizations can reframe compensation to optimize financial health.
Enjoy.
Streamline commissions for your RevOps, Finance, and Sales teams
Design, track, and manage variable incentives with QuotaPath. Give your RevOps, finance, and sales teams transparency into sales compensation.
First, think about retention, a crucial indicator of long-term financial health.
If a business loses revenue from existing customers faster than it can replace it, profitability suffers.
Milligan suggests aligning sales and account management incentives with retention:
“If an AE closes a multi-year deal, they should earn a higher commission rate. Longer contracts give the business more time to deliver value and ensure retention,” said Milligan.
Similarly, account managers can be incentivized to secure early renewals or convert shorter-term contracts into multi-year agreements.
2. Increasing Gross Margin Through Pricing Incentives
Another way to drive efficiency is factoring in pricing incentives.
Sales reps naturally want to close deals, but not all deals are equally valuable. Companies can structure their comp plans to prioritize higher-margin deals.
“If you know certain types of deals require more support resources, drive lower margins, or increase servicing costs, you can decelerate commission rates on those deals while rewarding reps for high-margin deals,” suggested Macia.
For example, limiting excessive discounting by setting a threshold at which commissions decrease can help maintain profitability.
3. Driving Cash Flow with Payment Terms
Next, let’s look into cash flow.
Many companies focus solely on top-line revenue, ignoring when they actually receive cash.
This can create cash flow issues, especially for businesses that depend on recurring revenue. Compensation can be used to mitigate this problem.
“Pay the rep higher for better payment terms,” said Milligan. “If a customer pays upfront rather than over 12 months, that’s more cash in the business today. Reps should be incentivized accordingly.”
This approach ensures that cash comes in faster, reducing reliance on financing and improving overall financial stability.
“Pay the rep higher for better payment terms. If a customer pays upfront rather than over 12 months, that’s more cash in the business today. Reps should be incentivized accordingly.”
Avoiding Common Compensation Pitfalls
Sure these ideas are helpful, but stay sharp.
While compensation can be a powerful tool for driving efficiency, certain pitfalls should be avoided:
1. Overcomplicated Comp Plans
Adding too many incentives can backfire, making it hard for reps to understand their pay structure.
Macia cautioned, “If a comp plan is too complex, reps won’t know how to optimize their earnings, and leadership won’t be able to predict financial impact.”
Limiting incentives to 2–3 key metrics aligning with business objectives is key.
2. Lack of Transparency
And, visibility is critical.
If you put any of the tactics in place, your reps should be able to see how those incentives actually impact their pay.
Reps should be able to forecast their earnings based on deal structures— like in QuotaPath, for example.
“QuotaPath allows reps to see exactly how much they’ll make based on deal structure, helping them focus on high-value opportunities,” said Milligan.
3. Ignoring Effective Commission Rates
Plus, you’ll want to pay attention to the effective commission rates.
Companies often overlook their total cost of sale when designing comp plans. If SDRs, AEs, and managers all take a cut of a deal, businesses may find they are paying out 30–40% in commissions—drastically impacting profitability.
“It’s important to track the effective rate of commissions across all roles to ensure profitability doesn’t suffer.” said Macia.
Recommended Reading: Breaking Down a Typical Sales Commission Structure
Check out our blog highlighting a typical sales commission structure. Review best practices and compensation plan examples.
Compensation is your secret lever for financial success that you’re not using to its fullest.
By aligning comp plans with efficiency metrics, businesses can protect revenue, improve margins, and optimize cash flow without sacrificing growth. Ready to rethink your compensation strategy?
The rise of AI in sales has revolutionized how businesses approach customer relationships, automate processes, and drive revenue growth. As a result, more companies recognize its potential to enhance efficiency and decision-making.
AI adoption in sales teams has skyrocketed, with 81% of teams either experimenting with or fully embracing AI technologies, according to Salesforce.
The impact is undeniable, as 83% of sales teams using AI report revenue growth compared to 66% of those without AI. This technological shift is not just about efficiency; it’s transforming the entire sales landscape, with AI-powered tools enhancing lead generation, customer insights, and sales forecasting accuracy.
In the post, we highlight the best AI tools for sales, broken down by category, and share tips for effective AI sales technology implementation.
AI Sales Agents
First, let’s take a look at the various AI sales agents on the market. These automated, AI-powered systems engage with prospects, qualify leads and assist in the sales process by mimicking human-like interactions through chat, email, or voice.
An AI-powered CRM is a customer relationship management system that leverages artificial intelligence to automate tasks, analyze customer data, predict sales trends, and enhance engagement through personalized insights and recommendations.
Best used for: Streamlining sales activities Top feature highlight: AI-driven insights and notifications Top supported integrations: Google Workspace, Microsoft Outlook, Zapier Starting price: $49 per user per month, billed annually G2 rating:4.3 Stars Capterra rating:4.5 Stars
What about sales forecasting? An AI sales forecasting tool analyzes historical sales data, market trends, and customer behavior using machine learning to predict future revenue, identify sales opportunities, and optimize decision-making for more accurate and data-driven sales strategies.
Forecast earnings directly in HubSpot via QuotaPath. Learn more.
AI Prospecting Tools
Next, let’s talk AI prospecting tools — a very hot topic as people debate their likes or dislikes with robotic personalization.
An AI prospecting tool automates lead generation by analyzing vast data sources to identify high-quality prospects, predict buyer intent, and personalize outreach, helping sales teams efficiently target and engage potential customers. Below are some of the industry’s leading platforms.
We’ve also seen AI sales tools pop up in our category, sales compensation.
While some have agents built into their platform so that you can ask questions about earnings on specific deals, QuotaPath’s AI is more practical. Instead of manually translating your comp plans into your compensation management system, QuotaPath’s AI prepares your plan by prompt or PDF upload. This allows for a shorter entry to barrier to begin automating your commission tracking process.
Best used for: Automate complex commissions Top feature highlight: CoreBot Top supported integrations: QuickBooks, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics Starting price: $20 per payee/month G2 rating:4.5 Stars Capterra rating:4.7 Stars
Lastly, let’s explore AI sales tools for coaching.
An AI sales coaching tool uses artificial intelligence to analyze sales calls, emails, and rep performance, providing real-time feedback, personalized training recommendations, and data-driven insights to improve sales skills and effectiveness.
While AI sales tools offer significant advantages, their effectiveness depends on how well they are implemented. To maximize the benefits of AI-driven sales solutions, businesses must follow best practices that ensure seamless adoption and user engagement for long-term success.
Change Management
Successful AI tool adoption requires strong stakeholder buy-in and early alignment between sales and operations teams. Ensuring that key decision-makers understand the value of AI in sales can help foster a culture of acceptance and minimize resistance. Engaging end users in discussions about how AI will improve efficiency and effectiveness, building trust and enthusiasm for the transition.
To manage workflow changes effectively, adopt a structured approach, such as phased rollouts or pilot programs. An incremental implementation allows teams to adapt gradually, reducing disruptions to daily operations. Pilot programs help identify potential challenges before full deployment, enabling teams to refine processes and address user concerns early. Providing clear communication about implementation timelines and expectations further smooths the transition.
Training Requirements
Comprehensive onboarding ensures that different team roles maximize the benefits of sales AI tools. Administrators need in-depth training in configuring and managing the system, while sales reps require hands-on practice with AI-driven insights and automation features. Training sessions tailored to each role enhance adoption rates and confidence in effective tool use.
Ongoing education is equally important to keep teams up to date with AI capabilities and best practices. Regular workshops, resource hubs with self-service materials, and certification programs help reinforce learning and drive continuous improvement. Encouraging knowledge-sharing among team members also fosters a collaborative learning environment, ensuring long-term success with AI tools.
ROI Measurement
Establish clear benchmarks before implementation to accurately assess the impact of AI sales tools. Metrics such as time saved on administrative tasks, revenue uplift, and customer engagement improvements provide tangible evidence of AI’s value. Setting realistic goals ensures organizations can measure progress effectively and make data-driven decisions.
Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) such as deal velocity, sales rep productivity, and forecast accuracy helps quantify AI’s contribution to sales performance. Regularly analyzing these metrics enables teams to optimize AI usage and refine strategies. Organizations should also collect qualitative feedback from users to complement quantitative data, ensuring a holistic understanding of ROI.
Security Considerations
Data security is a critical concern when implementing AI sales technology, especially given the sensitive nature of customer information. Companies must ensure that AI tools integrate securely with existing CRMs and comply with industry regulations such as GDPR and CCPA. Understanding vendor security policies and data handling practices is essential for mitigating risks.
Selecting AI tools with robust encryption, access controls, and regular security audits enhances data protection. Businesses should establish clear internal security protocols, including user authentication measures and permission-based access. Regular security reviews and updates help maintain compliance and safeguard sensitive information from evolving threats.
Try QuotaPath for free
Try the most collaborative solution to manage, track and payout variable compensation. Calculate commissions and pay your team accurately, and on time.
AI sales tools have become a necessity for modern sales teams looking to drive efficiency, improve customer interactions, and boost revenue. With the right AI sales technology and a strategic implementation plan, businesses can harness AI to stay ahead in an increasingly data-driven sales landscape. Embracing change and prioritizing training, security, and performance measurement enables sales teams to unlock the full potential of AI and achieve sustainable growth.
How do AI sales tools impact ROI? AI sales tools improve ROI by increasing efficiency, reducing administrative workload, and enhancing lead conversion rates. They help sales teams close deals faster and optimize resource allocation.
What’s the difference between AI sales agents and traditional sales tools? An AI sales agent uses machine learning and automation to analyze data, provide insights, and engage with prospects through personalized outreach at scale. Meanwhile, traditional sales tools primarily assist with data organization and reporting.How secure are AI-powered sales tools? AI-powered sales tools prioritize security with encryption, role-based access controls, and
And, 60% of reps take three to six months to fully understand their compensation plans, leaving revenue on the table due to confusion and lack of transparency. (60%! That’s more than half your sales team not understanding how they are paid for half the year.)
As a result, reps lose motivation and trust within their org, while finance begins (if they aren’t already) to dread commission paycheck time.
Streamline commissions for your RevOps, Finance, and Sales teams
Design, track, and manage variable incentives with QuotaPath. Give your RevOps, finance, and sales teams transparency into sales compensation.
Managing commissions through spreadsheets turns what should be a seamless workflow into a financial bottleneck. Complex approval workflows slow the financial close cycle and stall even further when F&A works to properly amortize commissions and recognize revenue by the book.
If this sounds familiar, it’s likely due to the lack of automation for the side of the house.
How Compensation Software Optimizes Financial Closes
By automating commission calculations and approvals, compensation software streamlines financial operations and removes the friction that often stalls payout processes. Finance teams that have adopted automation report a significant reduction in time spent on commission calculations, with some cutting their workload by over 90 percent.
Take our customer, Whistic, for example. Taggert Beefus, Whistic’s Head of RevOps, used to spend 7 hours running commission payouts at the end of cycle. Today, it takes him 30 minutes for a team of more than 20 reps.
Instead of spending weeks verifying calculations and chasing approvals, finance leaders can confidently finalize commissions, ensuring accuracy and transparency across departments.
This unlocks a newfound efficiency for finance teams historically struggling with slow, manual processes.
Peter Tenaglia, Director of Finance at BlueConic, said, “QuotaPath is a perfect tool, not only for our team to kind of have less of a hassle with commission calculation, but it solves the issue of you guys waiting a full quarter for you to see a finalized commission statement after going through multiple levels of emails and Slacks going back and forth.”
With compensation software, close the books faster, reduce compliance risks, and focus on financial strategies that drive business growth.
Below, let’s explore how automation improves payout accuracy, enhances reporting capabilities, and aligns finance, RevOps, and sales teams.
QuotaPath + Rippling: Push-to-Payroll Integration for Commissions
For the first time, finance and HR teams can push commission earnings directly into payroll with just a few clicks, eliminating the need for tedious CSV exports or last-minute manual uploads.
One thing to note is that the following benefits are specific to QuotaPath’s platform.
While many features below are offered across software, QuotaPath’s two-way integration with Rippling marks the only in the industry to push commission payments into a payroll provider.
Alas, the following five capabilities directly support finance teams by streamlining commission payouts, reducing errors, and accelerating financial closes.
QuotaPath ensures commission plans remain locked once approved, preventing last-minute adjustments that could disrupt financial closes. This helps finance teams:
Maintain accurate accrual calculations for commission expenses.
Reduce unexpected commission adjustments that impact forecasting.
Improve audit readiness by keeping a structured payout history.
Define clear conditions for when commissions should be paid.
Prevent overpayments on clawbacks, returned deals, or ineligible commissions.
Provide real-time visibility into commission adjustments and eligibility.
5. Seamless Payroll Integration with Rippling
Accurate commission payments require smooth payroll integration. QuotaPath connects directly with Rippling, ensuring:
Seamless data transfer from commission tracking to payroll.
Automated payroll processing without manual adjustments.
Fewer payout errors and greater financial compliance.
With these finance-driven capabilities, QuotaPath simplifies commission management, reduces risk, and accelerates financial closes for growing organizations.
Try QuotaPath for free
Try the most collaborative solution to manage, track and payout variable compensation. Calculate commissions and pay your team accurately, and on time.
For finance leaders, commission management should encompass accuracy, compliance, and efficiency.
And with QuotaPath, they get that, including:
50%+ reduction in time spent on commission calculations. Finance teams can shift focus from manual reconciliation to strategic financial planning.
Audit-ready financials with ASC 606 compliance. Automated commission amortization aligns with revenue recognition, reducing audit risks.
Elimination of payout disputes. Automated approvals and eligibility tracking ensure that commissions are calculated correctly and paid on time.
Increased accuracy in financial forecasting. Locked compensation plans prevent last-minute changes that disrupt financial closes.
Seamless payroll integration with Rippling. Commission payments flow directly into payroll, reducing manual entry errors and compliance risks.
As Prefect Head of Finance Thomas Egbert said, “We cut our time spent on commissions calculations by 50%+ and have enjoyed providing real-time transparency to our sales reps and technical pre-sales team.”
To learn how QuotaPath can help your finance team achieve faster financial close, schedule a demo today.
Artificial intelligence (AI) in sales, the application of advanced machine learning algorithms, and data analytics to assist and automate various aspects of the sales process are increasingly common.
Data shows that businesses investing in AI see a revenue uplift of up to 15 percent and a sales ROI uplift of 10 to 20 percent. So, according to the 2024 Salesforce State of Sales Report, it makes sense that 81% of sales teams are either experimenting with or have fully implemented AI.
In sales and marketing, we see the use of AI show up most frequently in processes like lead generation, customer engagement, and forecasting. The result? Improvements to efficiency, effectiveness, productivity, and profitability.
And now, many organizations view AI as essential, versus previous years when it was largely thought of as a nice-to-have.
Businesses that fail to utilize AI tools in sales and marketing risk being left behind by competitors.
This blog discusses how artificial intelligence transforms sales, its use cases, benefits, tools for 2025, and tips for implementing AI in your sales strategy.
Let’s dive in!
Meet the Industry’s First AI-Powered Compensation Plan Builder
QuotaPath’s AI-Powered Plan Builder translates your existing comp plans into our sysem for automated compensation management.
Sales AI uses AI tools and technologies to streamline and enhance sales processes. AI in sales and marketing is essential to automation and data-driven decision-making.
For instance, AI enables chatbots to engage with leads, helps sales reps personalize email communications, and can improve customer experiences by suggesting solutions as it anticipates customer pain points. It also helps applications generate market insights, sales forecasts, and consolidated reports to enable informed decisions.
In the end, this means greater efficiency and productivity across your team.
What Kinds of Artificial Intelligence Are Being Used in Sales?
You might see a few different applications of AI in sales. The following provides a brief overview of AI technologies commonly used in sales.
Machine Learning: A form of AI that examines data and formulates predictions or insights based on patterns. For instance, machine learning uses historical customer data to predict behaviors.
Natural Language Processing (NLP): This type of AI enables computers to understand, interpret, and create human language in a useful and meaningful way. For example, conversational AI, chatbots, and email analysis are all powered by NLP.
Predictive Analytics: A kind of AI that enables sales to anticipate trends. For instance, predictive analytics for lead scoring examine past lead behavior to determine high-converting lead characteristics, helping sales teams prioritize those most likely to convert. This type of AI also facilitates sales forecasting based on historical sales data and market trends.
Sales AI Use Cases and Examples
Now, let’s take a look at a few real-world AI in sales examples.
Lead scoring using predictive analytics.
Chatbots improve customer/website response times. Here’s a G2 guide on chatbot pricing models to help you evaluate different platforms based on cost and value.
Automated proposal creation and follow-ups.
Competitor intel
Next, let’s look at AI for sales to facilitate marketing and cross-functional alignment.
These examples of artificial intelligence in sales and marketing include:
Curating positive reviews and themes around value: This information can be used in marketing campaigns, testimonials, and case studies to build brand credibility and attract new customers. It also helps sales and marketing teams ensure a consistent message across all channels.
Competitor intel: These real-time insights help sales and marketing teams differentiate their offerings, identify market opportunities, and stay ahead of the competition.
Analyzing customer usage for content: These insights can be used to create targeted content like external reports, whitepapers, blog posts, and other content.
Building custom GPTs by persona to assist messaging: These models analyze persona-specific language preferences, pain points, and motivations, enabling personalized and effective communication. They help marketing and sales create messages that resonate with specific target audiences. Sales reps can also use these GPTs to craft communications like emails and social media posts, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.
Streamline commissions for your RevOps, Finance, and Sales teams
Design, track, and manage variable incentives with QuotaPath. Give your RevOps, finance, and sales teams transparency into sales compensation.
Artificial intelligence in sales improves efficiency with automation. According to HubSpot, sales professionals save up to 2 hours and 15 minutes daily using AI or automation tools to perform manual tasks.
The same survey found AI helped sales reps spend up to 25% more time selling.
Additionally, AI in sales facilitates enhanced personalization in customer interactions and better forecasting and decision-making. For instance, sales managers leveraging AI to analyze their sales team members’ activities increased their coaching time up to 30%. That’s a 20% increase!
Other benefits of using AI for sales teams include:
Improved Sales Forecasting Accuracy
Individualized Sales Training and Coaching
Personalized Customer Experiences Based on Preferences and Behaviors
Despite the advantages of using AI for sales, a few potential challenges may bubble up.
Dependency on Accurate Data
AI is only as effective as the data it uses.
Inaccurate or incomplete data can lead to flawed insights and poor decision-making. For sales teams, this means that any errors in customer data, transaction records, or market information can undermine the effectiveness of AI tools and lead to misguided strategies.
High Upfront Costs for Implementation
Plus, AI solutions can come with a high price tag, especially when factoring in time to implement.
These can include the price of the software, integrating it with existing systems, training staff, and ongoing maintenance.
Resistance to Adoption from Sales Teams
Another to look out for is your team’s lack of enthusiasm to change up their processes.
Change can be daunting, and sales teams may resist adopting AI tools due to fear of job displacement, unfamiliarity with the technology, or skepticism about its benefits. This resistance can hinder the integration and effectiveness of AI solutions.
Everyone is Doing It, and It’s Easy to Tell When Used for Outbound
Go to your LinkedIn or inbox right now, and we’ll bet you can pick out the AI-generated posts and emails.
As AI becomes more prevalent in sales and marketing, it’s easier for us to recognize the structure and language produced by bots. Now, those on the receiving end of these messages have begun viewing AI-generated content as spammy.
Loss of Personalization
Furthermore, while AI can analyze vast amounts of data to provide insights, it can also lead to overly generic or formulaic interactions.
Sales is about building relationships, and a lack of genuine personalization can alienate customers who crave human connection.
AI sales tools to start using in 2025
Still, those challenges shouldn’t scare you away.
If you’re just starting to evaluate, check out our popular AI sales tools list below.
Category
Description
Trending Tools
ChatGPT-powered chatbots
Advanced conversational agents designed to interact with users in a natural and human-like manner, offering 24/7 support.
ProProfs Chat
Zendesk Chatbot
HubSpot Chatbot
Predictive analytics tools
Forecast future sales trends, customer behavior, and market dynamics to facilitate data-driven decisions and optimize sales strategies.
Salesforce Einstein
SAP Analytics Cloud
IBM SPSS Modeler
CRM-integrated AI tools
Enhances CRM data to provide real-time insights, automate routine tasks, and improve customer engagement and sales processes.
HubSpot
QuotaPath
Zendesk Sell
Try QuotaPath for free
Try the most collaborative solution to manage, track and payout variable compensation. Calculate commissions and pay your team accurately, and on time.
How to Implement AI Sales Tools at Your Organization
How you feeling? Ready to implement?
To help, here’s a step-by-step guide on how to use AI for sales to help you successfully implement AI for sales in your company.
1. Evaluate Current Processes and Identify Gaps: Review your existing sales workflows to pinpoint inefficiencies and areas where AI can add value, such as lead qualification or customer segmentation.
2. Select Tools that Align with Business Goals: Choose AI tools that match your specific objectives, whether improving sales forecasting, automating outreach, or enhancing customer insights.
3. Train Your Sales Team on AI Integration: Educate your team on using the selected AI tools effectively, emphasizing their benefits and addressing any concerns about adoption.
4. Start Small, Scale Gradually: Implement AI solutions in a phased approach, beginning with pilot projects to test their impact and refine processes before scaling up to broader adoption.
Part of your launch plan must include preparation for dealing with team members who are slow to embrace new technologies.Leverage these tips to overcome their resistance and boost your success as you implement AI for sales teams.
Communicate Benefits Clearly: Highlight how AI tools can make reps’ jobs easier, such as by automating repetitive tasks, providing valuable insights, and boosting overall efficiency.
Involve Teams Early: Engage your sales teams in the selection and implementation process, allowing them to provide input and feel a sense of ownership over the new tools.
Provide Training and Support: Offer comprehensive training sessions to ensure your salespeople feel confident using the new AI tools. Then provide ongoing support to address any concerns or challenges.
Showcase Success Stories: Share examples of other teams or organizations successfully integrating AI into their sales processes, demonstrating tangible benefits and positive outcomes. (At QuotaPath, we have a dedicated AI Best Practices/Wins agenda item built into our weekly Start of the Week meeting. During this, a member of the team will share how they’ve used it recently to help with their role.)
Pilot Programs: Start with small pilot programs to test the effectiveness of AI tools and gather feedback from your sales teams before scaling up.
Implementing these strategies can help ease the transition and foster a positive attitude toward AI adoption within your sales teams.
Embrace AI in Sales for a Competitive Edge
As artificial intelligence and sales continue to evolve, businesses that successfully leverage AI in sales gain, especially regarding efficiency, personalization, and profitability advantages.
From lead scoring to predictive analytics, AI offers tools to enhance every sales process stage.
However, companies must be mindful of potential challenges, including data quality, implementation costs, and the risk of losing personal touch with customers.
By choosing the right AI tools and supporting teams through thoughtful adoption strategies, sales organizations can position themselves to thrive in an increasingly competitive market.
And yet, many companies undermine their top performers with commission caps, inflated quotas, or unclear compensation structures.
As Jamal Reimer, Founder of Enterprise Sellers, pointed out in a recent viral LinkedIn post, the mistreatment of high performers is only getting worse:
“In the wake of tremendous achievement in 2024, five top sellers in my community find themselves in 2025 capped in commission, targets more than doubled (far beyond any team members), or outright fired,” Jamal wrote in his post.
Reps should be celebrated.
Instead, they’re penalized—sometimes without warning. And when that happens, it doesn’t just affect those sellers—it sends a toxic message to the entire team:
“Why should I go above and beyond if I’ll just get penalized for it?”
Unfortunately, this problem is widespread:
80% of companies have paid reps incorrectly at some point.
39% of revenue leaders say their compensation plans don’t align with business goals.
This lack of clarity and trust in commissions destroys motivation, leads to high turnover, and costs companies millions in lost productivity.
“Let the big dogs do what they do best. Pay them well. Remove the caps. Do that year after year and watch the enterprise value of your company skyrocket.”
— Jamal Reimer
At QuotaPath, we believe that compensation is not just a cost of doing business—it’s a lever for growth. A transparent, strategic compensation plan should reward over-performance, drive revenue growth, align Finance and Sales, and build trust across the org.
In this blog, we’ll break down how you can transform your comp plan into a growth engine—one that rewards performance, encourages the right behaviors, and helps your business scale.
Compensation as a Performance Driver, Not Just a Reward
Why would a sales rep go the extra mile if they don’t trust their commission structure?
As we’ve seen, lack of transparency in comp plans leads to confusion, frustration, and disengagement. However, when compensation is clear and aligned with business goals, it becomes a powerful tool for motivation and performance.
The problem is that many companies view commissions as just another expense.
The reality? Compensation is one of the strongest levers for driving revenue growth.
As our VP of RevOps, Sales, and Marketing Ryan Milligansaid: “We fundamentally believe that a comp plan is a performance driver. It’s the best thing you have in your pocket to drive changes in human behavior.”
When reps have clear visibility into how their deals impact earnings, they don’t just chase quick wins—they optimize for high-value deals that drive long-term revenue.
They proactively push for bigger contracts, multi-year agreements, and expansion opportunities because they see the direct financial impact of their decisions.
Example: How NeuroFlow Boosted Sales Performance with Transparent Commissions
Before implementing QuotaPath, the team at NeuroFlow managed commissions manually in spreadsheets.
This led to:
Misaligned expectations – Reps weren’t sure how much they had earned or why.
Payment disputes – Finance had to spend extra time resolving errors.
Lack of motivation – Reps weren’t as proactive in structuring deals without clear visibility into potential earnings.
After rolling out QuotaPath, everything changed.
Reps could see their earnings in real-time, allowing them to make better decisions, stay motivated, and prioritize the right deals.
Genevieve Moss-Hawkins, Sr. Manager at NeuroFlow, said , “The transparency that we have back to the team is fantastic. Reps can forecast earnings, understand calculations, and even see when they’ll get paid.”
By treating commissions as a performance driver rather than just a cost, NeuroFlow transformed its sales process—aligning incentives with business goals and driving better deal quality, increased revenue, and a more engaged sales team.
A well-structured comp plan is more than just a payout system—it’s a strategic tool to shape behavior and drive growth. And when reps can see, trust, and predict their earnings, they work smarter, close better deals, and contribute more to the company’s long-term success.
The following section will explore how visibility into commissions fuels motivation and drives the right sales behaviors.
“Your comp plan is your best tool to drive changes in behavior.”
— Ryan Milligan, VP of RevOps, Sales, and Marketing, QuotaPath
How Visibility Fuels Motivation and Drives the Right Sales Behavior
Now we know that compensation isn’t just a cost—it’s a tool for driving behavior.
But to effectively drive sales performance, reps need real-time visibility into how their deals impact their earnings.
This is where so many companies fall short.
As mentioned, 39% of revenue leaders admit their compensation plans don’t align with business goals. When this happens, sellers won’t optimize for the right deals—they’ll chase whatever gets them paid fastest.
If reps don’t clearly understand how they’re paid,what they could earn, and how different deals impact their commissions, it makes building trust, motivation, and long-term success that much harder.
Streamline commissions for your RevOps, Finance, and Sales teams
Design, track, and manage variable incentives with QuotaPath. Give your RevOps, finance, and sales teams transparency into sales compensation.
Historically, sales reps have focused on one thing: hitting quota.
They track their progress, scramble at the month’s end, and sigh a sigh of relief when they cross the finish line.
But the real question isn’t “Did I hit my number?” it’s “Which deals should I prioritize to maximize my earnings and drive the most value for the business?”
When reps understand how different deal structures impact their commissions, they start to think more strategically:
Should I push for a higher ACV to increase my payout?
Will a multi-year contract earn me a better rate?
Should I prioritize upsells because they pay out at a higher percentage?
And, when companies align compensation with the types of deals they want to encourage, the results speak for themselves.
The Power of Multi-Year Accelerators & Renewals
Let’s look at a real-world example: multi-year accelerators.
QuotaPath customers who implemented higher commission rates for longer-term contracts saw a measurable increase in multi-year deals. That’s because reps could see in real-time how much more they’d earn by selling a 3-year contract versus a 1-year contract.
“If you show a rep the commission rate they’ll earn on different types of deals, you can motivate them to close the right types of deals via the highest commission rate. It becomes a win-win,” said Ryan.
This is the power of visibility.
When reps have clarity into their commissions, they sell smarter and don’t just sell more.
Visibility transforms sales compensation from a guessing game into a strategic growth engine.
When reps know which deals drive the highest commissions, they naturally prioritize the right sales efforts—creating higher ACVs, longer contracts, and more revenue for the company.
Below, we’ll explore how this level of transparency doesn’t just benefit reps but also streamlines operations and drives efficiency for Finance and RevOps teams.
The Ops and Finance Perspective: More Than Just Time Savings
Above, we shared how real-time commission visibility helps reps prioritize the right deals.
But what about the teams responsible for tracking and paying those commissions?
For Finance and RevOps, the stakes are just as high.
“These are the big things people come to us with: ‘My reps have no visibility. The process takes forever. We’ve made payment mistakes, hurting morale,” said Ryan.
Before using QuotaPath, most teams relied on spreadsheets and manual exports to track commissions.
This meant:
Hours spent reconciling data at the end of the month.
Confusing commission disputes that slowed down payroll.
Inability to roll out incentives quickly without reworking complex Excel formulas.
QuotaPath eliminates these pain points by automating the process and creating a direct link between comp plans and revenue strategy.
Key Benefits for Finance & RevOps Teams
Reduced admin time – QuotaPath customers cut commission tracking time by up to 50%, allowing teams to focus on revenue strategy instead of manual calculations.
No more payment disputes – Reps see how their commissions are calculated, eliminating confusion and ensuring Finance teams aren’t bombarded with “Why am I getting paid this?” emails.
Quick SPIFs & incentives – Need to launch a new incentive for Q4 pipeline generation? QuotaPath lets teams implement new comp structures instantly—without having to rebuild models in spreadsheets.
At its core, QuotaPath doesn’t just automate commissions—it aligns incentives with business outcomes. Everyone benefits when Finance, RevOps, and Sales work from the same transparent, data-driven system.
The SPIF Report
Our latest report below dives into our data from $7.3M in sales incentives.
Design your comp plan with revenue growth in mind to unlock the power of commissions.
The best compensation plans don’t just reward performance—they shape it. The structure of your plan should guide reps toward the deals that matter most to the business.
But here’s where many companies get it wrong: Theycreate comp plans in isolation, without tying them directly to revenue goals.
Instead, ask yourself these three key questions:
What kind of revenue growth matters most to your business?
Are you focused on new logo acquisition?
Do you want to increase expansion revenue through upsells and cross-sells?
Are you prioritizing multi-year contracts for long-term retention?
Which deals should reps prioritize to maximize their commission earnings?
If longer-term contracts create more predictable revenue, reps should see a clear incentive to push for multi-year agreements.
If upsells contribute significantly to net retention, those deals should pay out at higher commission rates.
If your goal is higher ACV, your plan should reward deal size over volume.
How does your commission plan make it crystal clear which deals are most valuable?
If reps don’t immediately understand how different deal structures impact their pay, they’ll default to selling whatever is easiest to close.
Your comp plan should clearly reward the deals that align with your company’s growth strategy.
Example: Incentivizing Expansion Revenue
Let’s say expansion revenue is a top priority for your business.
Your reps are responsible for upsells and cross-sells, but they tend to focus more on new logo acquisition because it pays a higher commission.
To shift behavior, you increase commission rates on expansion deals. Instead of 5%, upsells now pay 8-10% commission. With clear visibility into these rates, reps:
Actively seek expansion opportunities instead of just chasing new deals.
Prioritize high-value customer accounts that are primed for growth.
Drive a measurable increase in net retention and contract value.
This shift doesn’t require a sales training overhaul—it just requires a comp plan that clearly signals what success looks like.
Actionable Tip: Use QuotaPath to Model Different Comp Structures
The key to aligning your comp plan with revenue goals is testing different commission structures before rolling them out. With QuotaPath, leaders can:
Model different commission structures to see how payout adjustments impact behavior.
Show reps exactly how their earnings change based on deal type, contract length, or expansion revenue.
Optimize for long-term revenue growth without constant manual adjustments.
By designing comp plans with strategic intent, you’re not just paying out commissions—you’re engineering growth.
Conclusion: Turn Your Comp Plan into a Growth Machine
A transparent, strategic compensation plan should keep reps happy and drive real revenue impact by aligning incentives across your organization.
As Ryan emphasized throughout this discussion, commissions are a team effort.
Sales reps, leaders, finance teams, and RevOps all have different motivations, but a well-structured comp plan bridges the gap—ensuring everyone is working toward the same revenue goals.
There are several reasons for these adjustments, including market shifts and the need to revise initial plans mid-year due to changes in financial projections, which is particularly common in smaller companies.
Additionally, challenges associated with scaling, such as entering new territories, launching new products, or increasing headcount, often necessitate comp plan modifications. Furthermore, startups undergoing a stage shift may find it necessary to reshape compensation plans based on actual deal data rather than relying solely on model plans from other similar companies.
That leaves 10% of companies that withhold making changes, often due to concerns about potential disruption, the complexity of plan design, and resource constraints. However, leaving plans as is puts them at risk for misaligned sales incentives, loss of rep talent who leave due to unrealistic goals, and halting new business as reps lose motivation to sell.
This is a real problem, with 65% of companies reportedly losing at least one salesperson due to disputes or confusion around commission structures and only 28% of reps expected to hit full quota attainment. Hence, monitoring your sales compensation plans and looking for any signals that could indicate mid-year changes is essential.
In this blog, we share three key signals your sales compensation plan needs updating and how to address them.
Let’s get started.
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Below is an overview of the signs, why they’re a concern, potential causes, and how to address them.
1st Signal: Low Attainment
Why It’s a Concern:
Consistently low attainment often suggests unrealistic expectations and poor alignment with organizational goals. Such expectations can demotivate reps, while misaligned plans fail to help prioritize crucial deals. This may explain why only 28% of reps meet their quota.
Potential Causes:
Unrealistic quotas have often not been adjusted to reflect changing market conditions or aligned effectively with business objectives. Consequently, they do not adequately incentivize key behaviors such as prospecting, upselling, or long-term client retention to drive business goals.
What to Do:
To address low attainment, analyze data by role, team, and territory to identify gaps. Use benchmark data and adjust quotas to set achievable goals linked to compensation plans. Additionally, implementing accelerators or tiered incentives enhances motivation and alignment with team capabilities.
Frequent Commission Disputes or Questions
Why It’s a Concern:
Disputes or confusion around commissions indicates that reps don’t understand how they earn commissions. This erodes trust between reps and leadership while demotivating and frustrating sales reps and damaging morale. Our research revealed that 65% of companies have lost at least one salesperson due to commission-related disputes.
Potential Causes:
Overly complex compensation structures are a significant cause of confusion and disputes. These plans typically include too many elements, making it difficult for reps to understand how they earn commissions. Additionally, a lack of transparency or poor communication about how commissions are calculated is another contributing factor.
What to Do:
Reduce commission disputes or questions by simplifying commission structures for clarity and transparency by limiting the number of components per plan, such as accelerators, standard commission rates, and a bonus.
Invest in tools like commission tracking software to give reps real-time visibility into their earnings. This helps sales reps understand how they earn and track their progress toward goals and milestones, boosting their motivation.
Provide ongoing training to ensure reps understand the mechanics of their compensation plan.
Future Scaling Plans
Why It’s a Concern:
Growth creates new dynamics that existing compensation plans may not address, such as expanding territories, adding products, or increasing headcount. Misaligned plans during scaling can lead to inequities, unmotivated reps, and poor team performance.
Potential Causes:
Territory overlaps or uneven distribution of opportunities as headcount increases require comp plan updates. Brand new teams or roles that inherit a pre-existing comp plan based on previous data unrelated to the new team’s cause plans to become outdated. Incentive plans not adapted to new sales motions like product-led growth (PLG) or product expansions won’t motivate the right behaviors.
What to Do:
Reassess quotas, territory allocations, and earning potential in light of growth. Adjust compensation plans to reflect team expansion and market focus changes. Use historical deal data to refine commission structures rather than relying on assumptions or competitor benchmarks.
Streamline commissions for your RevOps, Finance, and Sales teams
Design, track, and manage variable incentives with QuotaPath. Give your RevOps, finance, and sales teams transparency into sales compensation.
Businesses must remain vigilant in monitoring the effectiveness of their sales compensation plans.
Low attainment, commission disputes, and scaling challenges clearly signal that your compensation strategy may need an update. These issues can harm sales morale, hinder productivity, and create unnecessary friction between teams and leadership.
To address these challenges, conduct proactive reviews and prepare to make adjustments.
Compensation plans should align with organizational goals, cater to the evolving needs of the sales team, and adapt to changing market conditions. Regularly reassessing and refining compensation structures helps to maintain motivation, retain top talent, and drive sustainable growth in an ever-changing business landscape.
Evaluate your current plans and seek expert guidance via QuotaPath, leveraging its ability to allow and accommodate mid-year changes. Schedule time with a team member today.
Returning from maternity leave is a uniquely challenging experience for women in sales.
Unlike other roles, where a team or a contractor often supports employees in their absence, sales moms usually don’t have that. And, instead of returning to steady workloads, sales professionals frequently return to empty pipelines, full quotas, and a leaderboard where they’re starting from scratch.
The pressure to immediately ramp up and hit revenue targets—while balancing new parenthood—can be overwhelming.
A survey found that 71% of women in senior roles took less than six months of maternity leave to protect their positions, yet 57% left their organizations within two years, citing career progression and retention challenges.
…companies risk losing top talent—not because these women cannot perform, but because the system isn’t designed to support them.
Even more concerning, fewer than 20% of new mothers—and only 29% of first-time mothers—return to full-time work within three years of giving birth. This figure drops to just 15% after five years, with 17% of women leaving the workforce entirely, compared to just 4% of men.
And those numbers are across roles and industries. Imagine what it’s like in a performance-based role, such as sales.
Without structured return policies, ramping quotas, and clear pipeline-sharing strategies, companies risk losing top talent—not because these women cannot perform, but because the system isn’t designed to support them.
So, how can organizations stop forcing moms in sales to choose between their careers and their families?
We don’t have all the answers below, but we do have some starting points.
Why We’re Only Talking About Moms in Sales
The duration of parental leave taken by mothers and fathers varies significantly.
According to a Pew Research Center study, about47% of mothers who took time off following the birth or adoption of their child were away from work for 12 weeks or more.
In contrast, approximately 72% of fathers took two weeks or less off during the same period.
The Common Challenges Moms Face When Returning to Sales
The good news? Three of the biggest challenges women face at work when returning to their sales roles after having a child are all solvable problems.
Empty Pipelines & High Quotas
The first hurdle is the lack of a warm pipeline. Unlike other roles where work is redistributed during leave, sales reps often return to an empty pipeline but are expected to hit full quota immediately.
This means scrambling to build momentum while adjusting to a new life balance.
Deals that would have been progressing if they had been working may have closed—or worse, fallen through—without clear ownership.
Olivia Millard, a SaaS sales leader, returned from leave to find that she had a full quota but little pipeline. “I felt like a failure starting from ground zero,” she shared. The experience pushed her company to reevaluate its policies and eventually adopt a pipeline-sharing model.
Additional Reading
Adjusting Comp Plans to Your Parental Leave Policy
Now, take that empty pipeline and imagine battling the pressure of starting from the bottom while balancing feeding schedules, doctor appointments, sleep deprivation, and daycare logistics.
Yet, many women fear asking for accommodations like flexible hours or a gradual return, worried it will be seen as a lack of commitment.
Sales leader Rina Dhanota recommends having an open, structured transition conversation with managers before leave. “Set expectations, be upfront about your goals, and advocate for a schedule that works for both you and the business,” she said.
Compensation Gaps & Financial Strain
Additionally, parental leave policies in sales often fail to account for commission-based earnings.
Many companies only pay base salary during leave, which can be a drastic pay cut for reps who rely on commissions to make up the bulk of their earnings.
This disproportionately affects women, who are more likely to take extended leave than their male counterparts. In many cases, men in sales take shorter paternity leaves, maintain control of their pipeline, and return without losing commissions.
Jessi Johanson, VP of Sales at Tilt, for example, lost significant earnings when she had her first child. At her next company, she helped implement a system where reps on leave receive commission splits based on the deal stage at handoff.
Solutions: How Companies Can Set Up Returning Moms for Success
Enough about the challenges, though.
You’re here for the solutions.
Below, check out a few ways you can better support moms returning from leave in sales roles.
1. Implement a Structured Ramp Plan
Offer a ramped quota for returning sales reps to ease them back into selling.
Provide clear transition plans for deals that progressed or stalled while the rep was out.
Set realistic activity goals (meetings booked, pipeline generated) instead of full quota attainment right away.
Example: At Gong, sales leaders implemented a three-month ramp post-leave, reducing quotas to 50% in Month 1, 75% in Month 2, and 100% in Month 3. This allowed reps to rebuild momentum without the pressure of immediately hitting full numbers.
2. Keep Pipelines Active & Distribute Deals Fairly
Assign deals to peers while the rep is on leave but ensure a commission-sharing model based on deal stage.
Allow the rep to reclaim ownership of pipeline accounts upon return, ensuring they don’t start from zero.
Ensure equitable lead distribution by prioritizing the returning rep in inbound queues to compensate for missed pipeline generation.
Track pipeline at a quarterly level to ensure they have the same opportunity to meet their targets as their peers.
Example: At Tilt, parental leave policies include commission splits based on the deal stage at handoff. For example, reps on leave get 100% commission for late-stage deals that close, while earlier-stage deals follow a 50/50 split between the covering rep and the rep on leave.
3. Provide Schedule Flexibility and Resources
Offer a structured transition period, such as a 4-day workweek for the first three months, to ease the return without overwhelming pressure.
Allow flexible scheduling with agreed-upon blocked times for childcare, pickups, pumping, and personal needs. Encourage calendar transparency to prevent scheduling conflicts.
Provide designated spaces like a mothers’ room to accommodate nursing needs.
Example: Some progressive sales teams offer a gradual return model, where reps work 80% of the time at full pay for the first three months.
4. Provide Fair Parental Leave Compensation
Companies should offer OTE-based parental leave pay, not just base salary.
Benchmark against industry leaders (Facebook, LinkedIn, Google) to set competitive leave policies.
Consider draws or guaranteed commissions based on historical earnings.
Example: Some companies, pay 60-100% of OTE while a rep is on leave to ensure financial stability. Others calculate average commissions over the past four quarters and pay reps based on that amount.
5. Ensure Clear, Documented Policies
Standardize return-to-work policies to remove ambiguity and ensure consistency.
Communicate policies clearly to all reps before they go on leave, so expectations are set.
Include clear deal handoff procedures, compensation guidelines, and quota ramping expectations.
Example: Companies codifying parental leave policies reduce misinterpretation, increase fairness, and build trust. Ensuring policies are documented and reviewed in manager training prevents case-by-case inconsistencies.
Streamline commissions for your RevOps, Finance, and Sales teams
Design, track, and manage variable incentives with QuotaPath. Give your RevOps, finance, and sales teams transparency into sales compensation.
For Keegan Otter, Head of Revenue at Warmly, managing commissions manually in Google Sheets worked—until it didn’t.
“What started as a small problem grew as we scaled. I went from spending an hour on commissions to multiple hours, and then the errors started creeping in,” Keegan said. “My CEO would audit it and catch something. Then Biz Ops would catch something we missed. When three sets of eyes are missing errors, that’s when you know there’s a problem.”
Warmly’s team expanded from three reps to over 30 in just two years.
As commissions became more complex, manual processes led to payout errors, misalignment, and wasted time—valuable hours that could have been spent driving revenue.
“When it comes to commissions, you don’t want to get it wrong. You’re dealing with people’s paychecks,” said Keegan. “My anxiety skyrocketed as I spent more time troubleshooting, double-checking formulas, and answering Slack messages about payouts. At that point, I knew we needed to automate.”
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Try the most collaborative solution to manage, track and payout variable compensation. Calculate commissions and pay your team accurately, and on time.
For companies like Warmly, automating commissions isn’t just about saving time—it’s about reducing costly errors, improving transparency, and boosting sales performance.
Having an automated, audit-ready system is no longer optional—it’s a necessity.
“Before QuotaPath, commissions were a black box,” said Keegan. “The reps had no visibility, and even leadership was surprised at the final payouts. Now, our team sees exactly what they’ll earn as they close deals, which builds trust and motivation.”
Beyond accuracy, automation saves significant time. Instead of spending 5+ hours per month troubleshooting commissions, Keegan and his leadership team can now focus on strategy and revenue growth.
“QuotaPath has saved us a lot of money just in executive time alone. If you take my salary, the CEO’s salary, and our Biz Ops manager’s salary—and then factor in the hours we were spending troubleshooting—it’s a huge cost saving,” said Keegan. “And that doesn’t even include the value of being able to actually forecast commissions correctly.”
By replacing spreadsheets with an automated solution, Warmly streamlined operations and strengthened sales culture. Reps know what they’re earning, leadership has full visibility, and commissions are processed quickly and accurately.
If your team is still manually managing commissions, it’s time to consider the ROI of automation.
The ROI of Commission Automation
For companies like Warmly, automating commissions was about reclaiming time, reducing costly errors, and building a more transparent sales culture.
When a simple process becomes a bottleneck, it slows down the business and erodes trust.
Keegan summed it up best: “When it goes from taking an hour of my time to two to three hours—and then the back-and-forth in Slack takes even more time—you realize it’s just a bubbling problem that shouldn’t exist,” said Keegan.
QuotaPath solved that problem, delivering measurable ROI in three key ways:
Saves Time
Before implementing automation, commission tracking often requires:
Exporting CRM data
Adjusting spreadsheets
Cross-checking deal terms
Manually validating earnings
Keegan lived this process firsthand, spending hours in Google Sheets reconciling payouts.
At first, it was manageable. But as Warmly scaled, so did the complexity.
“What used to take me maybe an hour and a half started taking multiple hours. And it wasn’t just my time—it was my CEO’s time, Biz Ops’ time, and then even more time going back and forth in Slack. It wasn’t sustainable.”
With QuotaPath, Warmly eliminated this manual work.
Real-time calculations now ensure commissions are accurate from the start, reducing the need for troubleshooting and audits. Instead of firefighting errors, Keegan and his leadership team can focus on revenue-driving initiatives.
“QuotaPath gave me hours of my time back every month. Now, I don’t have to stress whether the math is right—it just works.”
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Connect your source of truth, whether it’s your CRM, Rippling, ERP, or data warehouse for trusted, accurate commissions.
Additionally, manual commission tracking is prone to mistakes, and Warmly wasn’t immune.
As the team scaled, so did the risk of payout discrepancies.
“I’m not a mathematician—I have a PR degree,” said Keegan. “But you don’t want to get it wrong when it comes to commissions. And once we had 35 reps, there was no way I could do this in Google Sheets without making mistakes.”
Lastly, when commission calculations happen behind closed doors, reps are left guessing their earnings.
That lack of visibility creates uncertainty and, even worse, shadow accounting.
“That’s not a good way to run a sales team,” said Keegan.
QuotaPath changed that.
Warmly’s reps see their commissions in real time as deals close, reducing disputes and increasing motivation.
“Now our team can see, ‘If I close this deal, I’ll earn this much.’ That builds trust. And when reps trust their comp plan, they focus on closing more deals instead of second-guessing their pay,” said Keegan.”
With QuotaPath, commission automation doesn’t just improve accuracy and efficiency—it strengthens company culture by ensuring everyone, from reps to executives, is aligned and informed.
How QuotaPath Delivers ROI Through Commission Automation
Saving time, reducing errors, and increasing transparency are game-changing for any sales organization.
But the real power of commission automation comes from seamless integrations, intuitive plan-building tools, and smarter payout processes—all of which ensure sales and finance teams stay aligned.
For Keegan and Warmly, these were key factors in choosing QuotaPath.
“We’re a startup—our comp plan this quarter might slightly change next quarter,” said Keegan. “I needed something easy to adjust and manage myself. When I talked to QuotaPath’s CEO, he asked me what I had today in spreadsheets and showed me exactly how simple it would be to transfer over. That gave me confidence.”
Seamless CRM and Payroll Integrations
Data silos and manual exports create inefficiencies that slow down commission payouts. QuotaPath eliminates these roadblocks by integrating directly with leading CRMs and payroll platforms, including Salesforce, HubSpot, Rippling, Xero, and Microsoft Dynamics 365.
For companies like Warmly, this means eliminating the need to cross-reference spreadsheets with CRM data, ensuring real-time syncing of deal data to improve accuracy, and pushing payouts directly to payroll to remove manual entry errors.
“I know where my closed-won revenue lives in the CRM,” said Keegan. “So when I started using QuotaPath, I wanted it to map directly to that data. Once we connected everything, it became a true set-it-and-forget-it system.”
Meet the Industry’s First AI-Powered Compensation Plan Builder
Easily create, customize, and optimize compensation plans faster than ever within a commission tracking platform.
AI-Powered Plan Builder: Faster, Smarter Compensation Design
For high-growth companies, like Warmly, compensation plans are not static. Rather, they evolve as headcounts grow and incentives shift.
QuotaPath’s AI-Powered Plan Builder makes building, adjusting, and optimizing compensation structures easy without requiring specialized RevOps or Finance expertise.
“We might add an accelerator or change our SDR headcount plan from one quarter to the next,” said Keegan. “With other tools, that means a massive implementation fee or complex configurations. With QuotaPath, I can make adjustments myself or have my CSM help in minutes.”
Using AI-powered tools, teams can automatically import compensation structures from spreadsheets, modify plans in real time without developer support, and ensure payout logic aligns with evolving business goals.
Multi-Level Payout Approvals
One of the biggest risks in commission management is premature or incorrect payouts.
Without proper approval workflows, companies either delay commissions while manually reviewing them or risk paying out incorrect amounts, leading to clawbacks and frustration.
QuotaPath introduces a structured approval process that allows RevOps and Finance leaders to review and approve commission payouts before they hit payroll, automate workflows to reduce Slack back-and-forth and last-minute audits, and provide full visibility into scheduled payouts to ensure leadership alignment.
“QuotaPath has improved our procedures, turning a two-hour commission calculation task into a quick 15-minute job.”
— Reza K., CEO at Reignite.
Sales Rep Dashboards and Performance Insights
For commission plans to drive the right behaviors, sales representatives need real-time visibility into their earnings. Before using QuotaPath, many teams struggled with a lack of transparency, leaving reps unsure of how much they had actually made.
“The transparency that we have back to the team is fantastic,” said Genevieve Moss-Hawkins, Systems Operations Senior Manager at NeuroFlow. “Being able to look at what they have in pipeline and forecast what they would make if certain deals were to close—and then all the way through to when they close the deal, seeing exactly how the commission was calculated—has been met really well by our team.”
QuotaPath tracks quota attainment, helping representatives see how close they are to hitting targets.
It also offers visibility into accelerators and bonuses, upcoming payout projections to prevent last-minute surprises, and earnings forecasting to support strategic pipeline planning.
Streamline commissions for your RevOps, Finance, and Sales teams
Design, track, and manage variable incentives with QuotaPath. Give your RevOps, finance, and sales teams transparency into sales compensation.
Why Companies Can’t Afford to Ignore Commission Automation
Manual commission tracking is more than just a time drain—it introduces errors, slows down payouts, and erodes organizational trust.
As Keegan at Warmly experienced firsthand, what starts as a manageable process quickly spirals into a costly bottleneck as a company scales.
Automation eliminates these inefficiencies, giving teams accurate, real-time commission data, seamless integrations, and the flexibility to adjust comp plans without disruption. Companies that embrace AI-powered commission management are not just improving payroll workflows—they’re creating a transparent, motivated sales culture that drives revenue growth.
The future of commission management is clear. Automated solutions are no longer optional—they are essential for scaling sales.
To see how QuotaPath can improve your commission ROI,book a demo today.
Lead generation is one of the most critical steps of any sales pipeline.
You’ll have nothing if you put the leads into the wrong pipeline. If you start with the wrong leads in the first place, you’ll throw money down the drain.
To successfully land new clients and make sales, you need to connect to the right people at the right time with the right message.
The good news is that once you know where in your sales lead pipeline you’ve gone wrong, you can usually fix it up and start seeing results fast. This guide covers the common pitfalls that cause sales leads to go cold and, more importantly, the solutions that will help fix them.
Streamline commissions for your RevOps, Finance, and Sales teams
Design, track, and manage variable incentives with QuotaPath. Give your RevOps, finance, and sales teams transparency into sales compensation.
The sale lead pipeline essentially follows these steps:
Prospecting. Here, you seek out leads, whether actively or through creating relevant content and advertisements.
Qualifying leads. As we’ll discuss later, not every lead is suitable – so here, you check whether they’re right for you.
Meetings and demonstrations. Once you’ve selected the right leads, it’s time to arrange meetings with your sales team.
Proposal. The sales pitch – how to help them, why they should choose you, and how much it costs.
Negotiation. Sometimes, a lead will agree to the proposal, and you can skip this step. More often than not, there’ll be a period of discussion.
Closing the sale. With the terms agreed, you and your customer sign off on the deal.
Post-purchase. Communication shouldn’t stop after you’ve made the sale – keep an eye on the account and stay in touch with new content and renewal deals.
Now, if you indiscriminately try to send every lead down this pipeline, your business will go bankrupt. Not every lead is going to be worth courting. That’s why lead scoring is so essential.
What is lead scoring? Essentially, lead scoring means ranking your leads based on their likelihood of becoming customers or clients.
Those who rank high get the red carpet treatment, while a passive approach works best for those who rank lower down the scale. You might wonder why low-scoring leads warrant any effort, but the answer is simple: most brands only see a conversion rate of 3.3%.
The rest of those leads are considered “Out Market” or future buyers. They may not be ready now, but you may convert them later with continued investment in your content and sales strategies.
This is precisely why businesses typically invest in scalable infrastructure for their operations. Since they know “Out Market” leads can be converted down the line to drive business growth, they choose cloud infrastructure that can quickly adapt to a business’s changing needs as its customer base expands. If you don’t have this yet, check out Azure or AWS, two of the preferred leading cloud service providers. Just don’t forget to make an AWS vs Azure pricing comparison to ensure you choose a provider that also fits your budget.
The lead type will also impact the pipeline and sales lead strategy you need to use. That’s why you need to be categorizing your leads into one of these four pillars:
Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL): Leads interested in your brand. They might have visited your website or subscribed to your newsletter.
Sales Qualified Lead (SQL): Your sales team will manually select these leads. These leads are often seen as highly likely to convert because they’ve already requested a demo or pricing information.
Product Qualified Lead (PQL): These leads have already engaged with your product, for example, through a free trial or freemium version.
Service Quality Lead: These leads have expressed explicit interest in your services; for example, they might have requested a free quote.
How Lead Generation is Changing
Before diving into the common pitfalls and problems faced by sales lead teams, one last thing to remember is that lead generation is changing.
One of the biggest reasons is that price checking has become commonplace. In a 2022 survey, 83% of customers compared prices between a few sites before purchasing online.
Since most customers compare prices and features in advance, they’re already coming to you with an idea of the price range and what your competition offers. Since research before purchase is now the norm, your tactics must change.
Luckily, a few simple but effective solutions can remove common pitfalls from your lead generation campaign.
Losing Inbound Sale Leads: Problems and Solutions
Lead generation and acquisition is a critical part of any sales outreach strategy. Knowing where you are going wrong and how to put those wrongs right will immediately help you bring in more leads and close them than ever before.
This list will cover common problems sales teams have with their inbound and outbound lead generation strategies.
The Lead Wasn’t a Good Fit for Your Product, Service, or Business
Sometimes, leads aren’t a good fit. This can happen for many reasons.
For example, the lead might:
Have accidentally clicked on an ad
Already have a product/service like yours
Not be interested in your product/service
This common pitfall is only really an issue if you spend time or funds trying to land those ill-fitted leads rather than letting them go.
The Solution
Just because a lead isn’t a good fit right now doesn’t mean it couldn’t become a solid lead later. An excellent way to avoid investing in unsuitable leads at the wrong time is first to sort your leads into sales suspects and prospects.
Sales suspects are those who may not yet be qualified leads. The best way to bring those suspects into the pipeline in the future is to continue running brand awareness campaigns and working on increasing your business’ reputation and reach. To ensure these campaigns yield the best results in the first place, track key marketing metrics. This way, you’ll know which aspects of your promotion are working and which aren’t. As a result, you can make the necessary adjustments to reach your marketing goals.
Sales prospects are those who have engaged in your business meaningfully. This can be a sign-up to your newsletter, a quote request, etc. These prospects are where you should invest your sales teams’ efforts, either through retargeting or outreach.
Image sourced from Pexels
Landing Pages Don’t Land Sales
Another common problem is that the landing page doesn’t win over the customer, leading to high bounce rates and poor ROI for your PPC campaign.
You will lose the lead if your landing page lacks information or isn’t aligned with the buyer’s intent.
Let’s say an eco-conscious consumer goes to your landing page to check out the workplace management app you’re selling. If you don’t say it’s an app you can also use to track employees’ commutes and specifically explain how to reduce carbon emission with it, then the consumer will likely think it’s just like the other workplace management apps and look for cheaper alternatives. On the other hand, if you mention this important fact from the get-go, they’ll likely make the purchase then and there.
You may also be seeing high bounce rates because your landing page is:
Too slow
Not compatible with mobile
Not displaying correctly
Links are broken
The Solution
Running A/B testing on landing pages will also allow you to tweak the message and design of your landing page to appeal to your customers. This means you create two versions of the same landing page, each with a different strategy. Then, you’ll compare conversion rates for each page. The page that outperforms the other is the winner.
Landing pages need to contain everything the customer is looking for, so it’s worth building different landing pages based on the stage of the buyer’s cycle your potential customer is in.
A person ready to buy should be taken to either the product page or a buyer’s guide page.
A person still looking for solutions to their problem will need a guide or a white paper.
A customer who doesn’t know which specific product they’re looking for but has settled on your brand should be sent to either a buyer’s guide or a sales chat.
Creating multiple landing pages and optimizing each will help convert more potential leads (suspects and prospects) now and in the future.
As a final tip, make sure your landing pages reflect your beautiful brand story. Branding statistics say that 15% of customers will make a purchase then and there if they like the brand story they see.
You Aren’t Tracking Leads Properly
Another common reason you may be losing leads is because you simply aren’t tracking them properly. Someone who could have been convinced to buy from you visits your site but then forgets about it, and because you aren’t tracking them, you have no way to make a second introduction.
The Solution
Sales lead tracking tools let you monitor and manage every interaction your business has with potential customers. These tools work to track data such as:
Website visits
Content downloads
Likes/shares/follows
When an email is opened
While tracking solutions are primarily helpful for inbound lead generation, they can also be useful for outbound. Suppose you have specific details about a prospective customer. In that case, you can invest in email marketing (if they signed up for your newsletter) or use retargeting tools to put your brand back in front of potential customers.
Combine lead tracking with lead scoring, and you’ll have a comprehensive list of potential leads and how valuable they are to you in the short and long term.
Try QuotaPath for free
Try the most collaborative solution to manage, track and payout variable compensation. Calculate commissions and pay your team accurately, and on time.
Why You Lose Outbound Sales Leads (and How to Fix It)
Your sales team may also struggle with outbound strategies. Your direct sales approach (email, cold calls, product pitches, and so on) just isn’t landing with your potential customers.
Understanding the problem and solutions will help you clean up your outbound sales approach and close more deals.
Your Sales Team Aren’t Engaged
Another common reason your business may lose leads is that your sales team isn’t feeling engaged or motivated and, therefore, is not pushing as hard as they could.
There are many reasons why your sales team doesn’t feel engaged:
They are not satisfied with their work
They don’t know what to expect, and roles aren’t clearly defined
They don’t have the tools, equipment, or support to do their job properly
They don’t receive recognition or adequate compensation for working hard
They don’t feel like they can learn or grow at your workplace
On the flip side, businesses that directly address these issues via best practices have significantly higher levels of engagement.
If you want your sales team to produce stellar results with your outbound strategy, you need to build a thriving work culture that supports them. This means you must give your team the support they need to achieve their personal and professional goals.
You’ll also want to reward and recognize your sales representative’s efforts properly. This means using tools like Quotapath to track commissions and reward your top performers with what they want in their compensation plans.
You must provide ample support and guidance for your sales team and easily recognize and reward them based on their efforts and results. This is how you build a motivated sales team that constantly tries to outdo itself.
Your Sales Approach is Lacking
If your team’s sales approach is lacking, they won’t be able to close on leads. Potential clients need to trust the sales rep and feel their problems are being addressed directly. If your sales team’s efforts aren’t up to scratch, leads will fall through the cracks.
Common problems your sales team may face include:
The sale took so long to close that the prospective client became disinterested
The sales pitch was too focused on the product or your brand and not on how it could specifically help the client
The lead may perceive your sales rep as unqualified or untrustworthy
The lead may simply not understand your brand’s product or service because it wasn’t explained well
The Solution
The best way to avoid these issues is to train your sales team. They need to be experts on your product or service to feel like experts.
You can also have their manager work with each sales rep individually to iron out any kinks and pair them with the best support tools. The goal is to have every sales rep work with their strengths.
AI, ML, and automation tools can also be powerful. Investing in technological solutions can help automate many aspects of the sales workflow, allowing you to respond faster to leads, send follow up emails automatically, and provide a personalized experience.
How to Improve Your Sale Lead Generation Strategy Further
If you don’t equally invest in your customer retention strategy, you put your hard work at risk. Long-term, loyal customers are invaluable. They cost the least overall yet generate the highest revenue, especially with subscription-based models. A 2023 PYMNTS study found that 30% of loyal subscribers (loyal customers) made up 80% of the merchant’s revenue.
You can quickly start improving your customer retention efforts with a few key improvements to your operations:
Improve Ongoing Customer Communication
While it would be nice if your customers never had a problem with your product or brand, that’s unrealistic. The chance of something causing a problem increases significantly the longer your relationship lasts – especially if you run a subscription-based service.
That’s why you need to invest in customer service.
One fundamental way to do that immediately is to improve customer communication methods. For example, you can boost call center customer retention by providing your agents with an AI-powered support tool that makes it easy to assist customers, track calls, and more.
You can also use chatbots to help customers get the needed information or escalate problems to a human representative.
Reward Loyalty
Another easy way to keep customers is to reward their loyalty. You could:
Lower their price: You can offer membership discounts that increase over time.
Offer VIP access: Treat existing customers like VIPs. For example, give them early access to sales or one-on-one training sessions.
Offer new value: Include new, high-quality content, products, and services in their subscription or product. This will encourage customers to continue using your brand.
Streamline commissions for your RevOps, Finance, and Sales teams
Design, track, and manage variable incentives with QuotaPath. Give your RevOps, finance, and sales teams transparency into sales compensation.
You can quickly address many of the challenges with lead generation by supporting your sales team and aligning your sales and marketing teams’ efforts. Remember to meet your leads where they are and then lead them through the pipeline.
Creating multiple pipelines for your leads allows you to naturally convert a suspect into a prospect, new customer, or client. Then, you can follow through on those closed deals by improving customer retention efforts.
Combined, you’ll lose less sales and increase the value of each deal you close.
Author Bio:
David Becker is a Growth Marketing Manager at Leadfeeder, a powerful website visitor analytics software. He helps drive Leadfeeder’s growth strategies and demand generation with a keen focus on mental health and well-being in the workplace. David excels in creating impactful marketing campaigns, analyzing trends, and boosting customer engagement for the team.
Managing commission payments shouldn’t be a manual, error-prone process. Yet, 72% of companies still struggle with inefficiencies and inaccuracies, leading to delays, frustration, and lack of trust among sales teams.
That’s why we’re excited to introduce QuotaPath’s new integration with Rippling—a seamless connection that automates commission payments from calculation to payout.
For the first time, finance and HR teams can push commission earnings directly into payroll with just a few clicks, eliminating the need for tedious CSV exports or last-minute manual uploads.
“QuotaPath’s integration with Rippling is a game-changer. It saves time, reduces errors, and ensures our reps get paid accurately and on schedule.”
— Jordan Rupp, Head of Finance & Operations, Hona
Why This Matters
For many businesses, managing commissions means downloading reports, formatting spreadsheets, and manually uploading payout data into payroll systems. This outdated process is slow, error-prone, and frustrating—both for those managing payroll and the sales teams waiting to get paid.
Even worse, 75% of sales reps don’t trust the calculations of their commissions.
This lack of transparency and confidence in the payout process can have a direct impact on sales performance and motivation.
QuotaPath’s integration with Rippling changes that.
What This Integration Does
Automates Commission Payments
No more spreadsheets. No more manual data entry. QuotaPath now sends commission payouts directly to Rippling’s payroll system, ensuring accuracy and compliance.
Syncs User Data for Seamless Access
Rippling users are automatically provisioned in QuotaPath, keeping teams in sync from hiring to offboarding.
Provides Real-Time Commission Visibility
Sales reps, finance teams, and HR see what’s being paid, when it’s being paid, and why, eliminating guesswork and increasing trust.
Simplifies Security & Compliance
With single sign-on (SSO) and automated approvals, finance teams stay in control while removing unnecessary admin work.
The Impact for Rippling + QuotaPath Users
Saves Hours Every Pay Run With payouts flowing directly into payroll, finance and operations teams cut down processing time by 60+ minutes per cycle.
Improves Accuracy and Reduces Risk Automated syncing eliminates the risk of duplicate entries, incorrect payments, or missed commissions.
Empowers Sales Teams with Transparency Reps no longer have to chase finance for payout updates—they can track their earnings in real-time.
Streamline commissions for your RevOps, Finance, and Sales teams
Design, track, and manage variable incentives with QuotaPath. Give your RevOps, finance, and sales teams transparency into sales compensation.
QuotaPath’s integration with Rippling is fast and easy to set up, so your teams will be up and running in no time.
“This integration has drastically improved our payout process by reducing risk and ensuring accuracy in a fraction of the time,” said Joan Schiffer, Director of Accounting at Virtuous.
Ready to transform your commission payouts?
Schedule a demo to see how QuotaPath + Rippling can simplify your sales compensation process today.
As we move deeper into 2025, the main priorities for mid-stage companies are shifting.
High-growth metrics like revenue growth rate, annual recurring revenue (ARR), and pipeline expansion once dominated the conversation.
The focus was clear: rapid scaling and capturing market share, often at the expense of efficiency and sustainability.
However, as economic conditions evolved and investor expectations began changing in late 2022 and throughout 2023, companies have found that this growth-at-all-costs approach is no longer viable.
Instead, the spotlight remains on profitability and operational efficiency.
This new mindset has brought a different set of sales KPIs to the forefront, emphasizing metrics like customer acquisition cost (CAC), customer lifetime value (LTV), and gross revenue retention (GRR).
Recommended Reading
How to solve for CAC, LTV, and gross margin using sales comp
These profitability-driven indicators reflect a broader strategic shift toward retaining high-value customers, maximizing long-term value, and optimizing sales efficiency.
What’s the cause? Most of it is fueled by rising interest rates, tighter funding environments, and increasing pressure from boards and investors to deliver sustainable results.
In this blog, we’ll share how these changes redefine sales KPIs and compensation strategies for 2025.
We’ll examine why metrics like retention, efficiency, and unit economics remain the top priorities and provide actionable guidance on aligning your compensation plans to promote sustainable growth. By understanding these trends, your organization can navigate the changing landscape and position itself for long-term success.
Streamline commissions for your RevOps, Finance, and Sales teams
Design, track, and manage variable incentives with QuotaPath. Give your RevOps, finance, and sales teams transparency into sales compensation.
The Shift in Sales KPIs: Profitability Over Growth
With tighter capital markets and inflation rates through the roof, what leaders cared about throughout the 2010s significantly differs from today’s landscape. Leaders — especially those in Finance- now scrutinize every dollar spent and prioritize metrics that ensure sustainable growth while minimizing risks.
Below are three of the most common.
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
In 2025, reducing CAC is a key priority for mid-stage companies.
As funding becomes less accessible, companies must ensure that the cost of acquiring a customer aligns with their long-term revenue potential.
Lifetime Value (LTV)
LTV has taken center stage as companies aim to maximize the value of each customer relationship. By analyzing LTV trends, sales and RevOps leaders can identify high-retention, high-value customer segments to prioritize.
Gross Revenue Retention (GRR)
Retention is the cornerstone of profitability. GRR measures how much revenue a company retains from existing customers before accounting for upsells or cross-sells. In 2025, expect compensation plans to reward customer success teams and account managers for maintaining and growing GRR.
“Alignment” Most Needed Area of Improvement in Sales Compensation
We asked leaders, “What area of your sales compensation management process needs the most improvement?” 25% reported “alignment to business goals” as the top focus.
In fact, our recent report asked leaders, “What area of your sales compensation management process needs the most improvement?”
25% reported “alignment to business goals” as the top focus. This was followed by improving simplicity, optimization, visibility, and automation. Here are some actionable strategies to ensure your compensation structures support this new focus:
Here are some actionable strategies to ensure your compensation structures support this new focus:
Incentivize Multi-Year Contracts
Multi-year contracts provide predictability and stability in revenue streams, improving GRR and lowering churn. By offering higher commission rates or bonuses for multi-year agreements, sales teams are encouraged to prioritize long-term deals over one-off wins. QuotaPath simplifies the tracking of these contracts, ensuring accurate commission payouts that motivate sales reps.
Compensation plans should emphasize acquiring and retaining customers with high LTV and low churn risk.
Offer higher commission rates for your ideal customer profiles (ICPs) or bonuses.
Paying your reps more for customers that give you more long-term is worth it. We recommend using QuotaPath’s AI-Powered Plan Builder to set up ICP bonuses in your plan to drive those selling behaviors. This will enable your reps to see and forecast how much more they make on ICP deals in their pipeline vs. non-ICP and re-direct their attention to those more valuable to the biz.
Prioritize Upsells and Cross-Sells
Revenue growth from existing customers is often more cost-effective than acquiring new ones. Compensation plans should reward account managers and sales reps for identifying and executing upsell and cross-sell opportunities.
By leveraging such strategies, you lay the groundwork for a more data-driven approach to managing sales compensation, which is where QuotaPath truly excels
Data-Driven Compensation Management with QuotaPath
A leader in sales compensation management, QuotaPath helps organizations to align their compensation strategies with key business goals.
By integrating with CRMs like HubSpot, QuotaPath provides real-time insights into earnings, commissions, and sales performance. This level of transparency motivates sales teams and ensures that your organization’s compensation plans drive sustainable growth.
Why Choose QuotaPath?
Seamless CRM Integration: Sync compensation data directly with your CRM to track KPIs like CAC, LTV, and GRR.
Customizable Plans: Design compensation plans tailored to your business priorities, whether it’s multi-year contracts or retention-focused incentives.
Actionable Insights: Use QuotaPath’s reporting tools to identify trends, optimize sales strategies, and make data-driven decisions.
Try QuotaPath for free
Try the most collaborative solution to manage, track and payout variable compensation. Calculate commissions and pay your team accurately, and on time.
Navigating the Future: A Profitability-First Approach
The sales landscape is evolving, and mid-stage companies must adapt by prioritizing profitability over growth.
Organizations can drive sustainable success by focusing on KPIs like CAC, LTV, and GRR and aligning compensation strategies with these metrics. QuotaPath stands at the forefront of this transformation, offering the tools and insights needed to navigate this new era.
Redefining your compensation strategy for today’s market?
Let’s chat.
Schedule a demo with QuotaPath and see how we can help you align your sales KPIs with long-term profitability.
Sales productivity is the ratio of a sales team’s output to input. For instance, a ratio of revenue or closed deals to time, effort, and resources used. It measures how efficiently a sales team converts resources like time and effort into revenue, quantifying the revenue generated per unit of resources used.
It’s a critical metric for organizational success as it directly impacts the bottom line by revealing how well the sales team utilizes their time and resources to generate revenue. This allows companies to identify areas for improvement and optimize their sales strategies to maximize profitability.
Improving sales productivity directly affects revenue by increasing the number of closed sales per salesperson, leading to higher overall sales figures. This, in turn, grows profitability by maximizing the return on sales efforts, reducing wasted time, and allowing for more efficient resource allocation.
Boosting sales productivity also positively affects team morale by giving sales reps a sense of accomplishment, recognition for their hard work, and the ability to spend more time on sales activities rather than on administrative tasks.
Below, we discuss how to measure it, sales productivity tools, and more.
How To Measure Sales Productivity
First, let’s start with measuring sales productivity.
Measuring and tracking your progress as you strive to boost sales productivity. Consider the following metrics, tools, and challenges as you start.
KPIs to Track:
Revenue per sales rep
Revenue per sales rep is a metric that measures how much revenue each sales representative generates over a set period.
Average deal size
The average monetary value of a closed sales deal within a specific period.
Conversion rates through the sales funnel
The percentage of prospects who advance through the stages of the sales funnel to complete a purchase or other desired outcome.
Time spent on selling vs. administrative tasks
The portion of a salesperson’s workday dedicated to directly interacting with potential customers compared to non-sales-related activities.
QuotaPath is a sales incentive compensation management and commission tracking platform that enables businesses to optimize their compensation plans. This solution allows companies to easily track and generate sales performance reporting, calculate accurate commission payouts, and motivate sales reps to close deals for their company.
HubSpot is a contact relationship management (CRM), marketing, sales, and customer service software company. Their goal is to help companies maximize sales and grow better.
Salesforce is a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) platform that helps companies develop better customer relationships. The platform offers tools for sales, service, marketing, commerce, and IT teams.
Gong.io is a Revenue Intelligence platform that captures and analyzes customer interactions, generating actionable insights that help improve revenue organizations. Gong.io records and combines customer data, helping businesses boost their sales efficiency, finetune strategies, and hasten revenue growth.
Clari’s Revenue Platform boosts efficiency, predictability, and growth along the entire revenue process. It gives revenue teams complete visibility into their business, maintains strict adherence to procedures and identifies potential risks and opportunities within the pipeline, improves forecast accuracy, and drives overall efficiency.
Challenges in Measurement
However, please note that leaders do experience some challenges when measuring this.
Common difficulties measuring sales productivity include data accuracy, technology integration, metric overload, lack of alignment on metrics, and attribution.
Inaccurate, outdated, or unconsolidated data from multiple disparate platforms can cause misleading or incorrect evaluation. Failure to align and focus on metrics due to overwhelm by the sheer number of metrics or competing priorities can limit meaningful insights. Determining the exact factors to attribute to sales involving marketing campaigns and sales efforts can also be challenging.
7 Ways To Boost Sales Productivity
To help, here are seven tactics to drive sales productivity.
Knowing which metrics, how to track them, and being aware of the potential challenges is only the beginning. Now, you need to learn how to increase sales productivity.
Set clear and achievable sales goals: Clear and realistic goals provide the sales team with a focused direction and attainable targets. This boosts motivation and facilitates more effective planning and execution.
Provide ongoing training and skill development for your sales team: Learning and development enhance sales rep productivity by ensuring team members continuously improve their techniques, stay updated with industry trends, and effectively adapt to changing market conditions.
Leverage commission automation tools like QuotaPath: Visibility into forecasted earnings helps sellers prioritize what deals to spend time on as they can quickly identify which ones make themselves (and the organization) the most money.
Streamline sales processes to minimize administrative tasks: Reducing non-sales tasks, including commission tracking, frees more time for sales reps to focus on core selling activities. Consequently, this enhances overall sales productivity and efficiency.
Regularly analyze and optimize sales territory mapping for better coverage and efficiency: This leads to enhanced sales productivity and more strategic resource allocation.
Use data-driven insights to prioritize high-potential leads and opportunities: These insights enable your sales team to focus their efforts where they are most likely to succeed, thereby maximizing efficiency and enhancing overall sales productivity.
Foster collaboration between sales, marketing, and RevOps to ensure alignment and resource sharing: Collaboration across teams leads to a cohesive strategy to increase sales productivity and drive better business outcomes.
Why You Should Care About Improving Sales Productivity
Although improving sales productivity is continuous, the rewards are worth the effort. For instance, McKinsey found that the top productivity companies generate 2.5 times higher gross margins than the least productive, giving them higher revenue potential.
The same study showed that top companies had better resource utilization, offloaded or automated non-sales activities, increasing sales team capacity by 20 percent by doing more with less. So, it’s not surprising that the study also found that businesses with greater sales productivity had enhanced ROI,generating 2.6 times the sales ROI of laggards.
Another benefit of improving sales productivity is a significantly stronger competitive advantage, allowing an organization to generate more revenue with the same resources. They gain the ability to close deals faster and adapt quickly to market changes, effectively outperforming competitors who are less efficient in their sales processes.
Boosting sales rep productivity improves employee satisfaction, making salespeople feel more efficient, accomplished, and valued. A survey revealed that employees are happier and more engaged when their work is meaningful and positively impacts the company. Plus, Forrester found that removing process friction and automating administrative tasks improves sales productivity while reducing seller stress and employee satisfaction.
Better customer experience is a natural outcome of improved sales productivity as it allows sales representatives to be more efficient, provide more personalized attention, and dedicate more time to understanding customer needs. This results in smoother and more satisfying interactions.
Lastly, improving sales productivity directly contributes to better scalability in a business, allowing a sales team to handle a larger volume of customers with the same resources. This means the sales process can be expanded without increasing overhead costs.
Common Challenges That Lower The Productivity Of Sales Teams
Remember, the common challenges that teams face that can hurt sales productivity include:
Inefficient sales processes: Wastes sales rep time on unnecessary tasks, repetitive actions, and redundant information gathering. This limits time spent actively engaging with potential customers and closing deals, resulting in lower sales numbers and missed opportunities.
Lack of clear goals or direction:This leaves salespeople unsure of what they should focus on, leading to wasted time, inconsistent effort, difficulty measuring success, and hindering reps’ ability to close deals effectively.
Excessive administrative tasks: Reduces selling time by engaging with potential customers, making sales calls, building relationships, and closing deals.
Poor lead quality or lack of prioritization: Receiving low-quality leads from marketing or an inability to identify high-potential prospects leads causes reps to waste valuable sales time chasing the wrong deals.
Inadequate training and onboarding: Leaves sales reps unprepared to engage with customers, significantly hindering performance effectively.
Misalignment between sales and other teams: When sales, marketing, and RevOps teams aren’t aligned on messaging and lead generation, this creates confusion.
Outdated or insufficient tools and technology: Too many disparate sales tools or poor integration between systems can create inefficiencies and data silos.
Difficulty tracking and analyzing performance data: Makes it more difficult to identify areas for improvement and make informed decisions to drive sales growth.
Low employee morale or high turnover: This creates a disengaged workforce, decreased motivation, poorer customer service, increased errors, and a disruption in workflow as new employees are onboarded. This ultimately results in fewer closed sales and lower overall revenue.
Unrealistic quotas or poorly designed compensation plans: Demotivates salespeople, leading to decreased effort and less focus on quality sales practice. This often results in higher turnover, as reps feel unable to achieve their targets and earn a fair reward for their work, thus impacting overall sales performance.
Ineffective communication and collaboration: Leads to misunderstandings and lost opportunities.
Market competition and external economic pressures: This can lead to price wars, longer sales cycles, and increased stress on sales teams as they struggle to meet targets amid tough economic conditions.
Streamline commissions for your RevOps, Finance, and Sales teams
Design, track, and manage variable incentives with QuotaPath. Give your RevOps, finance, and sales teams transparency into sales compensation.
Sales productivity is the ratio of a sales team’s output to its input. It measures how efficiently the team converts resources into revenue and is a critical metric.
Improving sales rep productivity enhances revenue by increasing closed sales per salesperson, maximizing profitability, and allowing for efficient resource allocation while boosting team morale.
Leverage the insights and tips we’ve shared to increase sales productivity in your organization and reap the rewards.
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