CSO Insights 2011 Sales Compensation Report Says: 'It's Time To Take It Up A Level'
Pay Is Accurate And On Time But That's No Longer Sufficient.
/EINPresswire.com/ BOULDER, CO - September 21, 2011 -- CSO Insights announces the release of their 2011 Sales Compensation and Performance Management report. This is the report's fourth year and the results show improvement in some areas while other issues still need to be addressed. Despite an uncertain business climate and volatile stock market, this year's research data shows there is significant upside for those companies focusing on performance management.
More than 850 firms responded to the 2011 Sales Compensation and Performance Management survey. Of these, the largest single segment at 31% was enterprise size firms with more than $1B in annual revenues; the next largest segment (25%) was small businesses with annual revenues less than $10M. The report covers 40-plus metrics, some of which are:
• Criteria used to in setting quotas/goals
• % of reps expected to make quota during plan design
• Methods used for designing/managing territories
• Impact of comp and incentive program on sales force retention
• Manager's basis for Coaching
• Priorities for compensation plan improvement
While the majority of firms feel their compensation schemes "generally" drive the sales rep behaviors they desire, only 1 in 10 feel their compensation plan consistently does so—a figure unchanged from one year ago. Further, while the emphasis has appropriately been on paying reps accurately and on time, some firms are going beyond these minimums to leverage their managers and infrastructure to coach their sales reps to higher performance.
• Retaining sales talent could yield up to 830% ROI.
• Coaching attitude left to managers performs no better than "No Coaching" philosophy.
• Informal and formal coaching both underperform rigorous coaching.
"Compensation and incentive management have largely been focused on accurate and timely payments, and minimizing disputes," said Barry Trailer, Managing Partner. "These are now low priority for improvements while the ability to judge plan effectiveness and visibility into sales performance has jumped to become top priorities."
Firms who state their compensation plan consistently drives the precise selling behaviors desired remains unchanged this year-and is only true for 1 in 10 firms. Those indicating their plans generally drive desired behavior dropped 3.5 points, and those that feel their plan has minimal or no impact increased 2.5 points.
The report ends with Recommendations Going Forward and notes that the top three areas needing improvement are, in order: Maximizing Selling Time (47%), Encouraging Desired Rep Behaviors (46%), and Using Sales Activity Information for Planning (45%). These three areas are up, on average, 20 points each over the prior year. Sales management clearly recognizes these growing needs; the question is whether these improvements will be implemented in the year ahead.
Get the full Sales Compensation report or email Laura Andrus at Laura.Andrus@CSOinsights.com.
About CSO Insights
CSO Insights is a sales effectiveness research firm that specializes in measuring how companies are leveraging people, process, technology, and knowledge to improve the way they market and sell to customers. For 18 years, CSO Insights' surveys of over 10,000 sales effectiveness initiatives have been the standard for tracking the evolution of how the role of sales is changing, revealing the challenges that are impacting sales performance, and showing how companies are addressing these issues.
Media
• To interview Barry Trailer, please email Barry.Trailer@csoinsights or call 415-924-3500.
• To obtain a PDF copy of the full report, please email Kim Cameron at Kim.Cameron@csoinsights.com.
• Tags: sales compensation, sales quota, performance management, compensation design, sales management
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/EINPresswire.com/ BOULDER, CO - September 21, 2011 -- CSO Insights announces the release of their 2011 Sales Compensation and Performance Management report. This is the report's fourth year and the results show improvement in some areas while other issues still need to be addressed. Despite an uncertain business climate and volatile stock market, this year's research data shows there is significant upside for those companies focusing on performance management.
More than 850 firms responded to the 2011 Sales Compensation and Performance Management survey. Of these, the largest single segment at 31% was enterprise size firms with more than $1B in annual revenues; the next largest segment (25%) was small businesses with annual revenues less than $10M. The report covers 40-plus metrics, some of which are:
• Criteria used to in setting quotas/goals
• % of reps expected to make quota during plan design
• Methods used for designing/managing territories
• Impact of comp and incentive program on sales force retention
• Manager's basis for Coaching
• Priorities for compensation plan improvement
While the majority of firms feel their compensation schemes "generally" drive the sales rep behaviors they desire, only 1 in 10 feel their compensation plan consistently does so—a figure unchanged from one year ago. Further, while the emphasis has appropriately been on paying reps accurately and on time, some firms are going beyond these minimums to leverage their managers and infrastructure to coach their sales reps to higher performance.
• Retaining sales talent could yield up to 830% ROI.
• Coaching attitude left to managers performs no better than "No Coaching" philosophy.
• Informal and formal coaching both underperform rigorous coaching.
"Compensation and incentive management have largely been focused on accurate and timely payments, and minimizing disputes," said Barry Trailer, Managing Partner. "These are now low priority for improvements while the ability to judge plan effectiveness and visibility into sales performance has jumped to become top priorities."
Firms who state their compensation plan consistently drives the precise selling behaviors desired remains unchanged this year-and is only true for 1 in 10 firms. Those indicating their plans generally drive desired behavior dropped 3.5 points, and those that feel their plan has minimal or no impact increased 2.5 points.
The report ends with Recommendations Going Forward and notes that the top three areas needing improvement are, in order: Maximizing Selling Time (47%), Encouraging Desired Rep Behaviors (46%), and Using Sales Activity Information for Planning (45%). These three areas are up, on average, 20 points each over the prior year. Sales management clearly recognizes these growing needs; the question is whether these improvements will be implemented in the year ahead.
Get the full Sales Compensation report or email Laura Andrus at Laura.Andrus@CSOinsights.com.
About CSO Insights
CSO Insights is a sales effectiveness research firm that specializes in measuring how companies are leveraging people, process, technology, and knowledge to improve the way they market and sell to customers. For 18 years, CSO Insights' surveys of over 10,000 sales effectiveness initiatives have been the standard for tracking the evolution of how the role of sales is changing, revealing the challenges that are impacting sales performance, and showing how companies are addressing these issues.
Media
• To interview Barry Trailer, please email Barry.Trailer@csoinsights or call 415-924-3500.
• To obtain a PDF copy of the full report, please email Kim Cameron at Kim.Cameron@csoinsights.com.
• Tags: sales compensation, sales quota, performance management, compensation design, sales management
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