Businesses know that an effective Sales Performance Management (“SPM”) process means more revenue and better alignment of outcomes to company objectives. But creating and fortifying this process is no easy feat. Challenges arise across industries and geographies that SPM technologies work hard to mitigate.

Salesforce has made incredible strides in the last 3 years to answer customer needs for a holistic SPM solution. In 2021, Salesforce retired the original Territory Management tool and replaced it with an advanced version, called Enterprise Territory Management. Then in 2023, Salesforce went all in on SPM, creating Sales Planning and Sales Programs tools, and acquiring Spiff, a leader in the ICM space.

Neocol’s SPM experts are problem solvers. Let’s break down some common SPM problems that our consultants see and how we might apply Salesforce’s suite of SPM tools to resolve them.

1. Field Sales Efficiency

Problem: Field sales incur huge expenses due to customer on-sites and related travel. After sales commissions, this is often a company’s largest sales expense. Even the most diligent sellers can be inefficient in how they travel to customers within their region. 

Salesforce Solution: Salesforce Maps

Salesforce Maps is a geolocation intelligence platform that integrates seamlessly with Salesforce CRM. It allows businesses to visualize their data geographically, enabling sales teams to optimize their routes, prioritize leads based on proximity, and plan more efficient customer visits.

2. Seller Coaching

Problem: Many sales organizations struggle to provide effective coaching to their sellers, leading to inconsistent performance and missed opportunities. The challenge lies in finding scalable ways to deliver personalized coaching that addresses individual rep needs and drives continuous improvement.

Salesforce Solution: Salesforce Sales Engagement & Sales Programs

Sellers can receive real-time support via Salesforce Sales engagement. Communications are unified, emails automated, and Einstein provides valuable insights. Sales Programs solidifies seller behavior with measurable objectives that can be tracked and achieved.

3. Strategic Sales Planning

Problem: Business objects must align with actionable sales strategies while maintaining the flexibility to adapt as needed. Balancing consistency and flexibility with targets that focus on high-value opportunities presents a significant challenge for any sales organization.

Salesforce Solution: Enterprise Territory Management & Sales Planning

Salesforce ETM enables businesses to strategically define and optimize territories at scale. By leveraging customizable rules and data –driven insights, organizations can ensure equitable distribution of resources while maximizing sales coverage. 

Salesforce Sales Planning empowers organizations to create and execute strategic sales plans to drive revenue growth. It provides tools for setting targets, assigning territories, and aligning sales efforts with business objectives.

4. Time to Payout

Problem: Substantial delay between when a sale is made and when the sales representative receives their commission payment can lead to frustration, demotivation, and decreased performance. Preparing payment for sellers manually is one of the most time-consuming tasks for a sales operations team.

Salesforce Solution: Salesforce Spiff

Salesforce’s incentive compensation management tool, Spiff, enables real-time commission information to be displayed to sellers. Automated calculations ensure high confidence of both administrators and sellers. Time to payout can be greatly reduced thanks to the elimination of time-consuming manual calculation and audit tasks.

5. ASC 606

Problem: Businesses must ensure that sales commissions are accurately calculated and attributed to the appropriate periods, products, and performance metrics in compliance with ASC 606 guidelines. Commission recognition and reporting requirements maintain high levels of effort for both sales and accounting teams when completed manually.

Salesforce Solution: Salesforce Spiff

Along with being a powerful calculation engine, Spiff also has commission expense accounting capabilities. Businesses can utilize one of Spiff’s OOTB reports or produce a custom build to automate journal entries and the general ledger. 

6. Performance Optimization

Problem: Companies that do not properly analyze their sales data risk missing critical insights that drive informed decision-making and strategic planning. This oversight can lead to inefficient resource allocation, suboptimal sales strategies, and lost revenue opportunities. Ultimately, failing to leverage sales data effectively undermines competitive advantage and hampers overall business growth.

Salesforce Solution: Spiff + Data Cloud + CRM-A

Integrating Spiff with Salesforce Data Cloud and Salesforce CRM Analytics empowers businesses with real-time, unified data and advanced analytics to drive strategic decisions. Spiff streamlines incentive compensation management, ensuring accurate and motivating payouts, while Salesforce Data Cloud consolidates customer data for a holistic view. Combined with Salesforce CRM Analytics’ predictive insights, this integration enables businesses to swiftly adapt to market changes, optimize sales performance, and deliver personalized customer experiences.

A Comprehensive Practice Fit to Supercharge Your Sales Performance

Salesforce’s comprehensive suite of SPM solutions addresses the multifaceted challenges that businesses face in optimizing their sales processes. By integrating advanced tools like Salesforce Maps, Sales Engagement, Sales Programs, Enterprise Territory Management, Sales Planning, Spiff, and Salesforce Data Cloud with CRM Analytics, organizations can enhance field sales efficiency, provide effective seller coaching, align strategic sales planning, streamline commission payouts, ensure compliance with ASC 606, and leverage data-driven insights for strategic decision-making. These solutions empower businesses to achieve greater efficiency, drive revenue growth, and maintain a competitive edge in an ever-evolving marketplace. Neocol’s expertise in implementing these tools ensures that companies can fully harness the power of Salesforce’s SPM capabilities to achieve their sales objectives and business goals.

Let Neocol supercharge your sales performance – Contact Us to get rolling!