Challenges For Ongoing Management of Sales Performance Management Solutions
Common challenges for managing the operations of an off-the-shelf SPM application on an ongoing basis
CHALLENGES FOR ONGOING MANAGEMENT OF SALES PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS
The go-live of a Sales Performance Management (SPM) solution is not just the end of an implementation project, with sales leaders and reps riding off into the sunset with accurate, up-to-date sales compensation data. It is the beginning of learning to manage the operations of the SPM solution, which has its own set of obstacles and challenges.
When companies fail to plan for the ongoing management of the solution post go-live, they often experience an erosion of overall program satisfaction as it relates to the functional capabilities these solutions are intended to provide.
Consider the following results from a Sales Management Association Survey of SPM Solution Providers from July 2020:
After successfully implementing their SPM application and having utilized that solution for some time, the companies surveyed expressed that they experienced varying levels of dissatisfaction within core functional areas. Other than for workflow and reporting, almost every functional capability had a drop in customer satisfaction over time.
Common Pitfalls and Resulting Challenges
There are numerous reasons SPM programs degrade following a technology deployment, and many happen gradually over time. Here are some common pitfalls from clients:
How To Avoid or Mitigate Common PitfallsÂ
There are three parts to ensuring a strong and integrated approach to a successful management strategy for an SPM application:
1 | Establish a Comprehensive Approach to SPM Management
Ensuring the right level of support requires an examination of all relevant processes and components that are related to the effective management of an SPM program. As it relates specifically to the ongoing management of an SPM solution, the following diagram provides a high-level example of how a company could potentially break down the responsibilities into three logical buckets.
The functions that should be included in this comprehensive view include:
As a first step, reviewing your firm’s functional areas establishes line of sight on all relevant tasks and will provide the ability to set up the management of the day-to-day activities of maintaining and updating the sales compensation environment. This review allows a company to understand what and on what frequency the team needs to monitor processes, complete modifications, and assess the solution over time to ensure that it continues to optimally meet all sales compensation needs.
PLANNING TIP: Completing this review of the program processes and supporting technology should be done on an annual basis to ensure ongoing alignment of the program with the company needs. Often completed before the annual plan design effort, companies can then make changes to their programs while the new plans are being rolled out.
2 | Create a Governance Model
An effective governance model should clearly outline which roles are responsible for each of the variety of functions covered to manage the SPM application. Typically, a RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed) matrix is used to document the different relationships, functions, and how all three relate to one another. Below is a sample RACI matrix for sales compensation:
The value of documenting the entire organization’s roles and responsibilities in the ongoing management of the SPM application yields exponential dividends after go-live.
3 | Determine the Optimal Allocation of Resources
Finally, it is necessary to determine the best and most efficient resource allocation strategy to accommodate the SPM solution’s ongoing management needs. This requires an honest and unbiased assessment of in-house resources, skills, and capabilities.
Once these areas are addressed internally, look within the SPM marketplace for suitable and affordable options to address any areas that are not able to effectively be accommodated by in-house resources.
Reasons to leverage external resources for certain functions include:
- Accumulated Experience – third-party resources often have many years of expertise providing ongoing management of SPM solutions.
- Higher Levels of Training – outside entities often have higher standards for training in SPM solution technology. However, a mentorship program can help ramp up internal resources.
- Time Savings – building internal expertise with proper direction and training takes time. Leveraging external resources can result in a faster implementation.
- Reduced Cost – many companies find using external resources to be more cost effective because internal expertise may take time, as well as a lot of trial and error.
Here is a sample resource allocation matrix:
This type of differentiation and analysis enables a high-level overview for leveraging various types of resources for long-term success. This approach enables companies to determine training needs, job aides, coaching, business processes, error handling, status management, and a host of other pertinent activities required as part of ongoing management.
Starting the Process of Effective Ongoing Management of SPM
With these pitfalls in mind, each individual company should consider the vision for what effective ongoing management of SPM looks like. This should entail objectivity for how and when to make necessary changes going forward and employing a facts-based decision-making model.
Perform an objective assessment of the current SPM environment to determine how well the SPM application is being leveraged in the following areas:
Considerations For Shared or Managed Services
With the reality that many firms may not have the ability to invest in a robust management program, SPM users often opt to engage external consulting firms or the vendor’s professional services team to help cover any gaps or support them on an as needed basis.
As evident in the following diagram, many firms surveyed by Sales Management Association have leveraged external help immediately following deployment and, in some cases, in an ongoing manner.
If your team is considering an outside group to help support your SPM program, it is important to complete an assessment, as it will provide you with clear and specific feedback on the areas where you will be able to see value by helping to shore up any gaps or risks. Completing this effort before talking to external consultants will help ensure the appropriate level of support.
This paper is intended to provide insight into common challenges for managing the operations of an off-the-shelf SPM application on an ongoing basis.
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OpenSymmetry enables clients to achieve greater operational efficiency and get better sales results. We are a global consulting company specializing in the planning, implementation, and optimization of industry leading technology suppliers of sales performance management solutions.
CONSIDERATIONS WHEN REPLACING YOUR SPM TECHNOLOGY SOLUTION
Understanding the challenges companies face when migrating Sales Performance Management (SPM) technology solutions can be a significant undertaking. This paper is designed to provide high-level guidance to stakeholders who carry this responsibility. As OpenSymmetry has helped many companies evaluate and effectively migrate to new technology solutions, we are sharing seven key areas that we find critical to completing this kind of effort.
1. CURRENT STATE ASSESSMENT & FUTURE STATE PLANNING
A critical initial step before migrating to a new SPM solution is understanding how well your current program is performing across people, processes, and technology. From there you can devise a future state vision for how your SPM program should operate. By understanding both current state gaps and what your future state needs look like, you can effectively begin defining requirements while also clearly articulating success criteria. It’s important to recognize that your previous or initial SPM implementation may not have gathered all necessary processes/requirements, so it’s vital to take a fresh, holistic view in this first step.
2. DATA INTEGRATION
One of the most complex and time-consuming requirements is determining how to best leverage current source data feeds to support the new platform. Within the context of your current state assessment and future state planning, the team should review what their reporting, analytics, and any future state compensation elements needs are to ensure a meaningful inventory of data requirements are defined. SPM solutions vary in terms of how data is gathered, translated, and uploaded into the system. Some solution applications may have a standardized format requiring additional configuration, whereas others may have the ability of data field mapping, which provides additional flexibility. The ability to own the data translation from your source systems to the SPM platform is key. Another focus point is to ensure that you evaluate all manual feeds to incorporate automation, as well as any additional error validation processes.
3. HISTORICAL DATA
Migrating historical data is an often-overlooked requirement when moving from one SPM platform to another. To keep costs down and minimize complexity, clients may want to ID only the data that is needed to ensure ongoing management of comp (e.g. payment history) and then transfer detail-level data into data storage to be referenced at a future date. It is important to consider what historical data is needed for the new system for reference on future payments
4. PROCESS IMPROVEMENT
Each SPM solution may require users to interact with the system in different ways. This area may need additional attention, especially as it has the potential to improve processes currently employed to manage sales compensation. Understanding the impact a new system will have on current processes, as well as those who manage the processes, is critical to ensuring a successful launch and ongoing management of core processes. As an example, two of the leading solutions in the market have very different expectations regarding the skills users need to possess to effectively maintain compensation plans and reports and, in some cases, execute the day-to-day activities. Defining expectations of your staff related to the new technology, prior to the project, will ideally give your organization the necessary time to introduce training that ensures effective ongoing management of the program.
5. WORKFLOW
SPM solutions vary widely in their ability to support automated workflow. As a result, there are significant challenges for sales compensation teams related to an SPM migration. Capabilities can range from templates to existing documentation, levels of routing, and even implementation of a stopgap for a payee to accept plan documentation prior to payout. Within the context of your future state definition, capturing and defining areas where automated workflows can be leveraged is a necessary part of the core requirements. Before a new system is deployed, it is important to map these processes out to drive user adoption, leverage the SPM system as an auditable repository, and minimize email management.
6. REPORTING & ANALYTICS
It is critical to develop a holistic vision of information distribution to the various stakeholders and tools used to deliver this content (i.e. static pages vs. dashboards). Similar to workflows, different vendors have various capabilities related to reporting for the end users. Assessing these capabilities against your business requirements is imperative to the success of the roll-out. For example, some vendors require more robust configurations in the system (e.g. crediting logic) to enable specific analytics capabilities, while some solutions, architected specifically for reporting and analytics, have much more robust capabilities. Another area for consideration is the use of the vendor’s reporting solution against your in-house technology stack. Some solutions make it easy to port data into new environments, which could be a consideration in helping to keep the number of reporting tools requiring management to a minimum.
7. DEPLOYMENT
The implementation of a new solution should be designed to minimize the impact on payees and managers. One of the most critical aspects of your effort is assessing how all stakeholders will be impacted and how to mitigate any disruption. It is important to identify upcoming changes for your sales organization, administrators, and other internal partners with a plan in place to offer the steps needed to ensure the best chances for solution adoption.
The first step when considering a new SPM platform is an assessment of your current program and the development of a future state vision. OpenSymmetry offers a no-cost workshop to help you gain an understanding of how your current SPM program performs against your needs and industry best practices, as well as a readout on current solutions in the market.
Leveraging the OpenSymmetry assessment methodology and knowledge of the leading SPM providers, you will be equipped with:
• A current state analysis scorecard
• The framework for a business case to support change
• Contemporary intel on the SPM market and SPM vendor capabilities
• High-level deployment and license cost estimates