In the sales world, stagnation is the enemy of progress. A performance plateau not only limits future profitability, it’s probably indicative of a deeper-seated issue in the company. You can help reverse the process of sluggish productivity and reinvigorate employees with sales performance management software. Here are three ways to make your sales performance management software plan soar:
1. Keep it simple
Organizations can wind up deploying performance management software that eats into employee’s workdays all in an effort to provide better visibility and transparency. Business 2 Community contributor Dave Brock recently wrote about the underrated importance of simplicity in design, objective and execution.
“Too many commission and incentive plans are becoming so diluted with different components, it takes PhD’s in statistics and behavioral analysis to understand,” he wrote. “Gradually, these plans become so bloated, it’s impossible to understand exactly what the sales person or manager is supposed to focus on, and the two or three key behaviors or performance elements that are most important to the organization achieving and exceeding its goals.”
2. Focus on the positive
While sales performance management software should highlight and commend superior performance, it shouldn’t be used to focus on poor performance without proper guidance from management. Negative reinforcement is a poor long-term strategy for any business application, as it can breed resentment more often than it spurs employees to improvement. Management can use SPM software to help improve its sales team’s results.
3. Look for areas of improvement – and then make changes
One of the other advantages of using a simple sales performance management software and duty-driven approach is that it can help identify areas of improvement. Rather than tying employee behavior directly to results, management staff can identify areas in which the sales process can be revised. They can then share these results with employees, improving transparency, and collaborate on ways to address issues or try out new strategies. With intuitive results metrics, sales professionals can better understand how their performance fits into the organization’s overall goals.
