Sales commission software or if you prefer, sales compensation software that promotes making more sales. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Every salesperson knows just how important sales commission is. Therefore, having easy to use software that facilitates more time for chasing and closing deals is essential.

Creating more time to close deals

Having the right mindset is essential for all salespeople. If the sales commission software you use is complicated and time demanding, it will distract staff from their real goal. Yes, their goal from a personal point of view is to make money. But how is that done? By closing deals.

The advantages of CRM driven sales commission software

Keeping tabs on existing clients and having information readily to hand on prospective clients and your communications with them is vital. So, having a sales commission software package that is based on Customer Relationship Management rather than Comma Separated Values (CSV – typically spreadsheets) is a bonus.

One significant advantage of CRM sales compensation software is that it makes it possible to incorporate product catalogues. Most businesses have multiple product lines. Each product lines carries varying commission rates based on price and sales volume. 

The use of product catalogues is twofold. Firstly, it makes it easier to target your sales force toward specific products. You can put the spotlight on the product margins and revenues that you wish to promote. Secondly, it makes it easier for individual team members to track their progress in terms of sales commissions earned. Because of this, CRM driven sales commission software programs have the edge over CSV driven software.

Don’t forget your existing client base

Business and sales, in particular, is all about establishing good relationships and communication. The same goes whether you are talking cultivating new clients or expanding business with your current customer base. Far too many salesmen and women concentrate most of their activity on finding new clients. However, this can be detrimental to existing customers, who if truth be known, are your best source of new orders.

This brings us back to communicating. By staying in regular contact and recording where you’re at on the right sales commission software, you are nurturing new business. Besides new business, you will also be encouraging repeat orders.

To find out more about the best CRM based commission tracking software, book a demo or start a free 14-day trial today.

Crafting a good sales pitch is not an easy task, yet it is probably the most effective tool for closing sales and growing your clientele. That means delivering a good presentation is critical and can make all the difference in achieving your sales goals targets. Successful sales reps consider their technique an art form. To help you match up, here are five essentials of a good sales pitch:

1. Focus on the customer’s interest

Remember to pivot your argument around the customer’s interests. That means selling the experience rather than the product. Describe how your services or products will solve the customer’s needs. The most important thing to your prospect is that their demands are met. 

2. Structure the pitch around clear objectives

From the moment you open with a “hello”, every statement should lead you closer to your objectives. Define a clear list of objectives and work out how to get to each of them organically. Deviations from these objectives could make the pitch unproductive.

3. Share your insights

Share your insights and opinions whenever there is a chance. This makes the pitch feel more like a friendly conversation with an actual human being, rather than a sales presentation. If possible, share a positive story about how your service or product has helped someone.

4. Personalise every pitch

Everyone likes to feel special – your customers are no different. Effective sales presentations should therefore be personalised to your prospect. Learn their name and use it often, and try to find out about them and ask questions. Of course, there’s a fine line between interested and intrusive, so be respectful.

5. Give your customer time to respond

It’s generally said that a sales rep should never take “no” for an answer. However, there’s nothing more offputting than a hard sell. Allocate enough time for your customers to have an input in the conversation. Listen to them and encourage responsiveness by asking questions that give you an opportunity to address their pain points. Finally, if they’re unwilling to commit there and then, make a firm date to follow up with them.

When combined with targetted sales goals and sales commission software, these tips for delivering a good sales pitch will have you primed to enjoy greater success. Speak to us to learn more about our sales commission software that makes commission tracking easy and precise.

So, it’s the beginning of the month and you need to find a way to hit that all-important commission target. 

Read on for four strategies to boost your client retention, ensuring that you have guaranteed business every month *before* you start dialling out on those “BD” calls: a client retention playbook, if you will.

1. Listen

A trait of many sales professionals is the ‘gift of the gab’. When you’re on the phone or in a meeting with a client, carefully listen to what they’re saying and take it on board. Enter into a conversation with them, rather than rushing into a sales pitch, and respond to what they need in a meaningful way. This will help you build strong, positive sales relationships that go the distance. You never know – it could even lead to referrals!

2. Do your research

Make sure that you have thoroughly researched the company you are selling into. Client retention is so much more likely when it is obvious that you have taken the time to find out what matters. As well as a company website, there’s social media, forums, business blogs, press releases, and many more ways to find out about the culture, style, and values of a company. This will give you a strong competitive edge when selling your product or services as you can tailor your USP.

3. Be genuine

People can tell when you’re being insincere, so don’t be. Developing friendly working relationships goes a long way to ensuring client retention because people buy from people they like.

4. Stay in touch

Make sure you respond to messages and feedback promptly and be available to answer queries or concerns. This doesn’t end after the deal closes, either. A key to client retention is making sure you stay in touch afterwards. A good way to do this without being pushy is to follow them on their social media channels, and congratulate them on their successes. That way, you will stay top-of-mind for next time!

Our sales commission dashboard is a one-stop-shop for tracking the data around your commission in real-time, and you can keep an eye on that all-important repeat business from clients you’ve retained using our top tips!

As a sales manager, training your team will significantly improve your chances of reaching your sales performance goals. A well-trained team will deliver more sales. But how do you achieve this? Let’s look at four ways to train your team.

1. Use real-life scenarios

Your salesforce will face different situations during sales. They may meet awkward people who are tough to handle and you can help them be familiar with these problematic situations. Practical activities, such as using real-life demonstrations or simulating conditions (https://blog.commlabindia.com/elearning-design/simulation-for-sales-training-advantages), help improve the problem-solving ability of your salesforce. By testing them in these real-world situations, you get the necessary feedback to help your team improve their sales skills and feel more confident.

2. Create a continuous improvement culture

You should never forget that training your staff is a continual process. To meet your sales performance goals, you must use a system where you continuously review the performance of your salesforce on the ground. This action will expose any knowledge gap. Trends always emerge in the market, and you don’t want to be left behind. To help your team learn to adapt, you must also regularly refine your sales training methods. 

3. Identify individual needs

You should evaluate your staff’s training needs to identify problem areas. To do this, you can conduct individual performance reviews, personal interviews, or surveys. The information you get will help you know their weak points. This practice will make your training specific. You will prioritise on the relevant areas that add value to the overall performance of an individual. A personalised approach ensures you help an employee overcome a particular weakness during sales.

4. Use incentives

Your salesforce needs to be motivated to apply the training. You could set up a system that recognises those who succeed in applying the knowledge. It could be a commission-based system that appreciates their efforts. This action will push them to learn the concepts faster and earn their reward (https://www.commissionly.io/our-top-3-tips-to-break-your-sales-team-out-of-a-slump/).

Training will give your salesforce the mental edge they need to push your sales performance goals to a whole new level. So keep at it!

Working together, or against?

Many sales directors will focus on the success of each individual. They award commission based on who followed the sales process from start to finish, and who closed the deal at the end. 

Each member of staff will work against their friends and colleagues. They fight to sign those high-value contracts and maximise sales figures. It’s every man for himself.

Could working together be a better option? 

Your salespeople are individuals, each with their own way of working. Surely a better approach will identify strengths, weaknesses and personality types. Can you connect the right salesperson with each specific type of customer?

Customers know when they’re being ‘sold to’

Today’s consumers are more aware than ever. They quickly identify how they’re being treated when they’re spending their money.

Many people feel uncomfortable when they’re dealing with one salesperson from start to finish. There’s a belief that this level of consistency makes a customer feel valued. In fact, it makes some customers wonder if they’re just a number. Your customers will look for signs you’re listening to them or whether you’re just after a sale.

Instead, pass your customers around a small team at different stages of the sales journey. They’ll hear the same message from many people, which reinforces the message and can boost customer confidence.

How does this work with sales commission?

If you’re going to take this approach, things need to change. You’ll need to break free from a commission structure that rewards staff only when they close a deal. Each member of the team should receive a share of the sales commission, as a reward for working together.

With Commissionly, it’s possible to create as many sales teams as you like. Now, you can manage your payments easier than ever.

Setting realistic and relatable sales goals can be difficult. Especially since they are key to keeping sales staff motivated. But successful sales goals also keep your business strong, keep investors happy, and make team leaders proud of their team. 

At Commissionly, we know how to create realistic targets and have put together a list of the most common mistakes to avoid.

1. Not understanding what is realistic for your team

If a small proportion of your team misses their goal on a regular basis, then the problem is likely to lie with their techniques. However, if the majority of team members are failing, then it’s likely the problem is with the targets themselves. Start by defining what is realistic for your company and then create sales goals in line with this. Remember, targets should be manageable and achievable.

2. Ignoring market potential

Every market and industry is different so setting the best goals for your business relies on following current market trends. Are you entering a previously untapped market or promoting a new product that fills a gap? Then aggressive sales goals may help you to establish your brand before competitors catch up. 

3. Failing to train team members in sales

You wouldn’t expect someone who hasn’t learned how to drive to be a chauffeur. Thus, you can’t expect new sales staff to exceed their targets immediately. There is an art to selling and anyone who is willing can learn the tricks of the trade. That means it’s important to teach new team members how you do things and impart any tips for success. You can also allow older team members to share their experiences and wisdom, improving communication and team spirit in turn. 

At Commissionly, we pride ourselves on being the first cloud-based sales commission and sales compensation management web app for SMEs. For more information about our product and the benefits it brings, get in touch with us today [https://www.commissionly.io/sales-commission-dashboard/].

No matter the industry, the sales team is one of the hardest working teams within any business. Ask any salesperson what motivates them, and the answer will typically be “money”. Nobody gets into a sales role to achieve a basic salary and commission plays a huge role in ‘the win’.

Sales roles are demanding, and at times can be demotivating. Frequent rejection, the frustration of being passed from pillar to post as you navigate companies to find your buyer, having a customer on the hook and losing them at the 11^thhour. It isn’t hard to understand how many sales reps can find themselves in a slump. Here are just a few tips on how you can improve the general morale of your sales team, and as a result, see a spike in employee performance. 

1. Training

Employee training is important, especially for salespeople. Regardless of their previous background in sales, if an employee does not intimately know what they are selling they are handicapped in the process. Invest in your employees, and ensure they are as knowledgeable as they can be about the products or services being offered and the differentiating factors of the company behind them. 

2. Bonus/commission

A bonus and commission are often the key motivators for people within a sales role, as these are often a big contribution toward the monthly pay an employee will receive. Investing in a sales commission software will take the difficulty out of commission, it will automatically show each individual employee what commission they are earning, as well as show the efforts of the team as a whole. Having a system with real-time updates shows employees exactly where they are at any given time and where their peers are, which is ideal for target setting. 

3. Friendly competition

Within a sales environment, a competitive atmosphere is essential to bring out the best in your sales team. By encouraging friendly competition, whether it be with work targets or a sports sweepstakes, this will encourage the right atmosphere needed to drive up those sales numbers. By being able to track their performance and their commission targets, employees will be able to reflect more easily on what is and isn’t working for them within sales.

4. A happy workplace

Finally, making sure your employees are happy within the workplace and feel as though they are valued and appreciated will do wonders for morale, improve retention levels as well as performance.

In most cases, companies use sales commissions and quotas to motivate their sales reps. Essentially, you hit a particular target, and the company pays you an agreed sum of money. This type of motivator is extrinsic and it is a successful lever but intrinsic, non-financial motivators are important too and getting these working together is the real key to infusing energy into your sales reps, increase productivity and get the very most from your sales team.

A strong sense of purpose

Some sales reps are motivated by a strong sense of purpose. They believe in the products and services they are selling and the benefits that they deliver to their customers. They are personally invested and delighted by the satisfaction their customers get from their products and services. Reps who are driven by a strong sense of purpose should be brought into the client feedback loop to champion their clients and provide insight into product and service development. 

Accountability and ownership

When people are involved in setting their own goals, they are more invested and more likely to achieve them. As much as the company will always have its overarching goals for the sales department, it is essential to allow individual reps to create sales goals that are SMART and map out their own plan to achieve success. Having personal targets that are aligned with the company’s goals helps to improve motivation and attainment. 

Autonomy

Whilst management at varying levels is required in most organizations, ‘micromanagement’ is often one of the reasons given when people chose to leave a position. Innovative, fast-moving business are recognizing the importance of self-management – working our clear goals with employees and giving them autonomy to deliver. Giving your sales reps some control over their own time manage, their daily schedules and the tools and techniques they use, without the need for a lot of bureaucracy may enable them to sore. 

The rapport between sales reps and managers

Managers and sales reps should work together to define best ways of work in term of communication, how they intend to handle supervision and feedback. For some reps, having a quick meeting with their manager every day is quite motivating while others find the weekly sit-down more helpful. It’s important to find out what works best for your team and personalizing the approach for each member in order to get the best out of them.

At Commissionly we offer a cloud-based sales commission and sales compensation management web app to help you motivate your sales team by using a commission-based payment structure. With a well-structured commission coupled with non-cash incentives, you can be sure that your sales team will deliver impeccable results.

Every single business wants to generate profits. The goal of business is to provide a service or product that solves a problem your audience is experiencing and to grow the business so that year on year it can accrue greater financial payback.

1. Research your target audience

If you don’t know who you are appealing to, how can you hope to target your service or product to the people that will benefit most from it? You need to understand who your ideal customer is, what you can do to reach them, and define how your offering can be refined to meet their needs

2. Stick to what you know (at least at the start)

When trying to grow a business or create sales goals, it can be very tempting to try and diversify so that you can reach as many people as possible. But being all things to all people can backfire and leave you meaning not much to anyone. Focus on your core offering, what differentiates your business and make it the best it can be.

3. Figure out what sets you apart

Why should a customer choose you over a rival organisation? What do you do that other businesses can’t? If you are able to define this, you will be able to build your communications around this and grow your reputation to engage your key audience.

4. Utilise a variety of marketing channels

When it comes to marketing, you need to ensure that you don’t put all of your eggs in one basket and ensure the channels you choose are reaching your core audience. There are so many channels to consider from social media, email marketing, your website, thought leadership blogs, events, direct marketing, networking, webinars and a variety of other marketing methods to ensure you reach the right people at the right time. The more effective your marketing becomes, the greater the engagement you will have with your customer and the easier it will be to increase sales over time.

5. Showcase your expertise 

Whether it’s through your website, infographics, videos, blogs, podcasts, webinars and physical demonstrations you need to create content to show that you are an expert in your particular field. If people are going to trust you, then you should be able to walk the walk as well as talk the talk. Working with clients and customers to help grow your content repository can help to further bolster engagement and your reputation.

However, it is absolutely essential to grow a business in a way that is sustainable. Slow and steady wins the race, after all. So, with that in mind, here are five simple tips to ensure that your business grows steadily and in a manner that doesn’t put it at unnecessary risk.

…is the next one! Sounds obvious, but this flies in the face of an old sales adage: you’re only as good as your last call. Not so! While that previous call might have established or continued a positive customer relationship, this really offers no more than an ‘in’ for the next time.

Why that next call should be different

If a salesperson is making regular calls to established customers, then another saying should be front of mind. And it’s this: familiarity breeds contempt. However, this can be a bit harsh, so perhaps it should be adapted to: familiarity can breed indifference.

More of the same-old, same-old

There are many salespeople who are satisfied with a call to such a customer where the previous order is repeated. They measure this as a success – and it’s fair to say that, on occasions, this might be the best outcome that can be achieved. However, that isn’t the same as being in a comfort zone where this is simply the salesperson’s expectation.

Adding something new to a call

In the scenario just described, there can be a comfortable relationship between buyer and seller. Until, that is, another salesperson arrives on the scene behaving pro-actively. This individual is offering something new or different. This might be no more than paying proper attention to the client and their needs, rather than taking them for granted. 

So, what might the something new be? It could be a product or service, or an improvement on what’s currently on offer. However, it might be no more than taking time to ask questions of the customer, to find out how their business – and therefore their needs – might have changed or be changing.

Changing expectations and outcomes

By the simple showing of interest, rather than just taking them for granted, a salesperson can move their relationship up a notch with regular, or infrequent, customers. Even for a first-time call, the level of genuine interest shown can be a game-changer! Author Maya Angelou said it well when she suggested that “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” 

The Commissionly cloud-based sales commission software app can offer evidence to managers of where the same-old is being accepted or an improvement is being striven for. To find out more about keeping a close eye on performance and more…