Companies are increasingly turning to incentive compensation management (ICM) software to streamline commission payments for representatives. Many enterprises implement the tool when they have plans for global expansion in the near future. For instance, Projectplace, a cloud-based project collaboration company, recently turned to ICM-leader Xactly to organize its compensation infrastructure before expanding. The European business needed to upgrade its ICM system after a year of record growth. 

Projectplace elected to install Xactly Express, a program designed for medium-sized enterprises. Johan Zetterström, Projectplace’s CEO, stated that it was important to organize the ICM system before moving forward with the expansion initiative. 

“We understood that before we could grow the company we needed to better [organize] our sales team, otherwise the situation would escalate into a major problem and we ran the risk of losing our top performers,” Zetterström said in a statement. 

Projectplace can ensure that all of its salespeople are working toward the correct objectives with Xactly Express. The software allows managers and agents to monitor sales figures with greater visibility than using traditional tools like spreadsheets. Supervisors can monitor every staffer’s log to ensure that he or she is on track to meet the quota. 

Calculating commissions
Before partnering with Xactly, Projectplace struggled to calculate sales incentives and pay them out in a timely fashion. Zetterström estimated that it would sometimes take three to four months for agents to receive their full paychecks. The delay was devastating to team morale and workplace satisfaction. 

According to Selling Power Magazine, agents are more motivated to sell goods or services when they are paid on schedule than when their checks are delayed. In most cases, employees start seeking new work when their employer continually fails to pay out commission checks on a consistent schedule. 

Projectplace will not have to worry about high employee turnover thanks to Xactly Express. The software automatically updates incentives when new sales figures are entered. Managers no longer have to manually calculate commissions based on every representatives actions. 

Xactly Express’ automated program has the additional benefit of eliminating costly mistakes. Projectplace was frequently overpaying many of its top contributors because of simple errors made on spreadsheets. Christopher Cabrera, Xactly’s CEO and president, believes the software will be a boon to the company’s bottom line and help motivate employees, which spreadsheets cannot do. 

“Tracking commissions on spreadsheets not only leads to costly errors, but limits a company’s ability to positively motivate better sales [behaviors] and drive results that are in-line with company objectives,” Cabrera said.