Sales Compensation Automation Trends Survey

Transcription

1 Sales Compensation Automation Trends Survey Section 1: Program Administration 1. Is there a designated owner (a formally recognized individual or team) of the sales compensation administration process within your organization? a. Yes, reporting to HR b. Yes, reporting to Sales c. Yes, reporting to Finance d. Yes, reporting to Sales Operations e. Yes, reporting to IT f. Yes, reporting to another functional area g. Other (open ended) h. No, there is not a formally recognized organizational owner 2. Which of the following best describes the process used to administer your sales compensation plan? a. It is a formal process with required documentation and approvals b. It is an informal process, but is mostly the same each year c. The process changes year to year d. Other Section 2: Program Administration 3. Is the sales compensation administration process documented? a. Yes, and updated regularly (annually or more frequently) b. Yes, and updated infrequently (every couple of years) c. Yes, it was documented once but hasn t been updated since d. No 4. Which of the following best describes how sales compensation administration (not design) is managed within your organization? a. Centralized process led by headquarters staff b. Centralized process led by headquarters staff with business unit representation c. Headquarters led process with business unit decision making d. Headquarters led process with geographic region decision making e. Decentralized process led by business units f. Decentralized process led by geographic regions g. Other

2 5. For the majority of participants in your sales compensation plan, how long does it typically take from the end of the measurement period to process incentive payments? a. Less than 2 weeks b. 2 3 weeks c. 4 6 weeks d weeks e. More than 10 weeks 6. Which of the following percentages best indicates the accuracy rate of incentive payments (dollars paid) made to your field sales people each period? a. Greater than 99% b. 95% 99% c. 90% 94% d. 85% 89% e. Less than 85% 7. Does your organization attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of the sales compensation administration process? a. yes b. no (skip next question) 8. Which of the following are used to evaluate the effectiveness of the sales compensation administration process? (Please select all that apply) a. Accuracy rate b. Audit scores c. Incentive payouts to budget d. Number of questions from the field e. Ratio of total administration cost to sales f. Response time to field requests g. Sales time spent on compensation issues h. Time to payout each period i. Other (open ended) 9. Within your organization, about how many full time equivalent employees (FTEs) from the business side (e.g. from HR, finance, etc., but excluding IT and sales) are involved in administering the sales compensation program (e.g., data collection, calculation processing, report generation, manual adjustments/reconciliation, answering field questions)? a. Less than 1 FTE b. 1 2 FTE c. 3 5 FTEs d FTEs e FTEs f. More than 20 FTEs

3 10. About how many FTEs from the information technology (IT) function within your organization are involved in administering the sales compensation program (e.g., through data collection, calculation processing, report generation, manual adjustments/reconciliation, answering field questions, etc.)? a. Less than 1 FTE b. 1 2 FTE c. 3 5 FTEs d FTEs e FTEs f. More than 20 FTEs 11. What are the biggest challenges in sales compensation administration that your organization is facing at this time? (Please select all that apply) a. High volume of data to process b. Too many manual adjustments c. Insufficient resource levels (IT or administration) d. Complexity of the sales compensation program/inflexible tool e. Data problems f. Other (Open ended) Section 3: Technologies Used 12. Which of the following technologies are used in your organization to support sales compensation administration? (Please select all that apply) a. Excel b. Access c. Custom program mainframe d. Custom program client / server environment e. Third party sales performance management (SPM) software. Also referred to as EIM or ICM. f. We outsource our compensation administration g. Other (open ended) 13. Which of the following technologies are used in your organization to support the sales compensation planning cycle (plan design, forecasting, modeling, quota setting, and territory alignment)? (Please select all that apply) a. Excel b. Access c. Standardized reporting from a custom system d. Third party SPM tools e. Other (open ended)

4 14. Which of the following technologies are used in your organization for sales compensation reporting and analytics? (Please select all that apply) a. Excel b. Access c. Static reports from third party reporting tools (e.g. Business Objects, Actutate, MicroStrategy, Crystal Reports, etc.) d. Ad hoc reports from third party reporting tools (e.g. Business Objects, Actutate, MicroStrategy, Crystal Reports, etc.) e. Other (open ended) 15. Are you using an automated workflow for any of the following activities? (Please select all that apply) a. Communication of compensation plans b. Compensation plan design activities c. Quota setting d. Payroll approval e. Disputes f. Claims g. Other (open ended) 16. Is any of your supporting technology in a hosted, SaaS (software as a service) or cloud environment? a. Yes b. No Section 4: Reporting and Analytics 17. How many unique sales and performance pay reports do you provide to each plan participant, on average? a. None b. 1 2 c. 3 4 d. 5 6 e. Greater than How frequently do you provide sales and performance pay reports to plan participants? a. Real time through user access b. Daily c. Weekly d. Every two weeks e. Monthly f. Quarterly g. Less frequently than quarterly

5 19. What is the single biggest challenge for providing sales and performance pay reports to plan participants at this time? a. Time to generate reports b. Data quality c. Product issues d. Other (open ended) e. No major challenges at this time 20. How long does it typically take to modify existing sales and performance pay reports for your plan participants? a. Less than 1 week b. 1 week c. 2 4 weeks d. Greater than 1 month e. Currently do not have ability to modify or update Section 5: New Technology 21. Has your organization invested in sales compensation infrastructure within the last 24 months? a. Yes, purchased a new solution b. Yes, built a new solution internally c. Yes, upgrade to our existing solution d. Yes, made enhancements (e.g., new modules/functionality) for our existing solution e. No, but we are in the process of building or buying a new solution (skip to 28) f. No, but it is in our plan (skip to 28) g. No, but we are currently considering it (skip to 28) 22. If the investment was made at least 1 year ago, what would you estimate to be the return on investment (ROI) after 1 year? a. Greater than 50% b. Between 26% and 50% c. Between 11% and 25% d. Between 1% and 10% e. Breakeven f. We haven't broken even but believe we will soon g. We haven't broken even and are not sure whether we will h. We haven't broken even and probably won't, but we needed to do the project i. Can t estimate the ROI j. Not applicable investment was made less than 1 year ago

6 23. For which of the following does your new sales compensation technology investment either meet or exceed your expectations? (Please select top 3) a. Improved reporting to the sales force b. Improved reporting to management c. Increased credibility with the sales force and management d. Improved service to the sales force (to provide a quicker response to inquiries) e. Reduced 'shadow accounting' and decrease the amount of time spent by the sales force on incentive compensation calculation issues f. Improved payment accuracy g. Eased the creation and tracking of adjustments h. Increased our auditing capabilities i. Improved administration productivity j. Other (open ended) 24. If you had it to do over again, which of the following would you do differently you re your recent sales compensation technology investment? (Please select top 3) a. Allocate more time to get the software installed and configured b. Conduct more thorough testing prior to moving the system into production c. Consult an independent third party expert to assist during the vendor selection process d. Create a more complete definition of business requirements before vendor selection e. Ensure more executive involvement during implementation f. Ensure more involvement of sales compensation analysts during implementation g. Ensure more involvement of sales management during implementation h. Ensure plan designs are finalized prior to beginning implementation i. Ensure that crediting rules were better documented j. Ensure that incentive roll up, roll over, roll down data is fully documented prior to implementation k. Perform more follow up on references during the vendor selection process l. Provide additional training to sales compensation analysts m. Provide more staffing during implementation (internal IT and sales operations) n. Streamline work processes prior to implementation o. Research more vendor tools during the vendor selection process p. Spend more time ensuring data feeds are clean and accurate q. Spend more time developing and documenting reporting requirements r. Other (open end) 25. What are the top 3 things you would change about your new sales compensation technology? a. (open end) b. (open end) c. (open end)

7 Section 6: Respondent Demographics 26. Which of the following best indicates your organization's industry? a. Distribution and wholesale trade b. Financial services c. Health care d. Insurance e. Manufacturing f. Medical products g. Pharmaceutical and biotechnology h. Publishing and information services i. Technology software j. Technology hardware k. Telecommunications wireless l. Telecommunications wireline m. Other (open ended) 27. Which of the following best describes your role in the organization? a. Finance management b. Human resources management c. IT management d. Sales operations management e. Sales compensation analyst f. Sales compensation manager g. Sales compensation IT support h. Sales management i. Other (open ended) 28. How many people participate in your organization's sales compensation program? a. Less than100 b c d ,000 e. 1,001 2,500 f. 2,501 5,000 g. 5,001 10,000 h. More than 10, Does your company pay incentives to indirect channel partners (e.g. agents, brokers, dealers)? a. Yes b. No

8 30. If yes, how many of your indirect channel partners participate in the program? a. Less than 10 b c d e f ,000 g. 1,001 2,500 h. 2,501 5,000 i. Greater than 5,000 j. Not applicable 31. Which amount best describes what your organization has planned for its 2012 sales compensation budget? a. Less than $10,000,000 b. $10,000,000 $49,999,999 c. $50,000,000 $99,999,999 d. $100,000,000 $249,999,999 e. Greater than $250,000, Which total below best describes your organization s annual budget (including full time equivalent employees [FTEs], software costs, etc.) that is dedicated to sales compensation administration? a. Less than $100,000 b. $100,001 $500,000 c. $500,001 $1,000,000 d. $1,000,001 $3,000,000 e. Greater than $3,000,000 Contents WorldatWork The contents of this document are not to be re-used or re-distributed in any format, electronic or print. For questions regarding the copyright of this content, contact the Surveys Team (surveypanel@worldatwork.org).