Imagine trying to ensure the success of a complicated open heart surgery by a novice surgeon using only monetary incentives.  Do you think that promising her $10,000 for a successful operation will enable her to actually perform the procedure?  It's highly doubtful.  Without the proper training and coaching the likelihood of her succeeding is extremely low.

When I talk with companies about the concepts of a complete sales performance management offering and bring up this example, I often get the retort, "but you can't compare a complex medical operation to sales!" Granted there are a few "small" differences, but the fundamentals are the same.  In each case, you are looking to improve the performance of an individual conducting a task. Today's sales environment is growing increasingly complex and competitive.  However, simply throwing money at sales reps won't ensure success if an organization doesn't have the proper tools in place to help employees respond to incentives.  To enable sales reps to succeed in this competitive environment, organizations must provide suitable coaching, goal setting, and follow-up tracking.  Just as a surgeon never stops studying and practicing new techniques, a sales rep's path to success is to never stop refining and improving upon his or her message and methods through targeted coaching and training.

To improve front line performance, an organization must utilize all the levers it has to enable its employee in the sales cycle.  It's not enough for an organization to roll out a new compensation plan in a vacuum.  Rather, as noted in Ventana Research conducted earlier this, leading and most competitive sales organizations today are adopting sales coaching and variable pay systems to drive performance.  

There's more to come on the various levers sales organizations can use to drive results.  But in the mean time, we want to hear about your experiences with incentive compensation!