What motivates sales reps? They might care about the company’s overall success and want to see the business grow, but when it comes down to it, they’re motivated by whatever earns them the most money possible. In short, they care about what their commission plan tells them to care about. Comp managers know this in theory – but in practice, it can be difficult to know how to make a commission plan resonate with the reps it aims to motivate.  In this article, we’ll examine a few of the basic tenets of commission planning to help you develop and improve your plans in the most effective way p ..read more

In today’s highly competitive consumer goods (CG) industry, success often hinges on the strength of your relationships with key accounts. Effective key account management isn’t just a tactic, it’s a vital strategy for achieving profitable growth. But what sets your key account managers (KAMs) apart from your competitors’?  From building trust and fostering deep, meaningful relationships with your most valued customers to seizing new opportunities to elevate your brand, effective key account management lays the foundation for sustained success. What you’ll learn in this blog: Beyond sales ..read more

Learn to unlock data and build with AI Show off your AI innovations with the #BuiltWithEinstein Quest Join an AI + Data Community Tour stop Attend the AI NOW Tour Participate in an Ask Me Anything (AMA) with Salesforce Developers Attend a World Tour in your city We are in the midst of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, which is creating the most significant shifts and opportunities for Salesforce Admins and Developers in decades. Now is the time to explore how AI and data will transform applications and the way you build them. We’ve built a series of learning events and resources ..read more

Once a rep is promoted to sales manager, expectations change. Where they once were laser-focused on their own goals, they’re now responsible for training and enabling a team of successful reps. This raises the question: How do you motivate sales managers, and how is that different from managing a sales rep? In this article, we’ll explain how to set up sales managers for success – and zero in on one key element of sales motivation: compensation strategy. Motivate your team with transparent incentive pay Discover the power of automating commissions with Salesforce Spiff, and easily create incen ..read more

Here’s a customer service statistic that will stop you in your tracks: 80% of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services. The same study reveals that 88% of customers say good customer service makes them more likely to purchase again.  With so many customers staking their purchasing decisions on high-quality experiences, it makes you wonder — are you doing enough to meet customer expectations? Are you using the right technologies to deliver what customers want? And is your customer service the best possible representation of your brand?&nb ..read more

Telecommunications companies are under intense pressure. The past decade witnessed the erosion of traditional revenue sources, with significant new growth opportunities having yet to emerge. Now, carriers are pivoting to a new growth strategy to increase sales profitability through productivity, efficiency, and personalization at scale. Many are hoping Artificial Intelligence (AI) integrated into a business support system (BSS) can help them achieve these goals.  Leaders across the industry recognize the promise of AI. Even further, harnessing the power of AI has the potential to enable a ..read more

How well can you explain (or defend) the way your company compensates sales employees? In today’s world, where pay transparency and compensation fairness are increasingly in the spotlight, sales employees and high-quality job candidates want to know more than just “how” your sales reps are paid. The “why” behind your compensation strategy — your compensation philosophy — is just as critical. In this article, we’ll explain what a sales compensation philosophy really means, why it’s important, and how you can establish a winning compensation philosophy that benefits both your sales employee ..read more

Sales development reps – or SDRs – play a pivotal role in modern sales organizations. SDRs are often the first line of qualification and a major source of lead generation. That’s why compensating them well is so important: The right commission structure can motivate your SDRs to jump out of bed in the morning and take action – while the wrong one can make you fall short of your revenue and pipeline goals. In this article, we show you how to build your first SDR commission plan and share a few examples of effective compensation plans. What you’ll learn: What’s the best structure for an SDR com ..read more

Telecommunications companies are under intense pressure. The past decade witnessed the erosion of traditional revenue sources, with significant new growth opportunities having yet to emerge. Now, carriers are pivoting to a new growth strategy to increase sales profitability through productivity, efficiency, and personalization at scale. Many are hoping Artificial Intelligence (AI) integrated into a business support system (BSS) can help them achieve these goals.  Leaders across the industry recognize the promise of AI. Even further, harnessing the power of AI has the potential to enable a ..read more

Is your business ready for an audit? No, not the kind involving accountants and IRS agents. We’re talking about an AI audit, a kind of check-up on your AI systems to ensure they’re operating ethically, transparently, and within regulatory guidelines, with an eye toward understanding how they make decisions.  As generative artificial intelligence (AI) has proliferated, ethics and transparency have quickly emerged as key considerations among regulators, consumers, academics, and even private companies with skin in the game. Salesforce, for example, supports a strong but nuanced approach to ..read more