Sales commission reports need to clearly communicate data to their audience. That audience could include salespeople, sales managers, or even executives. All of them need to be able to easily digest the information included in a document. That’s why designing a commission report is an important part of the commission management process.
Subscribers to Core Commissions automatically access a library of pre-designed reports. However, for those who need something a little different, there is the option to create customized reports that work for your sales organization.
A well-designed commission report can tell a story to its audience.
What makes a great customized report? A lot of that depends on what you’re aiming to communicate through your data. Since we’ve had some experience working on sales commission reports, we figured we’d offer our tips.
Keep It Focused
Narrow in on the message you want to share. In the case of an individualized commission report for a single salesperson, the message is earnings. When your audience is a bit broader, the message may evolve a bit.
Perhaps you want to show sales revenue growth over time. You may choose to lay that information out in a table or display growth through a graph. Make sure you keep the data limited to growth with a clearly defined timeframe, such as a year or a quarter.
Clearly Identify Data
No matter which format you choose, label data in a discernible way. Remember that your audience may not be as familiar with the metrics and statistics you’re sharing. For that reason, it’s important to find ways to mark the data in a way that communicates its purpose.
Labeling data in a report can also help you determine the best way to narrow down the numbers you use. That’s because it needs to be easy to explain what you’re exhibiting through that data. As an example, when building a graph, you’ll need to be able to easily describe the numbers listed along both the X-axis and the Y-axis. There isn’t a lot of room for those labels, so you need to keep the description to a minimum.
Balance Text with Visuals
While text is necessary to describe the data, it’s best to keep it limited. If text overpowers the visual elements of your report, it’s entirely possible that your audience will immediately check out the minute they see endless paragraphs. Keep labels brief but descriptive. Additional details can be incorporated into bullets instead of paragraphs to make it easily digestible.
Find a Flow
When incorporating a number of key metrics and analytics into a single report, it’s wise to lay it out in a logical way. Perhaps you’ll want to tell the story of your data in sequential order (from earliest to latest). Another option would be to lead with the highest priorities to the overall organization then follow with more team-specific or individualized goals. However you choose to structure the report, just arrange it in a way that makes sense for your organization and the specific audience’s interests.
If you’d like to boost your sales commission reports without too much setup, we have the perfect package for you. Core Reporter allows small businesses to easily generate whatever reports they need. We’d love to show you how it works. Message us for more info or schedule a free demo so we can give you a personalized view of how it’ll work.