Data Management: Although calculating commissions is a large part of commission management software, data management is an even bigger component. In fact, the calculation of commissions actually comes second to data management, which is why organizations find commission software to be such a valuable addition.

Commission management software is capable of integrating with different systems so that you can sync data into a centralized location. Only after compiling all of the necessary sales, financial, and employee data do the commission calculations actually come into play.

Commission Calculations: As organizations grow and diversify, more variables are often introduced into their incentive pay plans, which can make their commission calculations more complicated over time. Quotas, accelerators, and tiered rates can all add to the complexity of a commission structure, which is why many businesses turn to commission software to automate these calculations.

These structures and calculation methods are built as rules in commission software that are then tied to designated sales reps, departments, or sales regions. Instead of manually going through the incentive considerations for each team member, the system stores all this data and uses the commission rules to produce payment outputs automatically with accurate results.

Auditing: Another sought after component of commission management software is the ability to easily audit data and calculation results. This is an important aspect of the commission management process as it ensures that the information uploaded is accurate and the data outputs are correct. Because historical data is loaded into commission software, the auditing features also allow users to compare data sources and previous data entries to ensure that the rules formula is operating off of the appropriate values.

For example, say you accidently load the wrong sales data for one of your reps and their commission outputs are drastically lower than what they have been in previous months. Automated auditing makes it easy to isolate these discrepancies to ensure that the payment amounts are consistent and accurate.

Reports, Dashboards, and Analytics: With commission management software acting as a centralized location for sales and financial data, it’s an ideal system for creating reports and viewing analytics to get a comprehensive look into how an organization is doing. Reports and analytics provide valuable insights about overall sales performance, revenue trajectory, and individual sales performance. This information can be utilized to identify areas for improvement, make informed decisions for your team, and optimize your sales strategies to drive growth and success.

Reports provide valuable information not only to commission administrators, but also leadership, managers, and even sales reps.

How Does AI Improve Commission Automation?

The whole point of adopting sales commission software is to automate as much of the sales commission management process as possible. The tedious and repetitive tasks involved with commission management are time-consuming and can detract your team from more meaningful efforts.

Increases Efficiencies: The needle is always moving. Ten years ago, commission management software was still competing with administrators managing sales compensation manually in Excel spreadsheets. It was not uncommon for administrators to spend hours entering all of their sales and revenue data into Excel spreadsheets, and on top of that, their spreadsheets were likely to be riddled with common data-entry errors.

With commission management software, time spent on processing incentive pay was reduced by nearly 80%. Now, when you factor in the integrated AI tools available in commission management software, that time is reduced further.

Let’s say that you need to make changes to your commission structure. Even with commission management software, it might take five minutes or more to implement the necessary changes to the system. With AI-generative technology, you can tell the system exactly what changes need to be made and it can implement them – without any manual manipulation – instantaneously. 

Tell the system that you need the commission rates for all sales reps in California to increase from three percent to four percent and it will take the task completely out of your hands.

System Support: Even a savvy user will have questions or situations that arise where they need extra support. Perhaps one of the most beneficial aspects of AI-integrated software are the support tools available to provide immediate assistance to user queries. These user-friendly AI-powered support chats have access to the entire system’s knowledge base. With this knowledge, they are able to answer most questions related to the system’s functionality, including step-by-step guidance for processes you may be unfamiliar with – which also comes in handy when sales reps have questions about navigating the software.

While customer support from a live person will still be available, these AI chats are able to provide you with much of the same resources and support without the wait. Instead of operating within the confines of an 8-5pm schedule, AI chats are available 24 hours a day and provide rapid responses to any queries users may have.

Even if you catch regular customer service hours, there may still be delays getting back to you, making the AI chat a desirable option for users that have simple questions that they need immediate responses to.

Embracing AI in Commission Management Software

AI technology is a valuable addition to any software, but especially complex systems such as commission management software. Incorporating AI-powered tools helps enhance the user-experience by adding an extra layer of support and reliability for users. As AI technology continues to evolve, we can expect further advancements that will continue to simplify commission management processes.

Contact us or schedule a demo so we can show you firsthand how Core can automate your commission management processes.