Congratulations! You finally tossed the spreadsheets and adopted commission software! It was the right choice because, as we’ve said before, spreadsheets are filled with errors. At the end of the day, the commission workload will be reduced and commission reports will be more reliable. So you can just sit back and watch those commission calculations run on their own, right? That’s partially true but you may still have a little work to do before you get there.
To get your commission software up and running, you’ll need to invest time into it. In some cases, that may mean collaborating with an implementer — as our Enterprise and Managed Services subscribers do. Other times, you may need to build out the software on your own.
You’re climbing out of the spreadsheet mess now that you have commission software but there’s still a little more work to do.
Either way, you’ll be building your commission structure and calculations into the software. Every step of the process needs to be properly automated during this onboarding phase. It’s a process that needs your close attention to make sure it gets done right from the get-go.
To help walk you through this process, we pulled together a few pointers for you. Read on for tips and tricks when working with commission software.
Know Your Data Sources
All of the data needed to fully calculate your commission cycles comes from somewhere. Maybe you still keep excel sheets for sales purposes. Perhaps you input sales data into Salesforce or another CRM. Even a time tracking application, like Harvest, may act as a source for incentive payments. Honestly, it doesn’t matter where you’re getting the numbers — it could be sourced from Sesame Street’s The Count. You have to know where to find the data and how to export it for commission purposes.
If your source is a business application of some sort, it may be worth exploring integration. Core Commissions integrates with any upstream or downstream data source. If it’s got an API, we can connect it to your commissions and make that data sourcing part so much easier.
Map Out Your Commission Plan
The point of contact at your company needs to fully understand the commission plan and structure. Whether it’s you or someone else, they need to be prepared to translate it for the purposes of the application. That’s because you’ll want to set up your application properly from the very beginning. Adjustments to your application can be frustrating — and costly, depending on the software you’ve chosen. If you’re working with Core Commissions, we have solutions that make adjustments much easier and more affordable but we still like to get it right the first time.
If you’re an Enterprise or Managed Services subscriber, our implementers wield a good deal of experience with commission structures of all sizes and complexities. So no matter what you’ve got under the hood of that compensation system, we can handle it. You’ll just need to walk us through it so we can set it up for you.
Stay In Touch
Throughout the implementation process, the application requires your attention. Even when working with an implementer, they may have questions about the flow of your calculations or schedules. You’ll want to test out the rules before you put them in action too.
The bottom line is that you need to be ready to contribute to the build of your commission software. Once it’s fully up and running, you can take more of a back seat. However, when changes to the commission plan, you’ll need to get in touch. Of course, you could also revise the application yourself with our easy drag and drop tools but that’s up to you!
We’d be happy to show you everything that goes into fully implementing your commission software at Core Commissions. Contact us for more information. You can also set up a free demo to get the full walk-through. We’re looking forward to collaborating with you very soon!