At Core Commissions, we understand the benefit of a single, streamlined business management solution, like an ERP. However, relying on a single vendor to provide software and services that require specialized attention, like sales commissions, jeopardizes the flexibility, functionality, and other features already built into an application concentrated solely on the complex task of commission management.
Standalone commission software provides flexibility and functionality you won’t get from a combined business management solution.
Having all your business applications and systems working together in harmony simply makes sense. That’s why Core Commissions integrates with any upstream or downstream data source — to provide you with an integrated but flexible option.
Commissions As Just Another Feature
If you’ve got a business system that offers a commission calculation feature, it may not be ideal. While it may seem easier to activate an out-of-the-box sales commissions product from pre-packaged enterprise solutions, it often limits your ability to manage commissions effectively.
The tool you’re signing up for probably has more value to the vendor as a marketing device and not as an actual, functional application. It is generally developed by a team with less experience in sales commissions who must split their time between a wide range of products performing all sorts of functions. For that reason, that sales commissions tool they’re offering you is not getting the concentrated attention it needs. It can also result in unexpected costs when it comes to maintenance, updates, or even small but necessary changes.
We’ve detailed the biggest reasons to opt for a standalone commission solution, like Core Commissions, over a product that’s part of a big, enterprise business application.
Why Standalone Commission Software?
- Limited Features: With most all-in-one business solutions, the actual system was originally built for a purpose other than calculating commissions. That means the commission tool you’re considering was created as an afterthought and it will only offer very minimal features.
- Lack of Customization: Since the commission tool is more of an accessory than a prioritized product, it will likely only offer out-of-the-box options that fail to provide the level of customization that many sales organizations require.
- Minimal Expertise: The engineers and implementers maintaining the overall business solution are spread thin across a number of functionalities offered through this single vendor. It’s unlikely that any of these individuals have a specialized familiarity with what’s required from a complex sales commission management tool. That means they’re doing the bare minimum to keep the commission tool running.
- Inadequate Customer Support & Training: Without access to that expertise we mentioned above, customers will also struggle to find the assistance and support they need to effectively run commission cycles through the tool.
- Diminished Flexibility: Complex commission plans experience constant updates and shifts. Any application handling these complex calculations needs to be flexible and easily manipulated by administrators. A feature that acts simply as a peripheral option to the primary products will likely not have the kind of flexibility needed to fulfill the requirements of a complex plan.
- Loss of Control Over Administrative Access: With a bunch of applications and tools in the same place, it may be harder to limit who has access to what parts of a commission management tool. It may be difficult to give sales representatives access to dashboards that show their specific information without giving them the ability to log into other parts of the package. Additionally, the commission administrator may have to navigate through a number of other applications just to get to the tools they need to do their job.
- Unforeseen Costs: Many large-scale applications charge additional fees outside of the normal subscription fee. More than likely, the vendor will not share those fees upfront but it may result in customers spending more money on upgrades needed to do basic commission tasks or to purchase additional seats for a commission management team.
Our advice? Avoid the hassle and come see how Core Commissions can simplify your complex commission plans. Contact us or schedule a free demo and we’ll show you personally what a standalone commission solution can do that an offshoot of a larger business system can’t.