April 14, 2008 2:00 P.m. - 3:00 p.m.
The 1-2-3 on Sales Contests: What Works and What Doesn’t
Mike Ryan, Senior Vice President, MADISON Performance Group
Looking to run a sales contest? What issues are critical? What communication and award approaches work best? What pitfalls lurk? And how will the right decisions you make today get you an even bigger seat at the planning table tomorrow? During this session, we’ll examine:
how a structured design process can help you avoid mistakes, identify efficiencies, and give you enhanced diagnostic and control tools that will make the next contest even better
what types of reward offerings work best and why
how sales managers can play an even bigger role in motivating your reps to embrace the behaviors that distinguish them in today’s competitive market
April 14, 2008 2:00 P.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Taming the Volatile Sales Cycle
Many companies experience wild fluctuation in their revenues. During one quarter, new offerings are selling faster than proverbial hotcakes. But in the next quarter, the sales force can’t seem to give those same products away. At the beginning of every quarter, sales tend to falter; at the end, they often surge. This continuous roller coaster can be a huge problem when big deals fail to materialize at the last minute. Join us for this session to learn how to achieve a more continuous and predictable revenue stream by prioritizing your sales activities, as well as:
how to avoid common mistakes in funnel management
how to prioritize selling activities that will reduce "boom and bust" sales cycles
ideas to continually build prospects while closing deals
April 14, 2008 2:00 P.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Aligning Channel Compensation with Your Sales Strategy
Mark Donnolo, Senior Vice President and Sales Effectiveness Practice Leader, MarketBridge
If your organization sells through channels such as resellers,
distributors, or agents your success depends on motivating them with
the right incentives. Unlike the direct sales force, partners may be free
agents, have varying business objectives, and drive toward different
ends. A complete, indirect channel compensation program includes
understanding how each channel partner type fits within your sales
strategy, knowing what’s valuable to each partner segment, and driving
their performance to the right strategic objectives with the right
incentives. This session will:
introduce attendees to the essential structures for channel
partner compensation
outline the steps for developing a channel compensation
program that fits with your strategy
provide illustrative examples from businesses that have been
successful, and who have learned from their mistakes, with
channel compensation
April 14, 2008 3:15 P.M. - 4:15 p.m.
Set Up for Success: Using New Sales Models to Drive Performance
Scott Sands, Southeastern Region Practice Leader-Sales Effectiveness & Compensation, Watson Wyatt Worldwide Karen Slay, Senior Consultant-Sales Effectiveness & Compensation, Watson Wyatt Worldwide
Increasing revenue, managing costs, penetrating new markets and introducing new products are all things we ask sales compensation plans to support. The reality is often that sales compensation cannot help your organization accomplish these things alone. There are many aspects of a business' sales model which may need to change to tap into the next level of sales productivity. Based on new Watson Wyatt research, we will lay out a path to optimal sales results through a combined approach of improved sales models and more effective sales compensation concepts. We will also discuss:
two real company examples that had a measurable impact on performance
tools and techniques required for the mid-level manager to sell these types of initiatives upward and outward in their organization
how to tap into the next level of sales productivity
Sales rep training and development is changing radically as the younger generation demands it and the technology available to communicate evolves. This session is an opportunity to discuss how your peers are developing their younger generation of sales reps and integrating today’s technology with tried and true methods to develop and grow the skills and knowledge of their sales forces. Join us as we examine the training and development strategies participants have in place and how to maximize their results in today’s environment. During this session, attendees will take a closer look at:
what’s working and not working in their own sales rep development plans for the younger generation
how to use technology to give a more immersive sales learning experience
the tried and true methods to retain versus jettison
April 14, 2008 3:15 P.M. - 4:15 p.m.
Controlling the Uncontrollable: Sales Compensation Management With Limited Authority
Charles “Skip” Odell, Vice President-International Compensation & Global Benefits, MetLife, Inc.
Michael Slovin, Senior Director-Sales & Sales Operations, Comcast Cable Paul Reiman, Senior Consultant, Hewitt
Your company has grown globally, with geographic management emerging as the de facto operating model… or you’ve made a series of acquisitions, with the transaction strategy being to allow operating autonomy. You’re chartered with “managing” sales compensation for the enterprise—but have no real decision making or implementation power to make it happen. How can you be effective in this environment? Based on actual case examples from practitioners in this situation, this session will help attendees:
utilize a framework for making “local vs. global” sales compensation decisions
understand key strategies for successfully making sales coimpensation change in a decentralized environment
share insights from two organizations who have “controlled the uncontrollable”
April 14, 2008 4:30 P.M. - 5:30 p.m.
Sales Role Dissection - Not for the Squeamish
Sales roles are ever-changing and more complex than ever and sales leaders often struggle to ensure that their sales force effectiveness processes properly guide metrics, capability, and reward systems. The answer to diagnosing the health of your sales roles—and applying the very best holistic remedies—is to start with the dissection of the various species of high-performing sales jobs. Join us for this somewhat clinical, yet enlightening, session that unlocks the mysteries of why some sales roles are designed for peak performance—and others are doomed to atrophy. Attend this session to:
gain a basic understanding of how sales roles are constructed, and how to align your sales roles to
a useful sales role design template
learn to disassemble and observe the critical internal and external characteristics that lead to
success in various selling roles
learn how to apply these learnings when defining the appropriate metrics, competencies and reward programs
for your sales roles
April 14, 2008 4:30 P.M. - 5:30 p.m.
Defining the Riverbanks: Balancing Consistency and Flexibility in Plan Design Across Roles, Divisions, and Geographies
Many organizations struggle with managing multiple sales incentives plans for multiple roles across an array of business units. The tendency in most large organizations it to either allow too much local autonomy, or to centralize plan design and governance to the point that plans are force-fitted to sales roles in the name of consistency. We will share practical approaches to managing this competing need for consistency with flexibility in plan design across the organization. Following the session, attendees will:
be able to identify the signs that their approach to sales plan standardization allows too much local autonomy or not enough, and understand the associated risks
leave with an understanding of those aspects of plan design that can (and should be) consistent from plan to plan, as well as those aspects that cannot (and should not) be, along with best practices to use in arriving at a consistent yet
discover through specific examples how different companies in different industries have solved the flexibility/consistency challenge
April 14, 2008 4:30 P.M. - 5:30 p.m.
Beyond “How Much” – Current Practices In Sales Compensation Design And Management
John C. Keller, Director - Global Sales Compensation, Verizon Business Kathy Ledford, Principal, Buck Consultants
Sales leaders, sales compensation plan designers, and administrators are keenly interested in “practices” questions as much as they are in levels of pay. Yet, data is scarce. This session will review learnings from a recent Buck survey of sales compensation practices, as well as provide real world examples of how these choices may play out. Mr. Keller and Ms. Ledford host this session with an eye to providing a glimpse of how a cross section of companies address issues such as:
paying for long-term contracts
assigning sales credit in deals with multiple sellers
assessing sales compensation plan effectiveness
April 15, 2008 8:30 A.M. - 9:30 A.m.
Quota Setting – Best Practices and Land Mine Avoidance
If your organization uses quotas to measure and reward salesperson performance, you are well aware of the challenges that such plans present – questions and complaints from the sales force about how quotas are set, difficulty in communicating quotas to salespeople prior to the start of the period, and uncertainty about when (and why) quota adjustments are appropriate. Well designed and communicated quotas can help you achieve your sales targets, reduce sales force turnover, and ease the operational burden of quota setting. This session will include discussion of:
commonly used quota setting methodologies and each methodology’s strengths and weaknesses
best practices around communicating your quota setting methodology and quotas to your sales force
challenges that most companies face in the quota setting process – and suggestions for how to overcome them
April 15, 2008 8:30 A.M. - 9:30 A.m.
Dealing with Sales Communications Overload
When assessing salesperson performance and planning their daily/weekly tasks, many organizations underestimate or ignore the time required to process all of the information being delivered to the salesperson, and the impact it can have on selling time. Receiving too much information – or even worse, receiving conflicting information – will lower sales force productivity and effectiveness, and prevent salespeople from acting on critical information when it is supplied. In this session, attendees will learn how to:
understand the overall set of information being delivered to salespeople
centrally manage and control the flow of information to salespeople
ensure that the information delivered is useful, timely, and consistent
Do you have reports that are simplified or modified because they could not be implemented or are confusing and difficult to follow? When desired reports cannot be designed, implemented, and managed, the resulting inconsistency between the reports and the strategy causes lower sales force productivity and effectiveness, which results in lost revenue, lower margins, and higher costs.
In this session, you will learn how organizations have overcome these problems to:
design sales reports that align with their strategy,
easily and rapidly implement those reports, and
accurately and consistently manage the production of those reports
April 15, 2008 2:00 P.M. - 3:00 P.m.
Improving Sales Performance in a Web 2.0 World
More than three-fourths of executives who responded to a McKinsey survey say they plan to maintain or increase their investments in technology trends that encourage user collaboration, such as peer-to-peer networking, social networks, and Web services. Collectively referred to as Web 2.0, these technologies represent a significant opportunity to further sales training and development, both formally and informally for organizations. The Web 2.0 tools are rapidly becoming more widely used to facilitate professional networking, create on-demand content, and collaborate with peers around the world. Please join Mr. DiStefano and Ms. Wilsker as they:
provide you with the opportunity to learn more about Web 2.0 technologies
examine how these are being used to enhance learning within sales organizations
share several best practice examples
April 15, 2008 2:15 P.M. - 3:15 p.m.
What’s Happening in Sales Total Rewards and Talent Management
During this session, explore the findings of a brand new Hewitt survey on current practices in sales total rewards and talent management. The comprehensive findings from nearly 100 brand name companies provide valuable insights to business leaders seeking quality external benchmarking data for assessing their own company’s practices. By attending this session, attendees will:
learn key trends (and the causes underlying these trends) in such areas as sales compensation design, long-term incentive practices for sales roles, recognition awards, auto policy, quota-setting, performance management, training, on-boarding, manager time allocation, and more
have fresh reference points for benchmarking how these trends relate to their own company’s situation or practices
gain insights on these topics from others through facilitated discussion among breakout session participants
April 15, 2008 2:00 P.M. - 3:00 p.m.
Leverage the Process: Why Sales Compensation Design is the Real Secret to Achieving Total Sales Performance
Chris Hergesell, Principal, Mercer Sales Effectiveness Practice Dyana ten Berge, Senior Associate, Mercer Sales Effectiveness Practice
Sales management often turns to sales operations or Human Resources for assistance in developing new compensation plans when it discovers the sales force has a performance problem. And while a new sales compensation plan alone will rarely fix performance issues, the process of developing a new compensation system uncovers myriad opportunities to improve sales performance beyond paying the salespeople more and/or differently. Join Mr. Hergesell and Ms. ten Berge as they discuss how to:
properly identify opportunities for sales performance improvement
propose remedies for performance issues
apply core HR and sales operations skills to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the sales force
April 15, 2008 3:30 P.M. - 4:30 p.m.
Sales Leadership: Creating and Sustaining a Climate of Sales Excellence
All sales organizations strive to improve sales performance through investing in revenue creation and managing the bottom line. However, many organizations miss the opportunity to establish conditions (“climate”) that motivates sales teams to give their best efforts–every day. During this session, attendees will:
gain an understanding, based on Hay Group’s forty years of research and data, of the power of climate, and its direct impact on sales and business results
identify the different types of climates and how sales leaders who incent the “right” climate can realize 30% gains in performance and productivity over those sales leaders who do not
determine a strategy and tactics to enhance or sustain a climate of sales excellence
April 15, 2008 3:30 P.M. - 4:30 p.m.
There’s a New Sheriff in Town: Sales Compensation During Ownership Transition
Joseph DiMisa, Senior Vice President and Sales Effectiveness Practice Leader, Sibson Consulting
Dennis Spahr, Vice President -Sales Effectiveness Practice, Sibson Consulting
Although merger and acquisition activity has slowed from the frenetic pace of early 2007, the pressure to succeed remains high. While the focus of many buyout firms is on streamlining the operations (to sell or go public in three to five years), the sales organization is still expected to produce increasingly more top-line growth while watching expenses. This session will address the keys to sales success and the role of sales compensation during and after ownership transition. Attendees will:
learn the key actions to take prior to and after integration that will increase the sales organization’s chances for success
learn how sales compensation can answer the the sales personnel- posed question of "What’s in it for me?"
discuss successful (and not so successful) sales compensation/sales force integrations
April 15, 2008 3:30 P.M. - 4:30 p.m.
Reinventing and Freshening Sales Compensation for Frito-Lay’s Legendary Field Sales Organization
Patrick McLaughlin, Vice President-Human Resources & Change Leadership,
Frito-Lay Ted Briggs, National Thought Leader-Sales Effectiveness & Compensation, Watson Wyatt Worldwide Clinton Gott, Senior Consultant-Sales Effectiveness & Compensation, Watson Wyatt Worldwide
Few North American companies can claim the history and size of the Frito-Lay field sales organization. Faced with a changing labor market, market conditions and a long legacy of “proven” practices, Frito-Lay undertook developing a new approach to sales compensation to address today’s business demands and realities. This session provides an overview of the environment and challenges that Frito-Lay’s 20,000-plus field sales force faced, as well as the company’s manifold, strategic approach which included:
resolving technical design issues
building organizational alignment
implementing a new sales compensation pilot program and developing the necessary sales management tools and administration system
