Just as a tune-up makes a car run better, periodic health checks on SPM implementations can optimize SPM processes and improve the overall ROI. This is especially true for SaaS products which are frequently updated, making it difficult to keep abreast of all the new features constantly being rolled out.
In fact, due to the impact of COVID-19 on businesses, a health check is not only recommended, it’s imperative. Why? Almost all businesses are seeing significant gaps between the sales forecasted at the beginning of the year and actual sales to date. Businesses have had to adjust their sales compensation plans to reflect the current situation And if you’ve changed any aspect of your sales compensation plan, you need your SPM tools and processes to be updated accordingly.
So, there are many reasons – both from a technical aspect and from a business aspect – for conducting a health check. Here are just a few of them:
Compensation Plans Evolve
As mentioned above, due to COVID-19 most businesses have had to make ad-hoc changes to the sales compensation plans. Aside from COVID, think back to when you first implemented your SPM tool – be it Callidus, Xactly, Varicent or some other tool. What did your sales comp plans look like then? You may not even recall the nuances of your comp plans at that time. More than likely your plans have evolved since the initial implementation and you’ve made small ongoing tweaks along the way or perhaps, you’ve done a major overhaul.
I suggest stepping back and taking a holistic look at both your SPM system design and underlying business processes. For example, in a recent health check performed for a client, we found several versions of similar lookup tables, built by various team members over the years, which could be consolidated into one single lookup table for easier maintenance and better performance. Because most comp administrators are focused on their “day jobs”, they don’t realize that they can speed up the process by working ‘smart’ instead of just ‘hard’. A health check identifies all such improvement opportunities.
Business Processes Evolve
Just like compensation plans, business processes evolve as well. But has your SPM system kept up? A health check presents a good opportunity to take a fresh look at your current business process to determine how to best leverage your SPM tool. For instance, your sales team may still be submitting inquiries via emails even though the SPM tool may have Dispute resolution functionality you should be taking advantage of.
Other factors such as business growth, M&A, and IT upgrades can also impact the ROI of your SPM implementation. All the changes incorporated on an ‘as-needed’ basis in piecemeal fashion add up over the years and it becomes necessary to reset the course and steady the ship. Conducting a health check lets you reassess and determine if there are ways your SPM system can work more effectively.
New Features
Let’s be honest. Do you really pay attention to all the software release notes? Chances are you missed something interesting along the way, or dismissed something you didn’t need when it was first released but may be useful to you now. There may even be new offerings from the software vendors at no additional cost that you may benefit from. Performing a health check allows you to discover such features and offerings. For example, Analytics may have been an add-on module in the past, but is now available for all base subscriptions. The knowledge you gain from a health check can help you carve your system roadmap more efficiently, thus increasing your ROI.
Irrespective of the tool you use, if you’d like a no-obligation Health Check for your SPM landscape, please contact us at info@spectrumtek.com.