To help the sales management team stay the course, here are five essential areas that sales operations teams should never ignore for achieving optimal performance of any business. In 2025, we will not only have sky-high buildings but also sky-high quarterly results, sky-high enterprise value to earnings ratios and sky-high exit strategies if everything goes as we plan. What the sales operations team should double-down on to keep the sales revenue sky-high are the following:
1. Data-Driven Compensation Plans
This will leave no room for emotion or prior sales success. By 2025, sales operations teams will be expected to leverage data on previous sales performances in designing variable comp plans. For example, leveraging AI to forecast employee ‘closing times’ can help design variable compensation plans by enabling organisations to match their offerings with known employee
2. Personalization of Incentives
Thecompassing incentive plans of recent times no longer cut it. Sales teams in a marketplace cannot be given a blanket approach. Sales ops teams should be diligent in segmenting teams for the right incentives and benefits. Rewards could be provided crudely, for instance, based on seniority, performance, or region.The higher standings in terms of performance or the more demanding region, the more aggressive/richer the incentive could be.
3. Real-Time Transparency
Salespeople want real-time visibility into their performance and earnings potential. In 2025, they need more than archaic reports. Sales reps need digital systems that provide real-time dashboards to measure their progress instantly, providing the motivation and trust they need to do their jobs well. For example, providing daily updates via CRM-integrated incentive attainment packages would empower a salesperson with a more inclusive
4. Compliance and Governance
Under mounting regulatory pressures, companies can no longer respond to compliance quandaries as they arise. Instead, Sales Ops must weave governance into every thread of the compensation lifecycle – from plan design to payout. Compliance will have to be automated, from any deviations in pay agreements to any indiscretions among sales force members. This will help ensure that an organisation avoids any financial or reputational risk.
5. Aligning with Revenue Goals
And finally, compensation for sales agents must be very tightly linked to revenue goals. Plans written at the expense of strategic considerations will bring things to a screeching halt. Sales ops must strike a carefully tuned balance between the resources companies spend to generate revenue right now, and the use of those resources to generate even more revenue in the future.
These five tactics will help enable your sales ops team to create rock-solid, forward-looking comp design in 2025 that fosters growth, keeps you accountable, and leads to success.
