Saving time: 8 benefits of a commission tool

For many companies, calculating and managing commissions represents a considerable waste of time. A resource that could be put to work on in business and higher added-value tasks.

To understand how and how much time these companies can reduce the amount of time they spend on commissions, Qobra's teams met with a number of Sales leaders and Ops leaders at prestigious companies such as Spendesk, Hosman, Pennylane, Welcome to the Jungle, Partoo, Glady and many others.

Their experience and feedback gives us valuable insight into how much time is saved by switching from Excel or Google Sheet to a commission tool.

‍

1. Automated commission calculation

📊 Figures to remember

According to Palette's The state of sales compensation survey, 71% of companies have to update spreadsheets, verify data, manage version control and perform other manual commission-related tasks.

Automated commission calculation is one of the most popular features of commission management tools. By connecting directly to the CRM, this tool eliminates the need to manually retrieve data and process it on spreadsheets. 

Sales Reps and Sales Managers can save valuable time and concentrate on higher value-added tasks.

"I'm only going to log on a few times a month to check that the integration with Salesforce is working properly and that the information sent automatically to Qobra is correct. Which is actually the case, because today it only takes a few seconds to check and be sure that at the end of the month there won't be any discussions at all."

Clémentine Platel-Paris, Head of Sales Southern Europe at Spendesk

‍

2. Access to commissioning data in just a few clicks

Commissioning tools offer unprecedented accessibility to commissioning data, giving sales reps easy access to relevant information with just a few clicks. Whether looking at the performance of a team, a sales rep or a specific deal, data is available in real time, enabling informed decisions to be made quickly and efficiently.

"Qobra makes it possible to centralize all remuneration models for all teams on a single tool."

Clément Paul, Sales Director at Payfit

"Unlike an Excel file, when we wanted to find information about a sale, we had to do a lot of searching. With Qobra, all the sales reps have to do is find the sale, mention their manager, and they can then independently retrieve all the information relating to the sale. So it's very easy to deal with the slightest request, and it avoids discussions and back and forth, they have all the data, it's very factual."
‍
Damien Robert, Revenue Operations Manager at Zenchef

‍

3. Quick configuration and modification of commissioning plans

Configuring or modifying a commissioning plan can sometimes be time-consuming and resource-intensive. 

To remedy this, certain platforms such as Qobra have developed no-code commission plan editors, which now make this a simple, quick task that can be carried out. In just a few minutes, Sales Reps, Operations Managers, Sales Ops or RevOps can define or modify commission rules, beneficiaries, payment frequency and much more, without having to invest hours in tedious processes. 

"Since switching to Qobra, we have saved 30% of our time spent on commissions."

Lucas Finchelstein, Revenue Operations at Sport Heroes

"When there are new commissioning plans, we have to change the model. It doesn't happen every month, but when it does, it takes a lot of time. By rationalising over a month, I'd say we save 1 to 2 days a month on drawing up plans and checking that they're correct."
‍
Maximilien Jooris, Head of Revenue Operations at Agicap

‍

4. Scalability of commissioning plans in just a few clicks

Managing commission plans can be a major challenge for Sales Reps, especially in dynamic environments where objectives and organizational structures change rapidly. 

Unlike spreadsheets, commissioning tools make any commission plan scalable in just a few clicks, offering unrivaled flexibility to adapt to market and business changes!

"We have sales engineers, account managers, sales reps, everyone has slightly different plans but connected to each other. With Qobra, we can have different models that we reuse for the same jobs, while being able to adjust a few small variables."

Tomas Hons, GTM Strategy & Operations Manager
at Make

‍

5. Error and conflict prevention

Reducing commission calculation errors is a major benefit of commission tools, contributing to the peace of mind of Sales Directors, Sales Managers and Sales Reps themselves. 

By avoiding remuneration errors, a major problem with traditional solutions (Excel, Google Sheet), commissioning tools also remove the need to go back and forth with different stakeholders to resolve issues. The transparency and real-time visibility offered by platforms such as Qobra on the operation of the commission plan and on current and past individual commissions reduces questions and queries.

"When a Sales person has questions about their commission, instead of me and them taking time, the visibility we have on Qobra means we can get an answer almost instantly."

Guillaume Call, Sales Rep at Partoo

"Before, we had a lot of questions every time we did a payroll, about incorrect amounts for example. Now, with the transparency and information we provide on Qobra, we've eliminated most complaints."

Mathieu Parin, Global Sales Ops Director at Payfit

‍

6. Feedback system for rapid problem resolution

Some of the tools on the market, such as Qobra, offer sales reps a feedback system directly on commissions, enabling them to quickly identify who is responsible for any errors and to resolve problems in just a few minutes. This feature enhances transparency and communication within the sales reps team, while reducing the time needed to resolve commission-related issues.

"There's the option of creating a personalized message with each sales rep to get more information on this or that amount. This greatly facilitates dialogue."

‍Adrien Petit, Sales Director at Arjo

"Qobra allows us to see exactly which commission corresponds to which property, and if there's the slightest error, there's also a chat in Qobra, which allows us to quickly comment on the error if it happens, but in any case, that's much less the case than it used to be."

Anatole Oger, Sales Manager at Hosman

‍

7. Reliable commissions : More time to devote to business

📊 Figures to remember

According to the Salesforce State of Sales survey, sales reps spend only 28% of their week on sales, the rest on essential but tedious tasks such as data entry, data verification and commission.

The transparency offered by commission tools guarantees sales reps that their commissions are 100% reliable, so they don't have to spend hours recalculating them every month. 

For a company of 50 sales reps, this represents a considerable time saving of around 4 hours per month per sales rep, i.e. around 2,400 extra hours per year that can be devoted to productive sales activities!

"Before, sales reps didn't have real-time visibility of their variable, so they each had their own little Google Sheets to calculate their variable, so they lost a bit of that business focus throughout the year."

Paul Barret, Sales Ops at Glady

"With Qobra, every sales rep can check their commission statement at the end of the month and make sure they're getting what they're owed. Each manager can also check the sales reps' commission statements and make sure they're getting what we owe them."

Maximilien Jooris, Head of Revenue Operations at Agicap

For a company of 50 sales reps, this represents a considerable time saving of around 4 hours per month per sales rep, or around 2,400 extra hours per year that can be devoted to productive sales activities!

‍

8. Simplification of the commission validation and payment process

Validating commissions can be a tedious and time-consuming process, often requiring back-and-forth between sales reps, managers and HR or finance departments. 

Qobra simplifies this process by automating the sending of commission slips to payroll, and enabling the amounts to be validated quickly and easily by the appropriate managers. This saves a considerable amount of time and avoids costly errors when paying sales reps.

"I'm pinged directly by the Sales Operations teams who ask me to check that the commission amounts are the right ones in Qobra. Then, I only have one click to make, and it's good to go."

Thibault Lemaître, Sales Manager at Pennylane‍

"There's no risk of errors in the commission calculations, so it makes it easier to check before sending it to payroll. Only particularly high or low amounts attract our attention and require a quick check".

Adrien Petit, Sales Director at Arjo

"At Mangopay, we have less than 10 days between each period to validate commissions. Without Qobra, this timeframe would be untenable, as we'd have to produce an Excel spreadsheet for each person and send them individually to managers, finance, etc. With Qobra's validation system for each stakeholder (Sales, Manager, Finance, etc.), it's hyper-efficient. With Qobra's validation system for each stakeholder (Sales, Manager, Finance, etc.), it's quick and easy, with all the information in one place. You just click to validate. There's also traceability of who validates when, which is very useful during an internal or external audit!"

Marion Braud, Revenue Operations Expert at Mangopay