Top 7 sales commission tools

Today, too many companies still calculate and manage their commissions on paper or in Excel or Google Sheets files...

Yet these default solutions are a real headache for the teams in charge of calculating and managing commissions, but also for employees. 

According to a recent study by Qobra and Modjo on commission in France, 68% of employees who use Excel or Google Sheets to calculate and manage commissions are not satisfied! And here are the reasons why: unreliability (31%), complexity (28.8%), lack of data traceability (28%), unsuitable for communication (27.8%), archaic UX/UI (27%), lack of visibility (24%).

The teams responsible for commission management are often well aware of this real loss of earnings, yet they have difficulty convincing the company's other stakeholders:

• "Why pay for a tool when we have Excel/Google Sheets?"
• "We only calculate commissions quarterly, so there's no need for a tool!"
• "We've managed to calculate commissions up to now, so why change?"
• ...

And yet, the benefits of using a sales commission solution are numerous, and enable the company to change its sales rep dimension!

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1. What are the benefits of using sales commission software?

• Significant time savings thanks to automatic data entry, automated commission calculation, simplified access to relevant data, and automatic sending of data to HR and payroll systems.
• Reduced frustration, mistrust and turnover among commission recipients thanks to reliable calculations and transparent formulas, calculations and commission amounts. 84.2% of employees satisfied with their commission model benefit from a sales commission tool. Conversely, 45.7% of employees using Excel or Google Sheets are not satisfied with their commission model. (Qobra & Modjo study on commissions in France)
• Increased sales thanks to better sales reps. Real-time visibility of how well they're achieving their objectives drives them to be better. An ultimate source of motivation to meet or exceed their targets. 61.9% of employees using sales commission software exceeded their targets in 2022, compared with only 30.1% of those using Excel or Google Sheets. (Qobra & Modjo study on commissions in France)
• Reduce the costs and losses associated with manual commission management. By automating processes, the company avoids calculation errors, thus preventing it from paying out commissions in excess of the actual amount.
• Better implementation of sales strategy and measurement of sales efficiency by identifying and analyzing sales reps. As a result, the company can take timely action and build appropriate, relevant commission plans that support the company's sales strategy. The software is scalable and easily adaptable, so it meets the different challenges and needs of companies, depending on their stage of growth.

The benefits of using sales commission software are numerous, and have a direct impact on all teams (finance, HR, sales reps, operations, etc.) and therefore on the company's bottom line!

To take advantage of all these benefits, you need to choose the most appropriate solution for your business from among all those on the market. 

To help you make an informed choice, Qobra has selected the best tools on the market, based on customer reviews on G2 and Capterra, and on a recent study published by Cloud Rating based on market adoption (sales, growth, number of customers, etc.) and customer satisfaction (NPS) of +9500 users.

For each tool, Qobra's experts have highlighted their main benefits, drawbacks and points of difference, along with an overview of their platform and the opinions of their users.

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2. Qobra: Make commission calculations simpler for Sales

Qobra is a French company specializing in sales commissions. Through its SaaS software and no-code solution, Qobra makes it easy for companies to calculate and manage their employees' commissions!

"Qobra's dashboard gives me a global view at a glance. I can look at the total amount of commissions paid and do a quick check against our actual achievements!"

Fabian Q.Veit, CEO at Make

Qobra helps each of its customers to make commissions their primary lever for sales rep motivation and performance, as well as an essential element of attractiveness and loyalty.

Qobra's main advantages include a user-friendly, intuitive interface, making the software easy to set up and use. 

What's more, Qobra offers remarkable flexibility in customizing commission plans, enabling companies to adapt to the specific needs of their compensation structure. The software also offers detailed real-time dashboards and reports, providing clear visibility of performance and commission payments.

Qobra already supports a number of companies throughout Europe, including Doctolib, Sodexo, Natixis, Payfit and Celonis.

Benefits

• N°1 : Qobra's no-code solution gives administrators such flexibility that they can configure and manage their company's commission plan with total autonomy. Qobra integrates with all the CRM, data warehouses and ERPs on the market (Salesforce, Snowflake, Google BigQuery, PostgreSQL, Hubspot, etc.), while allowing customers to make manual adjustments.
• N°2 : To overcome the need to go back and forth between different departments, Qobra offers an instant messaging system that lets you create private discussions with one or more other users, and link one or more commission statements to them. This communication system can be directly linked to Slack or Microsoft Teams.
• N°3 : Commissioning plans can be imported all at once and applied to a set of beneficiaries at the click of a button. With Qobra, there's no need to draw up formulas and ensure that all the cells in a column are correct and up to date. What's more, whenever there's an error in a calculation formula, the Qobra teams report it. Finally, all beneficiaries have access to the commission formulas, so if they spot an error, they can report it directly on the platform to their manager.
• N°4 : Qobra's teams offer tailor-made support for each customer, from setting up to deploying commission plans, while ensuring regular follow-up throughout the customer's lifetime. Qobra's customer support is recognized by its users as personalized and ultra-reactive (average response time of 8 minutes).
• N°5 : Qobra offers a "challenge" function. It enables companies to easily set up all types of SPIFF sales reps. All participants and managers have real-time visibility of the progress and ranking of the challenge.

"We don't need someone who spends a whole month managing commissions. Qobra does it very efficiently for us. Now that we've brought a lot of transparency around commissions, including how it works, it really boosts the sales team's confidence, and it also boosts their motivation."

‍Fabian Q.Veit, CEO at Make

Disadvantages

• Qobra is not currently integrated with all peripheral software on the market (CRM, ERP, HRIS, etc.). However, all integration requests are taken into account by our Tech teams and can be considered.
• The range of features on offer is limited compared with some of the market's incumbents.

Integrations

• CRM: Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM.
• Data warehouses and database management: Snowflake, Google Big Query, PostgreSQL, Amazon Redshift.

"Since we've had Qobra, we've seen between 15 and 20% progress on meeting targets." 

Tomas Hons, GTM Strategy & Operations Manager at Make

Customer reviews and prices

📚 Further information 

Read what our customers like Make, Glady, Welcome To The Jungle and Partoo have to say!

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3. Xactly Incent: Automation and management of commission systems

Xactly Incent is a solution for companies looking for support in designing, automating and managing their commission system.

Xactly Incent's software sales commission is designed to take into account a wide range of criteria, resulting in more accurate commissions for sales reps. What's more, Xactly Incent's commission management software is easily customizable, enabling companies to configure commissions to suit their specific needs.

However, the downside of Xactly Incent's software is that it is complex and requires extensive training to use effectively. In addition, the cost of the software is higher than that of its competitors, especially for small and medium-sized businesses.

Benefits

• Precise commission calculation
• Customize commissioning plans according to company needs
• Real-time monitoring of sales performance and rapid adjustment of commission plans

Disadvantages

• High solution cost 
• Complex, time-consuming software training
• Some advanced functions, such as commissioning simulations, require in-depth configuration and technical expertise.
• Bad customer reviews

Integrations

• CRM: Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Oracle Sales Cloud, SugarCRM, Zoho CRM, HubSpot CRM, Pipedrive, amoCRM, Insightly, Freshsales, Copper, and others.
• Data warehouses and database management: Amazon Redshift, Snowflake, Google BigQuery, Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics, Teradata, Oracle Autonomous Data Warehouse, and others.
• ERP: Oracle ERP Cloud, SAP Business One, SAP S/4HANA, Microsoft Dynamics GP, NetSuite ERP, QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, and others.
• SIHR: Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, ADP Workforce Now, BambooHR, Ceridian Dayforce, Paychex Flex, and others.

Customer reviews and prices

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4. CaptivateIQ: Align sales teams and sales objectives

CaptivateIQ offers an agile commissioning solution. This enables companies to align their sales teams with sales reps objectives. CaptivateIQ enables companies to save time on payment processing and motivate sales reps with real-time visibility.

CaptivateIQ's main advantage is its simplicity of use: their software is easy to set up and use, even for non-technical staff. What's more, their sales commission system is highly accurate, reducing errors and disputes with team members.

However, the downside of CaptivateIQ is that it is more expensive than some of its competitors. What's more, their commission management solution doesn't take into account all possible commission types, such as customer lifetime commissions or recurring commissions.

Benefits

• Easy to use and configure
• Customize commission plans to suit your company's needs
• Positive customer reviews

Disadvantages

• High cost
• Limited range of features
• Limited integration

Integrations

• CRM: Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, HubSpot.
• Data warehouses and database management: Amazon Redshift, Google BigQuery, Snowflake, MySQL, Oracle Database, PostgreSQL.
• ERP: NetSuite ERP.
• Accounting & financial management: Quickbook, Xero.
• SIHR: Workday, ADP Workforce Now, BambooHR.

Customer reviews and prices

5. Spiff: Optimise salespeople's commission plans

Spiff automates and optimizes sales reps' commission plans. Spiff's aim is to solve the commission headache for the finance team, reduce friction between finance and sales reps, and improve sales performance.

Spiff's main advantage is its flexibility and ability to handle different types of commissions. Their software is also easy to use and can be customized according to the company's needs. In addition, Spiff offers advanced reporting tools to monitor team performance and optimize commission plans.

However, Spiff's disadvantage is that it is more expensive than most of its competitors. In addition, their software's interface is less intuitive than most other commission management software providers.

Benefits

• Helps motivate sales reps to achieve their objectives
• Simple, transparent monitoring of individual and team performance
• Automation of commission calculation and payment processes

Disadvantages

• High cost
• Complex to set up and use, especially for companies without a dedicated IT department
• Possible errors in commission calculations or payments

Integrations

• CRM: Hubspot, Pipedrive, Salesforce.
• Data warehouses & database management: Amazon Redshift, Google BigQuery, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Snowflake.
• ERP: Netsuite.
• Accounting & financial management: Quickbooks Online, Sage Intacct, Xero, Zuora.
• SIHR : Workday.

Customer reviews and prices‍

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6. Everstage: Automates the commissioning process

Everstage is a platform for managing commissions. Everstage automates commissioning processes and gives sales teams on-demand access to information about their performance.

Everstage's software sets itself apart from its competitors by offering great flexibility in customizing compensation plans. It enables complex compensation plans to be tailored to the specific needs of each company.

However, Everstage's main drawback is its cost, which is higher than that of its competitors. In addition, some users have reported response time problems with the software, which can be slow when processing large volumes of data.

Benefits

• Flexibility in customizing compensation plans
• Automated commission calculation and distribution
• Advanced data analysis
• Positive customer reviews

Disadvantages

• High cost
• High customer service response times
• Complex software learning and training

Integrations

• CRM: Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle ERP Cloud.
• Data warehouses and database management: Oracle Autonomous Data Warehouse.
• ERP: Oracle ERP Cloud, NetSuite, SAP Business One.
• Accounting & financial management: QuickBooks.
• SIHR: Workday, ADP Workforce Now, SAP SuccessFactors.

Customer reviews and prices

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7. Quotapath: Coordinate sales, operational and financial teams

QuotaPath is a commission management solution designed to put sales reps, operations and finance teams on the same wavelength.

The main advantages of Quotapath are its ease of use, flexibility and easy integration with other sales tools.

On the downside, Quotapath's interface is in need of improvement, and navigation is not very fluid. In addition, Quotapath is relatively new on the market, which can be a risk factor for companies looking for a proven, stable solution.

Benefits

• Ease of use
• Flexibility to customize commission rules
• Easy integration with other sales tools

Disadvantages

• High cost
• Intuitive, fluid user interface
• Complex software learning and training

Integrations

• CRM: Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM, Close CRM, Copper CRM.
• Data warehouses and database management: Oracle Autonomous Data Warehouse.
• ERP: Netsuite ERP. 
• Accounting & financial management: QuickBooks, Xero, Maxio.
• SIHR: SAP SuccessFactors.

Customer reviews and prices

The last word...

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, equipping yourself with a sales commission solution will improve your sales performance, and enhance the attractiveness, motivation and loyalty of your sales reps.

However, in order to benefit from the advantages promised by sales commission software, it is imperative that the software meets the following criteria:

• Flexible and adaptable to team growth, and to each of the organization's divisions involved (Finance, Operations, HR, Sales Reps, etc.).
• Transparent and easy to read
• Fluid and collaborative
• Viable and secure
• Connected to other corporate tools (CRM, ERP, HRIS, payroll software, etc.)
• Responsive, competent support team on hand

Qobra's software meets all these requirements. And it's for this very reason that many companies of different sizes and sectors (Spendesk, Doctolib, Make, Payfit, etc.) have already put their trust in Qobra's teams to manage and calculate their employees' commissions!

Would you like to find out more about Qobra?

Our teams are at your disposal to help you calculate and manage your employees' commissions.