GoCardless x Qobra: Boosting sales commission efficiency and transparency

At GoCardless, commissions represent a major part of the remuneration of our sales reps. It is a real lever for generating revenue on a global scale, which is why it is vital to ensure that it is reliable, transparent, and visible.

However, before equipping themselves with Qobra, they encountered several problems relating to commissions.

So we decided to interview Chris Cook (RevOps Director), Borja Valiente (VP Sales) and Julija Slapaka (Revenue Operations Analyst) to find out more and understand how Qobra enables them to manage the topic of commissions and turn it into a real driver of performance, motivation, and loyalty.

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1. Challenges

Before moving to Qobra, GoCardless used Xactly Incent and Excel to calculate and manage their employees' commissions. 

An ill-suited solution that posed several major problems:

• Inefficiency & Time-Consuming Processes
• Complexity & Lack of Usability
• Lack of Trust & Transparency

Inefficiency & Time-Consuming Processes

(Borja Valiente, VP Sales)

"Before Qobra, we were using Excel spreadsheets, and as you can imagine, that was very unreliable, very time-consuming, and very difficult to access."

(Chris Cook, RevOps Director)

"It was somebody’s full-time role every day to make that work. It was a nightmare."

(Julija Slapaka, Revenue Operations Analyst)

"So, with Xactly for example, it took like 3–4 days to run all the processes."

Complexity & Lack of Usability

(Chris Cook, RevOps Director)

"We used another tool called Xactly which is just far too complicated for us as a business, it was really difficult to use."

(Julija Slapaka, Revenue Operations Analyst)

"You needed to have like coding experience to build the plans, so you always need to reach out to the support team."

Lack of Trust & Transparency

(Julija Slapaka, Revenue Operations Analyst)

"It’s money subject, very sensitive for everyone. So it’s just like really important to give people visibility and transparency that they can actually trust us, so that we can build relationships with the Sales team."

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2. Solutions

Chris Cook (RevOps Director), Borja Valiente (VP Sales) and Julija Slapaka (Revenue Operations Analyst) explained how Qobra is helping them to meet the various challenges they face in the area of commissions.

Time-Saving & Increased Efficiency

(Julija Slapaka, Revenue Operations Analyst)

"With Qobra, it’s like maximum 1 day per month to manage commissions. It might take 2 hours to build the plan from scratch, test this plan, and activate this plan for everyone."

(Chris Cook, RevOps Director)

"It’s more the fact that I just don’t have to worry about commissions anymore."

Ease of Use & Smooth Implementation

(Chris Cook, RevOps Director)

"Qobra CSM essentially came to our office, and together, over the course of a few hours, I think a morning or an afternoon, come all of the new plans into Qobra.”

(Julija Slapaka, Revenue Operations Analyst)

"It was very simple, it was very straightforward and smooth. The help of CSM was just amazing, always available for any calls, for any explanation, even brainstorming sessions."

Increased Trust & Transparency

(Borja Valiente, VP Sales)

"Now by having real-time insight on, like OK, if I close this deal, that is how much I’m going to get, you also guys send email notifications which help the AEs to feel it more real. Everyone just trusts the commission tool now."

Positive Impact on Sales Performance

(Chris Cook, RevOps Director)

"It’s rare to put a SaaS integration into a business and have Salespeople come to me as RevOps Director and say wow, I really like that new commission tool, that’s really cool."

(Borja Valiente, VP Sales)

"There is a direct correlation between performance and motivation. And I think Qobra for the team gives that trust."

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Qobra

With its commission calculation and management solution for sales reps, sales operations, finance, and HR teams, Qobra helps companies make commissions:

• The number 1 lever for sales rep motivation and performance
• A key factor in attracting and retaining customers
• A considerable time-saver for the teams responsible for managing and calculating commissions

Customers: +250 companies of all sizes and in all sectors (Doctolib, PayFit, Spendesk, Go1, Make, CoachHub, SeLoger, Figaro, Agicap, etc.).

Users: +20,000 users (Finance, Revenue Operations, Sales Operations, HR, Sales, etc.).

Countries: France, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.