One of the critical linkages in using incentive compensation plans to drive sales results is the need to understand the performance of salespeople and the effectiveness of the plans so that the strategy, the plans, and the people can be changed as needed.

Being able to do this requires that executives and managers have timely, accurate, and actionable sales performance and incentive compensation information. Yet, many organizations lack the ability to effectively design, easily produce, and consistently deliver such information to executives and managers.

By providing better sales performance and incentive compensation information, executives and managers are able to make more informed decisions, such as replacing poor performers, coaching people to exhibit the right behaviors, or changing plans to be more aligned with strategy.

The following tips, derived from a long-term study of the incentive compensation management, reflect the best cross-industry practices for improving management visibility into sales force performance and compensation plan effectiveness.