Whew! Got that sales compensation plan rolled out just in time, right?

OK, so maybe you are still emailing documents and waiting for signatures. But it is mostly done.

While it is fresh on your mind, why not make a plan to make next year’s process smoother?

It can be done.  A comp plan calendar can help you manage your compensation processes.

Consider what you want your plan to do during each quarter and make a plan around that. While your company’s needs may be different based on your industry, here’s a general outline.

Quarter 1:

It is all about plan rollout. At this point you’ll want to:

• Test your plan
• Gear your support systems, such as your CRM, to collect any new comp plan factors
• Communicate the changes to sales and transparently address concerns
• Get plan sign-offs (our eDocs module can help with that)
• Make sure you are ready to measure for success and failures

Quarter 2:

It’s been a long process. And you should congratulate your team for getting the plan launched. Then you should get back to work.  During the second quarter you will want to:

• Test your initial results – How much are you spending? How much is your team selling? How does that compare your goals?
• Ask salespeople for feedback – Are there more disputes? Does the team understand the new plan?
• Ask operations for feedback – How much time is the system taking? Do they have the data they need?

Quarter 3:

Stop. Take a deep breath. Check out the market. It’s time to put into place any changes you want for the second half of the year. To do this:

• Check your strategic business priorities: Does your plan still meet them? Or has the business environment changed?
• Check your roles: Have sales jobs changed? Should the way they are rewarded change too?
• Implement any special incentives you need to reinforce sales numbers as you charge into the second half
• Begin to gather the design team for next year’s plan

Quarter 4:

It’s time to start all over again. Get ready to conquer a new year with a new plan. To do this:

• Layout goals for next year; how can incenting help you achieve them?
• Run financial reports looking at quota, pipeline and territory data
• Develop comp plan, consider bring in a consultant firm to help
• Make sure systems are place to roll out change and communicate it

What comp tasks do you have on your calendar for 2012?