Can sales and finance really get along?

There is tension in the relationship. It is just in the way it is built, Xactly’s Vice President of Corporate Sales Steve De Marco, and Express GM and Xactly CFO Scott Broomfield told the CompCloud crowd.

Broomfield notes that finance needs accuracy, analytics, stability and predictability in a sales compensation plan. De Marco said that as a sales leader he would like motivation and flexibility in the plan.

Both however want to see sales increase.

“While we are different we can satisfy the needs of both sales and finance organizations,” De Marco said.

One way to do that is through good planning and agreeing to accelerate sales.

For example while both sales and finance want to increase sales, finance is worried about breaking the bank. But, De Marco and Broomfield said, providing accelerators is possible and encouraging reps to blow through the numbers is great, if you’ve used historical data to model what will happen.

“You can use data to optimize what you already have,” Broomfield said.

“We’ve modeled this stuff,” De Marco said. “We know what happens at certain levels of attainment. It gives finance a really good feeling that they aren’t going to blow the budget. But, from my perspective, it gives me the opportunity to keep my reps motivated.”

Ahhhh …. Sweet harmony.