One Constant in a Dynamic Comp World: A Q&A with FICO’s Meredith Westerdale
From Dropbox to Johns Manville to FICO, Meredith Westerdale has managed complex sales compensation in a variety of environments. One constant in her dynamic career has been her partnership with Xactly. In this Q&A, discover her insights on managing dynamic comp plans, empowering sellers, and leveraging a true technology partnership.
Q: Could you tell us about your role and background?
A: Meredith is a Senior Sales Incentive Analyst at FICO, where she has been for about two years. She explains that prior to FICO, she held a similar sales compensation role at Dropbox and worked in various finance and product management roles at Johns Manville. She notes that she has used Xactly at all three organizations, making it a consistent and integral part of how she has supported sales compensation programs in her career.
Q: What do you love most about sales compensation?
A: Meredith explains that she loves the dynamic nature of sales compensation. Beyond the core rhythm of administering commissions, she finds there is always a new and interesting challenge to solve. These challenges can range from adjusting compensation plans to match shifts in business strategy, improving the onboarding process for new hires, or enhancing internal reporting. She feels this constant opportunity for refinement keeps the work engaging.
Q: What are you most proud of in your compensation career?
A: Meredith states she is most proud of the time she has spent helping sellers better understand and access their compensation plans and tools. Recognizing that sellers are key stakeholders, she has found it immensely rewarding to build out training resources and support tools that have enabled them to more effectively use their plans and platforms like Xactly.
"I am really proud of the time that I've been able to spend helping our sellers better understand and access their sales compensation plans and tools."
Q: What do you love about your partnership with Xactly?
A: Meredith loves the proactive support she receives from her dedicated Xactly team. She feels her Customer Success Manager (CSM) and account manager are genuinely engaged in helping her team "level up" their use of the platform. As an example, she points to a recent project where they collaborated to build an Xactly Extend application to automate crediting logic, a development she is very excited about for the efficiencies it will provide.
"It's just very clear that our Xactly team is invested in our success and that really makes a big difference for us."
Q: What is something that sets Xactly apart from other companies?
A: Meredith believes that what sets Xactly apart is its focused effort to foster a sense of community among sales compensation professionals. She gives examples like the Upside conference, the Xactly online community page, and webinars featuring other users. She greatly appreciates these opportunities to connect with industry best practices and network with her peers.
"I think something that sets Xactly apart is what they do to foster a sense of community among sales compensation professionals."
Q: What new Xactly features or solutions are you most excited about?
A: She is very excited about the newly launched operational Reporting capabilities. The opportunity to receive training on this new feature was a significant reason for her attendance at the Xactly Upside conference, and her team is eager to leverage this new reporting capability within their business.
Q: What piece of advice would you give to someone starting in your role?
A: Meredith's advice is to fully engage with the Xactly team and the resources they provide. She explains that over her six years using the platform, learning to proactively contact her CSM with questions has been a "game changer." She also advises new users to take full advantage of the Xactly online community page, noting it has a wealth of self-serve content that she has learned to utilize more over time.
"An evolution for me is how I've engaged with the Xactly team and the additional resources that they have available."
Please note: The questions and answers above have been edited and condensed for clarity and reading ease. To hear Meredith Westerdale tell her full story in her own words, with even more detail and context, be sure to watch the complete video interview.