Most organizations recognize that their sales commission process isn't perfect. Managing compensation is a complex undertaking, one in which the smallest error can create a domino effect of administrative labor and protracted troubleshooting. In short, one of the most important aspects of a business's financial strategy is also often one of the most inefficient.

Companies aren't ignorant of this problem– many are trying to improve their commission process, as evident by the recent surge of businesses hiring sales compensation managers (source).

But, the effect of a bad sales commission process is not something that a single employee can mitigate. If you're responsible for managing sales commission, you're already aware of the power you wield and, under the right circumstances, your potential to make lasting strategic impact– but without the right tools at your disposal, doing so is almost impossible. Without the right resources, you're simply bearing the brunt of the inefficiencies that have been plaguing your commission process all along.

In today's post, we'll look at two distinct paths that a sales comp manager can follow: the reality of managing a broken commission process, and the potential upside of a team equipped with the necessary tools to run an effective comp process.