The Key to Sales Performance

Improved visibility of sales management delivers companies the control they need to drive revenue generation.

By Leslie Stretch, CEO, Callidus Software

Incentive pay is both a great motivator as well as a corporate necessity. It is central to the sales function, though it can be applied across organizations. In fact, given the current trend toward fiscal prudence, there is a strong argument for freezing salaries and incentivizing staff with bonuses to hit their objectives.

Corporate executives, however, need to understand that in the same way that financial management systems have been underpinned by a formal framework and industry standard software, commissions and incentives need to be given the same rigorous treatment. Properly managing sales performance provides the visibility that is currently lacking.

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It's Not About the Software Anymore

SaaS vendors used to have a leg up on their competitors with traditional license models but those days are quickly passing. Mikael Blaisdell explains why on-demand vendors must focus on value in order to survive the coming shakeup in this post to the SandHill.com Blog on SaaS.

The Challenge of Continued Innovation

Software startups are excellent at creating a successful culture of innovation. Gowri Shankar Subramanian of Aspire Systems looks at the challenges of maintaining this commitment to innovation over the years in this post to the SandHill.com Blog on innovation strategies.

Publish Your Perspective!

SandHill.com wants your opinions. Send your thoughts on the enterprise software industry to SandHill.com editor, Maryann Jones Thompson (maryann@sandhill.com) and have your opinions published on our site.

How CIOs Should Think About Business Value

Grasping the business value from IT is challenging. CIOs who are successful in this endeavor broaden their scope of action beyond the technical sphere and traditional IT levers. Read how in this article from The McKinsey Quarterly.

News Update: Committed to the Cloud?

Benioff talks up Oracle's flip flops; plus, infrastructure under attack and Motorola under scrutiny. Read these stories and more software news of the week in the latest SandHill.com Software News Summary.

Poll: Sales Drivers?

Is sales performance management the key to increased revenue?
Take our Pulse Poll >>

Last week, readers gave their feelings on whether software vendors are ready for the mobile era.
Give us your opinion and see the results >>

More at SandHill.com:

Oracle is not budging on maintenance fees.
Read the most important enterprise software industry news of the week >>

Fusion-io, DoubleTwist and Socialcast announce new rounds of funding.
Monitor the latest software venture capital deals >>

Cisco to buy Tidal Software for $105 million.
Size up last week’s software M&A deals >>

Chordiant Software named Marchai Bruchey as president and Chief Marketing Officer.
See who’s made it to the top in our list of recent software executive appointments.

Send us your feedback on this newsletter and the SandHill.com site.

Parting Thought

“Zeal without knowledge is fire without light.”
— Thomas Fuller, M. D.

Courtesy of Malcolm Kusher, The Kushner Group

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