INCENTIVE PLAN AND SALES FORCE

By Eulogio Tapia

For decades, companies and their leaders have entrusted the design and implementation of performance appraisal system to the Human Resources department. The latest professional in this area, involving smartly executives from different departments to implement a comprehensive system common to all departments, with important variations according to the levels and profiles of each job area. However, the sales area has been for years the most complex subject matter.

The sales deparment should be structured by comprehensive assessment of vendors  performance, merchandisers and supervisors, whose principal playmaker is the manager and that involves all departments that support and affect the processing chain to achieve sales goals of the company, which means that it is a truly strategic question.
To create this system is taken into account the sales budget, the mix of products, marketshare, horizontal distribution products´s at points of sales and accounts receivable, among others. As you can see are integrated the objectives of various areas of the organization (Marketing, Sales, Finance), which in turn are translated into measurable performance standards.
Established performance standards to which we call "Key Success Factors" or KSF, as we have the basis for the Incentive Plan, create a policy that fully evaluates and incentive sales force in line with the result expected by the organization.

SOME KEY SUCCESS FACTORS (KSF):
Coverage of sales budget (% sales budget)
Coverage of budget accounts receivable (collection rates)
Productivity on Sales (Rate Order by visits to make)
Product mix (mixing rates by order)
Distribution on points of sales (% of product placement)
Key products (Placement or introduction of products of special interest)


These factors can be monitored daily, weekly or monthly, depending on the level of responsibility, vendors, supervisors, managers. Also as a result of a fiscal year which allows us to assess the achievement of individual and organizational.