With the tight margins in today’s ever-changing business landscape, it is now more important than ever to make sure your cash flow is on target. Unfortunately, your built-in Microsoft Dynamics GP commission tools may be working against you in this goal.
For 20 years, the commission solution experts at EthoTech (the makers of Commission Plan) have been helping companies like yours overcome challenges that result from using built-in commission processing tools in GP.
Drawing on our deep experience, we can surmise that these are the top 3 cash flow problems your company is likely facing right now.
1. Lack of Sales Focus on Revenue Building
As we all know, there is no substitute for a talented salesperson. These incredible employees focus on selling around the clock and can add to their pipeline seemingly everywhere they go. Softball games, dinner parties, family vacations – no matter where a talented salesperson is, they will find prospects for your product or service… but they (understandably) expect to be well compensated for all their hard work. They want to know that their time is consistently increasing in value.
One of the main challenges companies experience with Microsoft Dynamics GP commissions processing lies in the system’s lack of transparency. Salespeople are often left in the dark about how much they are making off each sale, and that means they spend quite a bit of time running these calculations on their own. Make no mistake: your salespeople are definitely running the numbers – frequently.
As you know, commissions calculations are complex and time consuming. Do you really want your talented salespeople spending your company’s time calculating their commissions, or would you prefer to provide them with transparent, accurate commissions data on demand, so they can get back to selling?
2. Commissions Structures That Undermine Cooperation
As the saying goes: “A rising tide lifts all boats.” This statement also applies to your organization’s cash position because when all your departments work together to provide a great customer experience, your company is likely to see improved success and higher revenues. Unfortunately, commissions-tracking in Microsoft Dynamics GP cannot easily attribute multiple assists to a single deal. This means that only salespeople are able to see the value of delivering an exemplary customer experience.
Of course, you want your salespeople to deliver outstanding customer service – but there are so many other facets to each deal that an integrated commission solution can support.
For example, you could:
- Compensate an out-of-territory salesperson for their dedicated assistance sharing a lead or making a warm prospect introduction
- Reward your sales support staff for setting up a great deal
- Provide additional compensation to an installation tech for ensuring outstanding service after a deal
The joy of providing a great customer experience can lead to consistently higher KPI performance. Our customers often tell us that cooperative commissions structures encourage departments to work together better, leads to happier customers and repeat sales, and generally “lifts all boats / departments” across the company. All of this results in higher revenues.
3. Salesperson Games and Sandbagging
Many successful commissions structures feature accelerators and caps for sales commissions, which reset yearly or quarterly. Quota-based commissions like this can (and do!) drive significant sales, but they can also harm your cash flow because savvy salespeople understand how to maximize their income by leveraging the reset dates and holding large sales until the next period.
For companies relying on manual-entry, spreadsheet-based sales commission tracking as a workaround for their Dynamics GP commission limitations, setting quarterly or annual quota deadlines may simply be a survival tactic for your Finance team. This type of commissions structure may also be the easiest for you to manually manage because it is so familiar.
Although quota deadlines are often used to ensure that the Finance team will be able to process commissions accurately and on time, companies that choose to use a dedicated commissions processing solution integrated with Microsoft Dynamics GP typically find themselves able to meet rolling deadlines with ease. They are also able to flexibly and quickly adjust their commissions structures as needed. By adjusting facets of potentially harmful commission structures, they can see resulting improvements in their cash flow.
Solve Your Dynamics GP Commissions Challenges with EthoTech
Many companies deal with the challenges of working with commissions in Dynamics GP because they don’t realize how much money they are leaving on the table by relying on inefficient commissions processes.
Often, these companies are surprised to discover how much their cash flow improves after making the switch to a dedicated commissions solution for Dynamics GP. Contact EthoTech when you are ready to find out how much your company would benefit from better commissions transparency, integrated deal support across the company, and flexible commissions structuring.
Take Charge of Your Cash Flow. Learn More About Commission Plan for GP
Since 2002, companies across every sector have relied on EthoTech for the right tool for tracking, calculating, and paying variable compensation. We provide solutions, integration, and support that is focused solely on integrated variable compensation software for Microsoft Dynamics GP and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. It’s all we do, and we do it better than anyone.
Want to know if your company would benefit from variable compensation software? We developed this simple matrix to help you discover if variable compensation software is right for your company.