Glossary Terms

Compass - The Only Sales Glossary You Need

Table of contents

Sales Performance Management - Definition

Sales Performance Management (SPM) is a gamut of interconnected, operationalized sales processes that enhance the sales organization's efficiency, effectiveness, and performance. Simply put, SPM improves the operational effectiveness and efficiency of sales processes via centralization, automation, and more.

What is sales performance management?

Sales performance management (SPM) is a group of analytical and operational functions that unite and automate back-office sales processes to enhance operational effectiveness and efficiency. The SPM capabilities include quota management and planning, incentive compensation management, territory management, gamification, advanced analytics, and more.

What is sales performance management software?

Sales performance management software is a business intelligence tool that helps businesses track and manage every activity of their sales team. The system automatically collects data about every aspect of sales, such as phone calls, emails, meetings, and webinars, and provides a dashboard with a bird's-eye view of information.

The main reason why companies invest in this type of software is to improve their sales performance by understanding how they can do better and what they are doing right now. The system also helps you analyze your team's performance against competitors and set goals for each salesperson.

What should you look for in sales performance management software?

Here are some factors to keep in mind when choosing sales performance management software:

  • Value-adds: Check if the SPMS (Sales Performance Management Software) can integrate with your existing systems. If yes, what kind of integration is available?
  • Reliability and security: How well do vendors support their products? Does their customer service respond quickly to requests for help? These are all critical questions to ask when evaluating your options.
  • Your current processes: Assess your current sales workflow, as this will help you determine if the software can integrate with your existing systems or not. 
  • Service level agreements (SLAs): What kind of SLA does each vendor offer its customers? How long will they be backed up in case of an outage or problem with their service? Some companies provide 24/7 support while others might not.
  • Reporting and analytics: For your team to view their results in real-time, they need to do so quickly and easily without navigating multiple screens and menus.  

The best sales performance management software will also include features like:

  • Sales forecasting: Forecast your sales pipeline and predict how much money you'll make in the next quarter or year.
  • Budgeting: Know how much you have to spend on personnel, marketing, and other expenses.
  • Reporting: See how your team is performing against goals so you can make adjustments as needed.

What is the difference between sales performance management and incentive compensation management?

Sales performance management focuses on setting goals, tracking progress, and improving overall sales team productivity. It often uses sales performance management software for planning, forecasting, and performance monitoring.

Incentive compensation management designs pay structures to motivate sales teams by rewarding target achievements. It aims to align compensation with company goals and boost sales performance through incentives.

Why is sales performance management important?

It creates a foundation for managing, motivating, and maximizing sales team potential.

  • Identifies high and low performers using real-time metrics
  • Improves coaching and team alignment
  • Encourages data-driven decisions that impact revenue

When should sales performance management be used?

It should be an ongoing practice throughout the sales cycle.

  • During onboarding, quarterly planning, and performance reviews
  • When scaling teams or launching new products
  • In times of missed quotas or performance gaps

Based on the responses, employees can be placed in three different categories:

  • Promoters
    Employees who have responded positively or agreed.
  • Detractors
    Employees who have reacted negatively or disagreed.
  • Passives
    Employees who have stayed neutral with their responses.

Which tools help in sales performance management?

Technology plays a vital role in streamlining and scaling SPM processes.

  • Sales performance management software helps automate tracking and reporting
  • Tools provide dashboards, forecasting, and compensation alignment
  • Enables better decision-making and team visibility

Why is sales performance management important?

Here are a few reasons why sales performance management is important for a business:

  • It helps you to identify high-performing and low-performing reps.
  • It allows you to track sales rep performance over time to see how every salesperson performs compared to their peers.
  • It allows you to identify trends in sales rep behavior so that you don't have to guess where your problems lie.
  • It helps you identify top performers. This way, you know who is performing well and can reward them accordingly.
  • It helps you identify underperformers so that you can provide them with additional training or coaching to help them improve their performance.
  • It provides a complete view of what is working for your company and what isn't so that you can make improvements in the future.
  • It helps you understand where you're at and what needs improvement to reach your goals. 

How does sales performance management work?

It uses a combination of analytics, feedback, and goal-setting to improve outcomes.

  • Tracks progress with measurable KPIs and sales data
  • Supports regular feedback and coaching cycles
  • Often powered by sales performance management software for automation and insights

Similar Blogs

Explore how Compass can help your organization