Direct and channel sales reps can spend as much as 10 – 20% of their time tracking their channel sales. If they are sifting through data, you know they aren’t out there selling. As a sales executive you want those feet on the street generating new business, not glued to a computer looking for the sales data they need to earn their commissions.

Sales compensation management is the foundation that supports your entire sales strategy. According to Gartner, “enterprises will miss the equivalent of 5-10% of annual sales as “lost opportunities” that could have been captured through improved management of sales territories, quotas and compensation plans.”

Traditional direct sales compensation solutions manage the sales process from lead to order, which works for the direct sales model. But with a sale taken through the channel these traditional, direct solutions provide no link between shipment, which is the true “close” of a channel sale, and compensation payment. Clearly the need for an automated sales compensation management solution is just as critical for sales that are processed through the channel as for direct sales. In order to accomplish this, you need a best-in-class solution, which is why I am very pleased with our recently announced strategic alliance with Xactly.

Xactly and Channelinsight are championing the first and only automated compensation management solution for the channel. Our aligned services:

• Ensure timely, accurate compensation payment for channel sales
• Provide visibility into an opportunity from lead to shipment
• Eliminate channel conflict
• Increase direct rep and channel partner productivity

I encourage you to visit http://www.xactlycorp.com/ to learn more about their innovative approach to compensation management, and then head over to their blog at http://www.xactlycorp.com/media/category/blog/. The folks at Xactly have some very well considered opinions — I especially liked Erik Charles’ post “Get Sales Performance Metrics Right”.

We’re also currently working with our new partners at Xactly on a joint webinar to be presented in February. Check back soon for the announcement of the date and time.