Shiv Walia is the Senior Manager of Global Sales Compensation & Analytics at Mindbody, a wellness and fitness company focused on providing innovative and intuitive solutions for wellness seekers and providers. He has over a decade of sales experience with a history working in the SaaS, health, and computer technology industries.

In a conversation with Justin Lane, Shiv explores a wide range of topics centered around sales compensation, including the shift to individualized incentive plans, the importance of tracking the ROI of your comp plan, and more.

Listen to this episode of The Sales Compensation Show to learn:

• How to align sales compensation plans with corporate goals
• Measuring the return-on-investment (ROI) of your sales comp plan
• The current trend in sales incentives: individualized plans

Three key takeaways:

#1: Align Sales Compensation with Corporate Goals

Aligning sales compensation to corporate goals is crucial for the success and growth of any organization. By linking the compensation of sales teams to the overarching objectives of the company, a powerful incentive is created that motivates sales professionals to focus their efforts on activities that directly contribute to the organization’s success.

When sales compensation is aligned with corporate goals, it encourages salespeople to prioritize customer satisfaction, revenue generation, and long-term customer relationships rather than short-term gains. It ensures that the sales force is driven by a shared vision and works collaboratively towards achieving strategic targets. Moreover, aligning sales compensation to corporate goals helps in fostering a culture of accountability, driving innovation, and improving overall organizational performance.

"Today, there is a greater focus on sales comp plans that align with the strategy, goals, and objectives of the company." - Shiv Walia, Mindbody

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Ultimately, this alignment creates a win-win situation where salespeople are rewarded for their efforts and the company achieves sustainable growth and profitability.

#2: Track the ROI of Your Sales Compensation Plan

Tracking the return on investment (ROI) of a sales compensation plan is essential for any organization to effectively evaluate its sales strategies and optimize its resources.

By monitoring the ROI, a company can determine the effectiveness of its sales compensation program in driving revenue growth and achieving desired outcomes. It allows businesses to assess whether the incentives provided to the sales team are aligned with the desired outcomes and whether they are generating a positive impact on the bottom line.

Measuring ROI also helps in identifying areas for improvement, such as adjusting commission structures, territories, or sales targets. Additionally, it enables organizations to make data-driven decisions, allocate resources wisely, and ensure that the sales compensation plan remains in line with the company’s financial goals and overall business strategy.

Overall, by measuring the ROI of the sales compensation plan, a company can enhance its sales performance, maximize its return on investment, and drive sustainable business growth.

#3: More Companies are Shifting to Individualized Incentives

Shiv told us, “There is a push to incorporate more individualized incentive plans.”

Think about it. We celebrate that our sales reps all come from different backgrounds, demographics, and experiences — yet we still incentivize them all the same way. Why? Mainly because it’s easier. But what if creating personalized incentive plans wasn’t as complicated as we think? What if this was something we could do today — would you do it?

Individualized incentives recognize and reward individual performance, providing employees with a sense of ownership and control over their achievements. By linking incentives directly to individual goals and outcomes, companies can drive a culture of high performance and accountability. Individual incentive plans encourage employees to take initiative, set ambitious targets, and actively contribute to the organization’s success.

Moreover, such plans foster healthy competition among employees, stimulating innovation and productivity. They also allow companies to recognize and retain top performers, as rewards are based on individual merit.

We are not suggesting that you rewrite your sales comp plan from its current one-size-fits-all model to uniquely individualized plans today. Major changes like this are made through incremental innovation and improvement. But the best incentives for your team to accomplish their goals will vary depending on the individual, so it’s worth exploring ways to optimize that.

The key is investing in technology with the agility and sophistication to manage and analyze performance data on-demand, A/B test incentives, and run models based on real-time data. That’s our goal at Forma.ai — to provide a solution that makes truly individualized incentives possible and profitable.

The Sales Compensation Show is brought to you by Forma.ai, the world’s first Sales Comp Ops solution. Find us by searching sales compensation on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and YouTube.

Are you interested in learning more? Have a conversation with one of our sales comp experts here.