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Comments or Suggestions?
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By Lance Kelson, Technical Project Manager, The Alexander Group, Inc.
When it’s time for a new variable sales compensation system, a few simple steps will help ensure the implementation team’s speedy success.
You’ve gone through the process of selecting a variable sales compensation system, hiring an integration team, and signing the contract. Now, even before the project kick-off meeting, there are things you can do to ensure that the installation of your new variable sales compensation software goes on schedule and remains within your budget.
Think about it: You wouldn’t expect movers to do a good job moving your belongings across the country if you didn’t securely pack all your belongings, would you?
Although many other projects were probably nipping at your heels as you decided on a variable sales compensation system, realize that implementation teams often face a situation similar to the movers who walk into a normal house where nothing is packed or labeled.
The following are some considerations to help your project team quickly get up and running, so that instead of packing the boxes, so to speak, your new compensation system is moving ahead.
Prepare the Infrastructure
The project team will need access to a standard working environment at your site. Instead of waiting until the team shows up and finding a place for them to sit, supplies, etc., find out what the project team will need and make sure someone in your company is responsible for making sure they get it. Give as much lead-time as possible; the team is much more productive when the work area is already in place.
To expedite preparations, create a list (or copy an existing new-hire checklist) of information needed from members of the project team for the following:
- Office space and special supplies.
- Telephones.
- System access (LAN, database, etc.)
- The team will have laptops, but will desktop computers be available?
- Building and after-hours access.
For security reasons, be sure to get the name, social security number, and birth date of every member on the project team.
The hardware your new variable sales compensation system needs to run has probably already been discussed within your company, just remember that its delivery-time will profoundly impact the implementation timeline.
Based on your operating platform, the implementation team contact should be able to recommend the hardware you’ll need. Make arrangements as soon as possible to acquire the equipment.
Identify key contacts within your organization
Although minimal participation by members of your organization will be necessary during the course of the project, the project team should have access to key personnel as needed. The people in your organization that you should obtain buy-in from and have attending the project kick-off meeting are:
- Internal Project Manager
- Executive Sponsor
- IT Executive
- Database Administrator
- Systems Administrator
- Compensation Manager
- Human Resources Manager
Provide the names, titles, e-mail addresses, and contact telephone numbers of the key contacts to the project team manager. The team project manager should incorporate this information into a draft contact list as a part of the implementation project documentation.
Document Compensation Plans
A common problem encountered by many clients is the lack of documentation for existing compensation plans, or changing compensation plans during the course of the implementation effort.
Delivery of accurate, complete compensation plan documentation to the project team is always a task on the critical path of the implementation project. This task should be completed as soon as possible.
Up-to-date organization charts, complete with names and titles, provide the basic information necessary to set up your new variable sales compensation system. Although that information may already exist, it might not be current.
If your organization charts are not current or complete, it would be wise to update your information now so that your new variable sales compensation system has accurate, usable data.
Product and sales territory information, corresponding to the details of the compensation plan, will also be necessary to set up your new compensation system. Remember, the strength of your new variable sales compensation plan largely depends on the strength of your database information.
Document Input and Payroll System Interfaces
The first major milestone for a good project team is to develop a requirements document, which documents the deliverables of the integration project, including the existing systems that will interface with your new variable sales compensation system.
Any information you can provide up front on your existing enterprise systems saves discovery time during the course of the implementation process.
Last, but not least, remember that sample sales transactions and adjustments provided to the implementation project team will facilitate expedient design and testing.
That Being Said…
The sooner these requirements are in place, the greater the chance that your integration project will be implemented with minimal headaches and within budget. Plan well, and your new variable sales compensation package will arrive on time and intact. And that makes everyone look good!
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