From market share to retention: will your SPM strategy spur long-term growth?

Hi there,

Ah September...a time of fresh starts, cooler air, back-to-school vibes, pumpkin-spice mania, and the (potentially less romantic) end-of Q3 sales push!?

Right now, many of you are in the thick of deal management, tightening up pipeline accuracy, and gathering data to shape next year's compensation plan changes.?

Because these plans should be driven by data, instead of the loudest voices in the room, now's the time to collect the quantitative info informing and validating your hypotheses for 2025's plan proposal (even qualitative data from reps is valuable for gauging the current landscape).

Here's to making this the year you lock in near-instant buy-in for your sales comp strategies.

This season, strengthen your partnership with sales leaders

Weaving customer acquisition costs, market data, and historical sales patterns into a finely-tuned comp plan is where true growth starts. But a solid compensation strategy isn’t just for the next quarter. You’re building strategies to fuel long-term performance and retention. Is it complex? Absolutely—but it’s the kind of complexity that drives real, sustainable change.

?In this episode of the Sales Compensation Show podcast, Josh Miller, Head of Sales Compensation at CVS Health, dives deep into leveraging comp as a performance driver.?

?Some of our favorite takeaways?

• It’s not enough to incentivize a quick sale anymore. You need to intentionally move from short bursts of activity to a marathon, continuously pushing boundaries. After implementing these types of comprehensive SPM strategies, you won’t just be motivating sales teams—you’ll have reshaped the way your entire org approaches growth.
• Using predictive models to foresee sales trends isn't a bonus, it's a necessity. Predictive analytics can help you pivot your compensation plans before the market shifts. It's a key way to stay a few steps ahead of competitors.

And finally, Josh underscores the critical nature of your partnership with sales leadership. This is where the magic happens. As he advises:

• Make it your business to understand leadership's priorities: To effectively align with leadership and get the buy in from the top, you need to deeply understand and address broader strategic objectives in your proposed comp plan (think beyond revenue, re: market penetration, customer retention, and long-term growth). Knowing exactly what’s important to leadership helps you frame specifics of your proposed plan as direct contributors to their goals and be as persuasive as possible.
• When communicating comp changes, tailor your messaging with a focus?on how they benefit both individuals and the org. Sales leaders need to see that your proposed plan drives results while also motivating their teams. Josh champions empathy in your approach here, ensuring that sales leaders feel heard and valued during the decision-making process.

This one's a great pre-Q4 listen!

Check out Josh's episode

What we're reading...

The four must-have qualities of successful revenue leaders

The CRO role is critical, and while you may not be surprised to see both 'ruthless prioritization' and 'advocating for continuous learning' on this list, tying these key elements of good leadership to your "why" for RevOps certainly helps guide day-to-day actions.

Do you prioritize each of these skills equally? Where might you stand to place more focus in your personal development?

Read the article

Team work makes the dream work—or, does it?

There are arguments for and against team-based incentives, and both carry weight depending on the context. But how do you decide if a team incentive will work for your comp plan? This article outlines three considerations for deciding whether to go this route.

Read more here

Here's the kicker...

It's time to optimize those territories

Territories, quotas, and incentives are inextricably linked, so as sales planning for 2025 continues, we thought we'd start linearly with territories and helping you set these in a data-driven way?

So, in two week's we're hosting the first session of our 2025 Sales Planning Masterclass, with comp experts focused on territory success!

We'll cover:

?? Steps to define your territory planning goals,

?? How to master territory indexing for capturing potential,

?? Aligning team capacity with territory opportunities,?

?? Ways to track effectiveness, and more!

The first live virtual session starts September 26th.?Be sure to register for access to the recordings from all three (even if you can't join us live).

Register to save your seat

Setting effective sales quotas

Studies reveal over two thirds of sales reps don’t expect to meet their quota this year. And, the vast majority (84%) missed theirs last year.?

While notoriously difficult to set and enforce, there’s nonetheless a disconnect between what sales leaders set as expectation and what representatives can deliver given changing market dynamics and more—which naturally creates some conflict.?

In this primer, we explore how to evaluate the pros and cons of various quota models. From the five most typical types, to three increasingly sophisticated options, we get into the benefits and potential drawbacks of each. ?

Read more here

Looking for your next role?

We've shortlisted a handful of opportunities that caught our eye and might pique your interest:

• Revenue Operations Manager - OpenAI
• Sr. Manager or Director, Revenue Operations - Nexla
• Director of Revenue Operations - Cartwheel
• Vice President of Revenue Operations - Conservice
• Director of Revenue Operations - Level AI
• Sales Compensation Implementation Manager - Microsoft
• Senior Compensation Partner - Zendesk
• Senior Director, Global Compensation - Avalara
• Manager, Commissions - Grammarly
• Commissions Manager - Imply

If you know another revenue or sales ops leader who would enjoy these resources, be sure to forward this issue on!

If this newsletter was forwarded to you, you can get your own copy bi-weekly by subscribing here.

Until next time,

Mike Roberts

VP of Marketing at Forma.ai