New Research Confirms That Finance Executives Will Play an Expanding Role in Sales Compensation Management

TORONTO, March 8 /PRNewswire/ -- The leading innovator in incentive compensation (ICM) and sales performance management (SPM) solutions, Varicent Software Incorporated, announced the completion of a research study among senior finance executives on sales incentive compensation management. The research report titled "Managing Sales Incentive Compensation Amid Uncertainty," was prepared by CFO Research Services and underwritten by Varicent. The report draws on a total of 157 complete survey responses from senior finance executives at various sized companies and verticals, examining their views on sales incentive compensation management.

"In this study, we found that companies are under pressure to encourage sophisticated sales behavior through complex sales incentive compensation plans, but finance executives are also concerned with the cost, uncertainty, and difficulty of administering those plans," said Celina Rogers, Director of Research, CFO Research Services. "Our research shows that finance executives recognize the value of technology in resolving this tension and helping companies strike the right balance between the cost of sales, revenue growth, and profitability."

Globally, as companies try to revive themselves from the tumultuous economic times of the past 18 months, many need to be very aware of the impact that pay-for-performance programs have on their bottom-line, and how they can focus their efforts to refine these crucial business areas.

This report focuses on many topics including:

• How effective compensation models can help drive sales behavior.
• The need to manage complex compensation plans with ease, control and complete visibility.
• The significant value that automated compensation and sales performance solutions can add to any organization's bottom-line profitability.

Brian Hartlen, Vice President of Marketing, Varicent will be presenting the survey results and his observations at the 2010 CFO Rising Conference and Exhibition taking place March 7-10 in Orlando, Florida.

Some of the findings include:

• 61% of survey respondents say "more sophisticated selling behaviors" rank among the sales improvements most likely to help their companies reach their goals in the next two years. Encouraging these sales behaviors will in turn require additional and more complex management of compensation and other crucial sales performance processes, including effective territory management and quota distribution.
• 75% of respondents currently using technology focused on incentive compensation management said that these solutions have made a positive contribution to sales incentive compensation management across their organizations.
• Many of the respondents cite finance's analytical skills as a "very compelling" reason for finance to become more involved with sales incentive compensation management (64%), followed by reporting ability (47%) and compliance requirements (40%). Respondents are much less likely to point to finance's administrative skills as a very compelling reason for greater finance involvement.

"The findings of this research highlight the difficulties, opportunities and future directions that many finance professionals face in today's economic climate," said Brian Hartlen, Varicent. "Varicent is already helping a lot of organizations that are faced with these same challenges and we use the results to ensure that our future plans are keeping in synch with customer demands."

The full report can be downloaded at http://varicent.com/resources-white-papers.asp

About CFO Research Services

CFO Research Services draws on the experiences, insights, and observations of senior finance executives to produce its customized research reports. With access to senior finance executives across multiple geographies and industries, CFO Research Services is able to provide its readers with a leading-edge view into the emerging finance agenda, and help them take advantage of key trends in business and financial management. CFO Research Services is the sponsored research group within CFO Publishing LLC, which produces CFO magazine. To learn more and to download recent research reports, visit www.cforesearch.com.

About Varicent Software Incorporated

Varicent Software Incorporated is an innovative software solutions provider delivering measurable improvements to its clients businesses through its industry-leading sales performance management solution Varicent SPM. Varicent's customers are high-performing companies representing a variety of industries and include Waste Management, Convoy Financial Group, Sherwin-Williams, Manpower, Autodesk, Getty Images, Starwood Hotels, Sun Hung Kai Financial, and many others. For more information, please visit www.varicent.com.

©2010 Varicent Software. All rights reserved. Varicent and Varicent SPM are trademarks of Varicent Software Incorporated.

All other trademarks and company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Varicent Software Incorporated