Some Actual Glocent ROI Client Benefits

 

Case 1 - Eliminated four full-time positions
Prior to implementing Glocent, the client employed four full-time employees whose sole responsibility was to administer incentive payments. Glocent streamlined the process so effectively that only one part-time employee is now tasked with managing the entire process. The reduction of overhead costs and incentive over payments created an immediate return on the client’s investment.

Case 2 - Improved dispute process
When a commission dispute surfaced under the manual process, a sales rep would either contact a manager or report it directly to the commission administrator. Once it was reported, the dispute was researched by the administrative staff to determine why a sale did not receive a commission or a reduced commission and reported back to the sales rep. If the commission was not included because of error, the administrator would make the necessary adjustments, sometimes during the following commission cycle. Once Glocent was implemented a new, more efficient dispute process was developed. Rather than allowing the sales rep to just report a dispute, the Glocent reports contained enough detailed data for the rep to review that many disputes never surfaced. If one occurs now, it is the reps responsibility to fill out an on-line form that demonstrates that all activities related to a sale have been completed. The vast majority of the time, the sales rep discovers that something in the required process was not completed; a credit check was not done, the account is not current, etc. The new process reduced the administrative costs by providing greater back up information to the sales reps and shifting the responsibility to settle disputes to those who made the sale.

Case 3 - Reduced effort to prepare for commission calculations
Since Glocent is designed to allow the user to make changes in a short period of time to sales plans, product definitions and other variables the preparation needed to run each commission cycle is reduced. As a result, there is more time available to initiate the cycle, allow the reps to review the payment details and resolve disputes. As a result, the commission data is sent to the payroll system much sooner than was previously possible.

Case 4 - Eliminated errors due to process flaws
As the Client uses the system over an extended period of time, many types of calculation errors are uncovered. Some are as straightforward as commission overpayments. The challenge lies in determining the cause of these overpayments, which can affect a large majority of the sales force. In one instance during the first reconciliation of Glocent with a former process, it was discovered that the majority of the discrepancies were tied to a single process of identifying out-of-territory sales. Many of these types of errors go undetected because they are nested inside very complex Excel formulas several hundred characters in length.

Case 5 - Allowed restructuring of commission structure to RGUs
After the Client became confident in Glocent’s accuracy, it decided to test its flexibility by changing its entire commission strategy. Rather than base commissions on products, it converted the measurement to Revenue Generating Units (RGUs). This allowed the client to combine products and services in a completely different manner and thereby commission their sales from an entirely new strategy. When asked how they would have converted to the new approach if they still used spread sheets, the response was, “We couldn’t have done this using spreadsheets.” Glocent has allowed an entirely new philosophy to influence the incentive management process.

Case 6 - Auditable correction process
In the event adjustments are necessary, Glocent offers a manual process for making those adjustments. Rather than simply entering new dollar amounts, Glocent’s auditable process requires that the person making the adjustment enter certain information about the reason for the adjustment. This prevents unauthorized payments outside of the automated process. This meets one of the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation.

Case 7 - Real-time Support
Glocent’s support technology allows us to monitor what our clients do as they work within the system and initiate the commission calculations. This becomes a valuable training tool as well as a trouble-shooting resource. On one occasion our support engineer was monitoring the system and noticed that no one had initiated the calculation process. Knowing the deadlines involved, the engineer contacted the client and informed them that someone needed to initiate the process. A simple misunderstanding had almost jeopardized the entire cycle for that pay period. Because of the support capabilities we use, the calculated data was provided to payroll on schedule.