It wasn't the first time, but the most recent, when I had stepped away for a private moment with a client over drinks. There is a trust I look to build in relationships. People often feel like they can be direct. If it was the few drinks or the closeness of working together, they wanted to share something heavy on their mind.
A few months before looking into the market for a technology solution, it seems the team had found an error. That is not new or unique. Gartner Research estimates that there is an error rate of roughly 4% for overpayments and underpayments in variable compensation for organizations not using a Sales Performance Management solution. What was surprising was the size of the error. It was significant. This one error, in my estimation, was larger than the Gartner number. Not only was this error significant, but it went unnoticed for a long time.
These types of errors, the kind people lose their jobs over, the kind that is only spoken about in the dark corners of a bar after a few, seem like they should be a thing of the past. Yet, they still happen. Things go wrong. Mistakes are made.
Audit and compliance seem like someone else's job in the big picture. It's always the "other guy" who has the problem. That's not reality. We all need to be aware of audit and compliance structures. If you are in Canada, this post on OSFI <link to Dennis’ blog post> is going to be very interesting for you. In the USA, we are all preparing for CCPA readiness. And in the EU, GDPR is still in the early years of compliance adjustments, and Varicent is ready.
When my conversation took place, when this person shared just how badly they needed an SPM offering, I was surprised at how deep a hole they were trying to escape from. It was even more rewarding to hear that the challenges they were facing to satisfy the audit teams were answered through Varicent. The expected time to recover and return to good standing was significantly less than expected. Varicent allowed for a collaborative approach to work with cross-functional teams to participate in regular reviews. There is an inherent capability to securitize and secure data as it is processed. The team is a trusted source of accurate information. Where there is trust, individuals can work harder and faster on revenue and relationships.
