Breakout Sessions

Monday, October 15, 2007 1:45-2:45 p.m.

Merger Integration: Picking Up Where Due Diligence Left Off

Scott Barton, Senior Consultant-Sales Effectiveness & Compensation, Watson Wyatt Worldwide
Clinton Gott, Senior Consultant-Sales Effectiveness & Compensation, Watson Wyatt Worldwide

For anyone having lived through an integration of two organizations, M&A can be a bitter pill. Through the process of integration, companies too often alienate solid performers from both organizations, making projections for growth and cost savings less likely. This session will examine two case studies of merged sales organizations. In one case, the acquiring organization determined that part of its strategy was to preserve the culture of the acquired group. In the other case, the acquired organization would adopt the management programs of the acquiring firm. Both cases provide lessons for sales management and those responsible for designing and managing the programs that motivate sales and customer-service personnel. Attend this session to learn:

elements of analysis necessary for determining synergies, risks, and priorities
how to fast track performance management, goal setting, base salary, and incentive plan integration
characteristics of success for preserving local cultures while gaining economies through centralized management practices

Monday, October 15, 2007 1:45-2:45 p.m.

A Guide to Sales Contest Planning: How to Optimize Return

Mike Ryan, Senior Vice President-Market Intelligence, MADISON Performance Group

As the utilization of sales contest and other non-cash recognition tools grow, are companies optimizing the return of their programs? Are planners leveraging available tools properly as they strive to grow incremental revenue, sustain competitive advantage, and ignite employee engagement? Attend this session and learn:

how to build (and strengthen) your business case for a sales contest
how web-based programs can reduce costs, improve efficiency, and enhance motivational impact.
how contemporary “direct marketing” techniques can ignite your communication strategy

Monday, October 15, 2007 1:45-2:45 p.m.

Managing Global Sales Compensation Plans: Cultural Differences and the Effect on Sales Compensation Design

Suzanne Galvanek, Associate Vice President-Sales Compensation, AT&T
Joseph DiMisa, Senior Vice President & Sales Effectiveness Practice Leader, Sibson Consulting

As more and more companies look outside of North America to grow revenue, the difficult task of managing a global sales force and the compensation plans that support the sales organization is becoming more apparent. This presentation will explore how companies need to manage sales compensation through country work councils and with various cultural differences to ensure consistent and effective behavior. The audience will learn how AT&T addressed sales compensation and governance from a true global perspective, and the techniques that apply to international sales design and governance. Join Ms. Galvanek and Mr. DiMisa as they discuss:

how to address global compensation design and governance
how culture impacts sales compensation assessment and design
what are country work councils, and how to effectively work with them when designing sales compensation plans

Monday, October 15, 2007 2:55-3:55 p.m.

Best Practices from the Fortune 1000: How Leading Companies Build a Strong Partnership between HR and Sales

Cindy Lyness, HR Director-Marketing & Sales, Cement Operations, Lafarge North America
Steve Grossman, Principal, Mercer Human Resource Consulting
Jason Jordan, Principal, Mercer Human Resource Consulting

Leading companies know the advantages of a strategic HR-Sales partnership. It allows Sales to focus on winning and retaining customers, and HR to create measurable value. Backed by research within Fortune 1000 companies, Ms. Lyness, Mr. Grossman, and Mr. Jordan will demonstrate how both sides can strengthen this important partnership. During this session, attendees will:

learn the key barriers to forming a strong partnership between HR and Sales by examining results of a Mercer study of 50 sales executives and 50 HR executives at Fortune 1000 companies
find out what successful companies do differently from other companies to overcome these barriers
consider the steps needed for HR executives to build lasting strategic relationships with Sales

Monday, October 15, 2007 2:55-3:55 p.m.

Pharmaceutical Sales Compensation Design: Highlights from the 2007 Survey

Elliot Scott, Senior Consultant, Towers Perrin
Erich Sachse, Managing Consultant, Synygy

Mr. Scott and Mr. Sachse will discuss key findings from the third annual survey of pharmaceutical sales compensation plan design practices. You will learn how other companies are structuring their sales incentive plans and how those plans are changing in response to market and company dynamics. There will be time for Q&A and interactive discussion at the end to delve into particular issues in more depth. Bring your questions! Join Mr. Scott and Mr. Sachse to learn:

some of the ways in which sales compensation plans are changing and not changing across the industry and come away with a better understanding of the forces driving change
specific ways that pharmaceutical companies are addressing key plan design challenges
how companies are using managed care data in the design of sales compensation plans for account executives and field representatives

Monday, October 15, 2007 2:55-3:55 p.m.

Sales Performance Measurement: What Really Works

Dave Stein, CEO & Founder, ES Research Group, Inc.
Al Case, Principal Analyst & Research Fellow, ES Research Group, Inc.

This session provides the foundation of what is required for companies to implement sales performance programs (such as sales training and other performance improvement initiatives) and measure their resulting improvement results and ROI. Attend this session and:

understand the metrics that are employed by best-in-class companies and the relationship between those metrics and behavior
learn how to calculate the ROI on sales training and sales development
learn how to evaluate, select and implement a sales performance improvement measurement program

Monday, October 15, 2007 4:05-5:05 p.m.

Achieving Year-Over-Year Sales Growth

Mike Spellecy, Vice President & Managing Consultant-Sales Effectiveness Practice, Maritz Inc.
Stan Striker, Vice President & Executive Director-Healthcare Sector, Maritz Inc.

Attend this session and learn how to implement an integrated approach to sales force performance improvement. All elements of this systemic approach are focused on supporting the deployment of critical skills needed for sales teams to perform at a high level to find, win, and grow customers. Attendees will:

understand how to unlock the hidden potential inside your sales force and accelerate sales growth through improved sales performance, illustrated with real world examples
learn how to help your sales force achieve new levels of success by aligning the business strategy - and the sales force - with the needs of the customer and enabling the sales force through needs-based training and resources (skills, coaching, and communities)
hear how to more effectively motivate the sales force by understanding individual preferences and rewarding and recognizing accordingly

Monday, October 15, 2007 4:05-5:05 p.m.

Keys to Multi-Channel Sales Compensation

Estelle Conover, Vice President-Alliance Channels, AT&T
Mark Donnolo, Senior Vice President, MarketBridge

For most companies, the optimal sales model is no longer a single rep effort. Effectively covering opportunities across a range of sales strategies is a true multi-channel endeavor requiring coordination of partner and internal resources. The sales compensation program must support the multi-channel strategy from an internal motivation perspective for direct sales and indirect partner management resources. In the process, the program must also coordinate and complement the company’s partner support programs that may include margins, incentives, and marketing funds. Mr. Donnolo and Ms. Conover will take you through the keys to developing a sales compensation program that fits with your multi-channel strategies. This session will identify:

multi-channel sales comp challenges
essential considerations for sales compensation in a multi-channel environment
complementing partner programs to maximize alignment and minimize conflict

Monday, October 15, 2007 4:05-5:05 p.m.

High-Performance Sales Incentives: Insights and Best Practices from the Health Insurance Industry

Don Gallo, Office Practice Leader-Compensation, Watson Wyatt Worldwide

When it comes to evaluating and redesigning incentive plans, many companies do so based on limited knowledge of best practices. Based on a new survey of health insurers, this session will highlight incentive design, governance, administration, and communication practices associated with growth and profitability. Attend this session and:

understand what sales incentive designs best support growth, productivity, and profitability
gain insight into incentive governance practices at high-performing companies
identify best practices to consider when redesigning your organization’s sales incentive plans

Tuesday, October 16, 2007 1:30-2:30 p.m.

Sales Force Effectiveness in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Shawn Fatholahi, Vice President-Sales & Marketing, Impax Pharmaceuticals
Partha Anbil, Senior Principal-Management Consulting, IMS Health
John Moran, Director-Strategy Planning & Management Consulting, IMS Health

Innovative techniques for helping reps more effectively understand their customers’ key interests and preferences for information are driving value for leading pharmaceutical sales organizations. In this session, practitioners will highlight leading practices in equipping sales reps with valuable customer information that improves interactions and deepens customer relationships. New metrics of performance based on physician customization will also be discussed. This session is ideal for both pharmaceutical sales leaders as well as leaders of other highly distributed, large scale B2B sales forces who want greater one-to-one sales and marketing capability. By attending this session, participants will:

gain insight into how the pharmaceutical sales model is changing to become more customer centric
understand key selling tools that are enabling deeper, more productive customer relationships
hear from practitioners who are implementing leading practices for improving sales rep-customer interactions

Tuesday, October 16, 2007 1:30-2:30 p.m.

Successful New Hire Integration: Increase Productivity and Decrease Turnover

Kendra Lee, President, KLA Group

Half of all new hire sales reps quit or are fired within their first six months--costing the companies that hire them not only hiring and training expenses, but lost revenue in idle territories. It doesn’t have to be this way. Preventing revolving door syndrome requires the strategic implementation of effective on-boarding training principles that leave new sales reps with a "I made the right decision" feeling and the desire to quickly meet their quota objectives. During this session, attendees will learn:

ways to speed new hire sales reps’ time to productivity from day one
important training steps to improve employee retention beyond the first 90 days
indicators of potential failure and how to handle them

Tuesday, October 16, 2007 1:30-2:30 p.m.

Cat-Herding 101: Enterprise Incentive Governance as a Solution to Sales Compensation Management

Kim Cannon, Senior Vice President-Rewards & Benefits, Washington Mutual Bank
Don Gallo, Office Practice Leader, Compensation, Watson Wyatt Worldwide

This session will showcase how Washington Mutual developed and implemented a best-in-class approach to enterprise incentive governance that strikes a balance between centralization and decentralization and covers over 90 incentive plans, 20,000 employees and $1.3 billion in costs in four businesses. Attendees will learn:

to identify symptoms of poor incentive governance within their own organization
the basic elements of incentive governance, including process, structure, decision authorities, and practices
how to engage with key stakeholders on critical governance issues

Tuesday, October 16, 2007 1:30-2:30 p.m.

Great Plan, Poor Execution: Curing the Implementation Curse

Paul Reiman, Senior Consultant, Buck Consultants
Kathy Ledford, Principal, Sales Compensation Leader, Buck Consultants

You’ve built the perfect plan, and the target effective date is approaching quickly. You know that a bad implementation can ruin even the best of plans—so what do you do? How do you turn the implementation effort from a liability that can detract from the effectiveness of the plan to an asset that enhances the new plan design? In this session, we’ll explore a proven plan implementation roadmap, discuss key success factors, and identify how to overcome the pitfalls we all know about but can’t seem to avoid. Attendees at this session will:

identify the critical components of a sales compensation implementation plan
discuss a proven roadmap that supports effective change
hear practical ideas that you can use in your next implementation process

Tuesday, October 16, 2007 4:00-5:00 p.m.

When You Absolutely, Positively Have to Pay for Performance Against Quota: Quota Setting as Change Management

Scott Sands, Southeast Region Sales Effectiveness & Compensation Practice Leader, Watson Wyatt Worldwide
Tom Tice, Senior Consultant-Sales Effectiveness & Compensation, Watson Wyatt Worldwide

First line sales managers are used to "doing their own thing" when it comes to setting goals for their sales people. They tend to resist new compensation plans and any reduction of their autonomy in goal setting—particularly when moving a commissioned sales force to pay-for-improved-performance. This session will describe a process for managing the transition from a decentralized compensation and goal-setting process to a more centralized set of processes, concentrating on what can be done after the quota-bonus plan is designed to make sure that the quotas on which the compensation payouts are based will be accepted as fair by the sales force. Learn:

the four basic types of quota-setting processes and how they differ
techniques for gaining the acceptance of sales managers for process equity
the methods that are used when no quantitative estimates of territory market potential are available

Tuesday, October 16, 2007 4:00-5:00 p.m.

The Storm After the Calm... When Massive Change Occurs, What’s Next?

Mark Bernstein, Senior Director-Sales Planning, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals
Jeff Kahan, Director-Sales Incentives, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals

Companies are frequently making changes to their sales compensation plans, but when there is a large shift in sales strategy, major overhauls of the plans are often needed. After the immediate change is implemented, what comes next? Join Mr. Bernstein and Mr. Kahan as they present a case study of a massive shift in sales strategy and the corresponding impact on sales compensation plans. Attend this session and:

share best practices for how to manage through the aftermath of a major shift in sales strategy
understand how to leverage the new plan and create a culture shift in your sales force to ensure that the desired behavioral changes are realized
learn to maximize the value of your incentive plan by performing follow-up evaluation and response to new plan changes

Tuesday, October 16, 2007 4:00-5:00 p.m.

Localizing Global Sales Compensation Plans

Peter Katz, Senior Vice President-Corporate Sales, Elsevier
Kevin O’Connell, Managing Partner, Accelerate Consulting Group LLC

How do global sales compensation designers balance consistency with flexibility to meet local regional needs? Case study provides insights on how to develop global sales compensation plans with a common architecture and flexibility to tailor designs to be competitive regionally. Attendees will learn:

the need for consistent, clear, articluted plan design principles agreed to by management
benefits of uniform plan mechanics where possible.
flexible plan components (e.g., target incentive and pay mix) that can be modified to ensure competitiveness with local practices, work rules, and regional market realities

Tuesday, October 16, 2007 4:00-5:00 p.m.

Risk Management for the Sales Process: Sarbanes Oxley and Beyond

Andrew de Lannoy, Managing Director, Gupton Marrs International, Inc.
Nathan Ohm, Marketing Director-Indirect Marketing, Synygy, Inc.

Join Mr. de Lannoy and Mr. Ohm for a comprehensive view of auditing the sales process. Take a look at current changes to Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) 404 requirements in 2007, how to survive a SOX 404 audit, and what risks may exist in the sales process beyond the tests of controls required by SOX. Taking from a recent sales process survey conducted by Synygy and Gupton Marrs, this session will highlight various areas of risks in managing the sales process. Participants will gain an understanding of:

the impact of SOX 404 on today’s sales organization
the minimum requirements and how to survive the SOX 404 audit
what SOX 404 is currently missing and why overlooking these lurking risks can be costly to the organization