Verizon Communications Inc.: Sales Commission Integration

A sales commission integration driven by Accenture provided incentives to help Verizon Business’ journey toward high performance.

Verizon Business, an operating unit of Verizon Communications Inc., is a leading global provider of communications solutions.

With 321 offices in 75 countries, the company provides support to multinational organizations throughout the world. Verizon Business manages highly complex networks and offers its business clients a full range of communication services.

In late 2007, Verizon Business saw opportunities to unify its globally complex assortment of commission procedures. While North and Latin America had automated some processes, work flows in other regions were frequently manual and time consuming. Verizon Business identified the need to standardize and automate manual activities worldwide, improve data quality, speed up processes and reduce system costs. Verizon Business turned to Accenture, which has a track record of helping many companies transform their sales organizations.

Accenture worked with Verizon to design, build and test the Verizon Business Incentive System with Verizon Business compensation plan and design managers being brought into the process to help update the 2008 system. The new system demonstrates speed, flexibility and convenience enabling the company to adapt to changing business conditions and revenue targets.

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In late 2007, Verizon Business saw opportunities to unify its globally complex assortment of commission procedures. While North and Latin America had automated some processes, workflows in other regions were frequently manual and time consuming. Verizon Business identified the need to standardize and automate manual activities worldwide, improve data quality, speed up processes and reduce system costs.

Verizon Business turned to Accenture, which has a track record of helping many companies transform their sales organizations. Accenture had experience in implementing incentive compensation systems for companies in communications, media and technology and other industries. In addition, Accenture had successfully completed previous initiatives for Verizon, clearly demonstrating a commitment to helping this global communications giant make significant progress on its journey to high performance.

For several years, Accenture has teamed with Callidus to deliver industry-leading solutions that aligns company compensation programs with high-level business objectives. Callidus Software is the market and technology leader in sales performance management. Along with the licensing of Callidus software to help restructure its sales compensation structure, Verizon Business selected Accenture to serve as the primary implementation provider to design, build and deploy the global solution, called the Verizon Business Incentive System.

Accenture’s team of consultants worked closely with Verizon’s business and IT resources to finalize system requirements and design the solution. Accenture also collaborated with Callidus consultants and third-party contractors to standardize and simplify commission operations.

To speed early phases of the project, Accenture used its proprietary Accenture Delivery Methods for project estimation and project planning. For system design, components of Accenture assets were blended with Verizon Business design processes requested by the client.

The project team worked for several months to consolidate over 200 compensation plans into a number approximately one-tenth the size. In addition, the project team reduced more than 65 interfaces to 16 standard integration templates.

From the start, the Verizon Business Incentive System had strong support from Verizon Business compensation management. Sales managers in some geographic areas, however, were understandably apprehensive about a new system that would change their familiar (though manual) workday habits. To improve acceptance, Accenture designed client walk-throughs to educate multiple groups of people about the benefits of the system.

What resulted is a single, user-friendly portal for commissions operations worldwide. Sales representatives in all regions now use a convenient electronic portal to gain access to incentive compensation reports, information and two-way communication channels. Accenture designed, built and tested the Verizon Business Incentive System using the 2008 compensation structure as a baseline. Verizon Business compensation plan and design managers were brought into the process to help update the system for 2009. The final three months of the Accenture engagement, concluding in March 2009, resulted in the design, build and testing of the 2009 plan.

Commissions are a catalyst for motivating the sales organization, and Verizon Business now has an efficient system for rewarding employees in the United States, Canada, and countries throughout Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. The Verizon Business Incentive System provides Verizon Business commission management with a single point of view into sales performance worldwide.

Verizon Business now has new self-service capabilities with which commissions operations managers can make plan changes without relying on internal IT support. An audit trail provides clear visibility into changes made. These enhancements strengthen internal controls and also improve the speed and convenience with which new commission plans can be adapted to address competitive threats. In the past, employees had to wait until their commission statements were posted to see sales transactions for which they would receive credit. Sales representatives can now view information up to six weeks earlier. The much-improved visibility is reducing the number of post-payment disputes.

Verizon Business is now looking for additional ways to use the Verizon Business Incentive System to improve results. The system provides advanced capabilities for improved sales force communications and collaborative work flows. In addition, compensation managers, for the first time, will be able to model “what if” scenarios to forecast year-end performance based on changes in sales quotas and other factors.

The Verizon Business Incentive System provides yet another example of how Accenture sales operations and delivery strategies can help organizations streamline processes, reduce costs and create new ways to generate revenues. The close alignment of sales processes with business strategy is enabling Verizon Business to achieve measurable benefits in the pursuit of high performance.