Tantangan

Sales teams operating across multiple SEA markets face increasing competition, complex pricing structures, and varied client expectations. Without transparent and timely incentives, sales momentum slows and revenue potential remains underutilized.

The company faced challenges such as:

• Manual, error-prone commission calculations leading to delayed payouts and disputes.

• Limited visibility into earnings, reducing motivation and performance accountability.

• Uneven new business growth across territories, weakening pipeline consistency.

• Minimal recognition for high-impact proposals or strategic wins.

• Poor alignment between incentives and client retention priorities.

• Underdeveloped cross-sell and upsell performance despite strong existing relationships.

These issues resulted in inconsistent revenue growth and reduced competitiveness across regions.

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Personas involved

The transformation influenced multiple roles across the revenue engine:

• Sales Representatives

• Business Development Managers

• Territory Leads

• Account Managers

• Revenue Operations Teams

• Regional Sales Leadership

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The solution

To drive sales motivation and performance consistency, the company deployed a sales performance management & commission automation program using Xoxoday Compass. This system increased transparency, eliminated manual errors, and aligned incentives with strategic revenue goals.

• Commission automation: Real-time, accurate commission calculations eliminated payout disputes and boosted trust, allowing sales teams to track earnings instantly.

• New business bonuses: Sales representatives were rewarded for acquiring new research clients, expanding engagements, and entering new markets, accelerating pipeline growth.

• Proposal win recognition: Bonuses tied to competitive wins, strategic accounts, and high-value contracts motivated sales teams to elevate proposal quality.

• Territory sales contests: Leaderboards and regional competitions incentivized top performers and ignited healthy rivalry across SEA markets through gamification.

• Client retention bonuses: Structured incentives recognized sales professionals who secured multi-year renewals and maintained high retention rates.

• Cross-sell & upsell incentives: Expansion bonuses encouraged representatives to introduce additional methodologies and services to existing clients, increasing account value.

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Impact

The sales performance program delivered measurable, transformative results across markets.

• Increased revenue conversions by 47%, driven by improved proposal performance and faster sales cycles.

• Improved new client acquisition by 39%, accelerating pipeline growth across SEA.

• Reduced commission disputes by 92%, thanks to automated and transparent calculations.

• Achieved a 3.4x increase in competitive proposal wins, improving market positioning.

• Strengthened client retention by 33%, reducing churn and stabilizing recurring revenue.

• Delivered a 41% uplift in cross-sell and upsell revenue, expanding service penetration within existing accounts.

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Conclusion

By implementing an automated and performance-driven incentive framework, the research firm transformed its sales operations across Southeast Asia. Transparent commissions, strategic bonuses, and gamified contests improved motivation, strengthened regional competitiveness, and accelerated revenue growth. With higher win rates, improved retention, and increased expansion activity, the sales organization is now positioned for sustained long-term success in a rapidly evolving research market.