Showers of recognition for Anaplan’s Sales Performance Management solutions

By Dana Therrien
Vice President, Chief Revenue Officer Practice

Anaplan continues to gain momentum in the fast-evolving revenue operations and sales performance management (SPM) markets. Recent recognition from leading analyst and advisory firms show Anaplan, as well as our partners and customers, as leaders in sales and revenue operations innovation.

2022 Gartner® Market Guide for Sales Performance Management
In March, Anaplan was recognized by Gartner in its 2022 Market Guide for Sales Performance Management. This annual report touches on the latest trends and developments in the SPM space, and it recognizes several “representative vendors” in the market. On the direction of the market, Gartner states: “SPM solutions allow organizations to create and alter plans for the future for quota, territory, and compensation in an agile way that can’t be accomplished manually. While no one can predict the next market interruption, this solution does help the compensation team create scenarios to find the best-fit change for given situations. For most organizations, sales strategy projections are the most relevant to the SPM purchase decision.”

We believe that Anaplan’s unmatched scenario planning capabilities make Anaplan the ideal solution for sales or revenue operations leaders looking to be prepared for unexpected market shifts. In evaluating SPM vendors based on a list of 18 capabilities or functions, Gartner says that Anaplan checks every box.

Ventana Research Value Index for Revenue Performance Management 2022
Anaplan was also recognized as an Exemplary Vendor in the 2022 Value Index for Revenue Performance Management by Ventana Research. This study, the first of its kind by Ventana, expands the aperture of traditional sales performance management to include analytics and insights for other teams and functions with responsibility for revenue. These could include roles responsible for new business, existing customer relationships, renewals, and expansions. As defined by Ventana, “Revenue Performance Management (RPM) is a coordinated set of revenue-generating and related activities, processes, and systems that enable organizations to plan, execute, monitor, and adjust in real time to achieve customer, product, and revenue targets.”

The report goes on to stress that sales planning activities, including territory and quota planning, are still fundamental to the revenue performance management framework:

“In our view, effective management across sales and revenue operations requires well-designed and continuously optimized territories and accounts aligned with quotas that are designed to achieve an organization’s full revenue potential. Territories can be based not only on geographies but on a variety of alternate drivers leading to virtual territories more aligned with current needs. Quotas need to be linked to both overall organization objectives and product and service category targets. With the advent of self-service and digital channels, and as customers can engage across multiple channels for a single purchase, both quotas and territories need to ensure individuals are not penalized or disincentivized. This foundation must be established through modeling and planning that will provide the analytics and metrics necessary to guide revenue leadership and operations for the coming month, quarter, year, and beyond.”

Designed to conduct detailed planning at enterprise scale, Anaplan provides an ideal solution for organizations at any stage in their journey to revenue operations.

Gartner, Market Guide for Sales Performance Management, Melissa Hilbert, Steve Herz, 22 March 2022

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