IBM’s Incentive Compensation Management (ICM) software helps businesses drive sales performance, while Watson Analytics brings a predictive nature to the business.

“When you put the capabilities of a solution such as ICM alongside the analytics platforms that we’ve invested in, you can really unlock the capabilities of the data,” Alan Chapman, IBM’s director of Sales Performance Management told theCUBE during IBM Vision. “We’ve seen great results from customers who can dive into their sales compensation and understand what their compensation plans are really doing.”

Spotting the patterns

Watson Analytics allows businesses to spot patterns that they wouldn’t have considered otherwise. For example, if a sales manager has data to analyze, with ICM, he can engage Watson, which will present options on how to look at the data.

“From there, it will present patterns so he can spot what’s actually happening and make insights into the data,” said Chapman. “He can then feed that back into his compensation plan where he can adjust rates or change territories, depending on the insights. That’s part of the beauty of analytics. You’re going to discover things that you didn’t know were there.”

The software especially benefits the heavily regulated insurance industry, which faces complex onboarding and certification issues. Large enterprises likewise have a stable sales performance solution that they can build on to ultimately maximize their top line.

Helping clients become more agile

“The world of sales performance management is becoming more complex,” said Chapman. “Our primary job is to help clients become more agile. We’ve got an incredibly powerful, flexible solution. As we move forward, the sales performance management space is about helping them grow their top line.”

Watch the full interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of IBM Vision 2015.