This is a story about a Director of Finance who retired his sales commission tracking spreadsheet in favor of QuotaPath and its Salesforce integration.
For Josh Seltzer, Simplex Health’s Director of Finance, the spreadsheet will always have a special place in his heart.
“I’ve seen everything from sharing Excel spreadsheets across departments to SharePoint and Google Sheets to spreadsheets that talk to each other. And, now we’ve got smart spreadsheets with code plugins and logic gates,” Josh said while reflecting on his 10-year-plus tenure in finance.
The spreadsheet is, as Josh put it, “a really easy database.”
However, despite his fondness for spreadsheets, Josh quickly flagged its flaws. The errors pile up as spreadsheets pass between teams and as newer sheet versions replace older ones.
“On top of that, we have to put together a million different inputs that can become very ad hoc,” Josh said.
So, when the fintech leader saw an opportunity to increase data cleanliness while decreasing his time spent dedicated to spreadsheet maintenance, he took it.
Simplex Health, a health tech startup that focuses on the prevention and reversal of lifestyle-driven chronic health conditions, adopted QuotaPath in Spring 2021.
Upon sending his spreadsheet into retirement, there were no hurt feelings.
“We’ve come a very long way since adding QuotaPath,” Josh said. “As long as I set up our commission plan rules correctly, QuotaPath just works. I don’t have to worry about it.”
We asked Josh a few more questions to understand Simplex Health’s move to retire their commissions’ spreadsheet. (We also asked him to imagine and describe what his spreadsheet’s retirement party would include.)
Meet this Finance Leader
Josh Seltzer used his accounting degree from Temple University to work up the finance ladder at IBM, inVentive Health Clinical, The Avoca Group, and RADIUS Corporation. Then in February 2020, Josh joined Simplex Health as Director of Finance.
“What I like about my job is that I am able to influence strategy. I can’t help our patients the way our dietitians can,” Josh said. “But I can build out the infrastructure and the roadmap for the corporation so that we can continue to serve our patients.”
What were your team’s final “last straws” to replace spreadsheets with an automated system?
Josh: For a while, we didn’t have a CRM. Instead, we ran reports from our electronic health record system (EHR) and paid commissions based on patient appointments from our EHR. When we added Salesforce, we began downloading manual-intensive reports for this. I’d create a report for every single sales rep. Someone would have to review it. Then I’d download it, report it, digest it, and translate it to a dollar figure. There was a lot of going back and forth and manual lift.
How has your job been since retiring your commissions spreadsheets with QuotaPath?
Less back and forth and more transparency. Reps can see what’s happening behind the curtain in a timely manner. They don’t have to wait for me to build the spreadsheet, put it into a static report, and then set up a time to discuss it. There are no waiting gaps.
Humor us! What would you bring to your spreadsheet’s retirement party?
A bonfire to burn it.
Harsh, but fair. Lastly, how’s your commissions spreadsheet spending its retirement years?
It’s just trying to get the most out of its days until it’s permanently vaulted.
We recognize that it can be difficult to part ways with your sales commission tracking spreadsheet and hope stories like Josh’s can offer a glimpse into the other side. Are you ready to throw your commission spreadsheet a retirement party? Talk to one of our teammates today.
