Salesforce acquires Spiff - Image credit https://pixabay.com/users/absolutvision-6158753/Salesforce has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Spiff, a sales commission and commission tracker solution. The announcement comes only a few months after Spiff raised $50 million in a Series C funding round that Salesforce Ventures led. That Salesforce led the round rather than participated is unusual. It shows it has had an interest in the firm for some time.

Spiff combines the foundational elements of spreadsheets. A common tool for salespeople calculating commissions, along with low-code capabilities powered by a powerful processing engine. It supports integrations to a large number of applications, including CRM. Such as Salesforce, HubSpot and MS Dynamics, accounting and ERP solutions such as NetSuite, SAP S/4HANA, Sage Intacct and Microsoft Dynamics.

Ketan Karkhanis, EVP & GM, Sales Cloud(credit image/LinkedIn/Ketan Karkhanis)
Ketan Karkhanis, GM, EVP, Sales Cloud

Once the acquisitions close, Spiff will join Sales Cloud. Enhancing the existing Sales Performance Management solutions with a trusted platform for compensation management.

Ketan Karkhanis, EVP & GM, Sales Cloud, commented, “CROs and financial leaders know the importance of compensation in driving rep behavior. The challenge these leaders face is in how to align these compensation plans to desired outcomes — all while navigating data across siloed-point solutions. Spiff connects what sellers want — transparent compensation — with what sales leaders want — compensation planning built into CRM that aligns behaviors to strategic outcomes.”

So close to Salesforce, that it has now joined forces

That 70% of Spiff customers are already using Sales Cloud is an indication of the depth of the relationship between the two companies. What is missing from this announcement are any details about those companies that are not using Salesforce CRM. Will Spiff continue to develop its application for HubSpot users, for example?

Spiff currently has two entries on the AppExchange. Spiff Commission Estimator for Sales Cloud puts visibility into potential commissions and goal achievement right into your team’s hands. To keep them motivated to close more revenue. Spiff for Salesforce is its full application and requires Sales Cloud or Revenue Cloud. Both applications are Non-SFDC Applications.

The addition of Spiff to Salesforce will empower CROs to better align with financial and sales operations teams. To easily self-manage complex incentive compensation plans and understand the factors propelling revenue performance to drive top-line growth.

Jeron Paul, CEO of Spiff, commented, “I’m excited about the future of Spiff and about what this means for the world of SPM and ICM in general. We have always taken pride in Spiff’s pace of innovation, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to make an even deeper impact on the space as part of the Salesforce ecosystem.”

Deal almost done

Salesforce will bring on board the Spiff team (approx 290 according to LinkedIn) once the deal has closed. But there is no indication what role Paul or Matt Stapleton, Co-founder and COO will hols when the deal is completed. Salesforce expects to complete the deal in Q1 for fiscal 2025, subject to conditions, effectively between February and April 2024. It will not impact any Salesforce guidance.

Norwest Ventures, a participant in the Series A round, is clearly happy with the deal. Sean Jacobsohn, Partner at Norwest Venture Partners, commented on LinkedIn, “Incredible news for Spiff Inc! This acquisition by Salesforce means big things for the technology and the people who use it every day.

“Customers have been effusive in their love for the product. CEO Jeron Paul knew the pain of managing commissions well after interviewing over 200 CFOs — and knew there was a better way to do it.”

Enterprise Times: What does this mean

Good news for Spiff. But this may mean that other compensation applications on the AppExchange will find it tougher in the future to win business from Salesforce customers. What isn’t is what the product roadmap for Spiff is.

What this will mean for the Spiff team is access to more markets. While Spiff does appear to have employees outside the US, its only office is in Sandy, Utah. Salesforce will provide access to a much wider sales team that can accelerate its growth with a simple upsell to many customers.

Spiff is already a leader in the G2 Grid for Sales Compensation platforms. This will add another leadership position for Salesforce. The application will further strengthen the Salesforce Sales Cloud. Spiff also brings a portfolio of customers that are either new or will strengthen the relationship with Salesforce, including Conga, Qualtrics, PubMatic and Clari.

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