How Indy Simplified Its Commission Structure for a Fast-Growing SaaS Company — Customer Story

At Indy, variable compensation is a key motivator for sales teams. Commissions represent a significant portion of the compensation for SDRs, Account Executives, and Customer Success Managers.

In a rapidly growing environment, variable compensation management must be simple, reliable, and scalable. Before Qobra, Indy relied on Excel to calculate and manage commissions. This method quickly showed its limitations as the organization grew.

This case study shows how Indy transformed a complex and time-consuming process into an agile, transparent, and efficient system.

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Context: supporting growth with scalable commission structures

A growing sales organization

With an increase in the number of salespeople and diversification of compensation plans, commission management was becoming increasingly complex.

At Indy:

• The sales force was growing
• Commission plans were multiplying
• The rules were becoming more sophisticated

The Excel-based model was struggling to keep up.

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Challenges encountered before Qobra

Complex management of different compensation plans

As the team grew, the diversity of plans made calculations more difficult to maintain.

Each change involved:

• Manual adjustments
• Formula modifications
• An increased risk of errors

The system lacked flexibility and was becoming difficult to scale.

Difficulty deploying commissions on a large scale

The growth of the teams accentuated the limitations of Excel:

• Manual management of rules
• Slow file updates
• Increased complexity with the proliferation of special cases

"Running variable pay had gotten pretty complex. We had more and more sales reps, plus slightly different commission plans, so sometimes it could take us up to two days to get the variable pay out of Excel."

Martin Dambrine, Sales Ops at Indy

Publishing commissions could take up to two days.

In a fast-moving organization, this delay slowed down communication and visibility for teams.

A significant waste of time for Ops teams

Managing variables took up a lot of Sales Ops teams' time.

Each new rule, challenge, or adjustment required manual manipulation, which reduced the time spent on more strategic issues.

The model was reaching its limits in terms of operational efficiency.

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Deploying Qobra: agility, transparency, and efficiency

Plans that are easy to configure, even in complex cases

With Qobra, Indy can:

• Quickly add a new rule
• Create a specific plan for a challenge
• Launch complex mechanisms without overloading the system

"When we launch a challenge, I just add the rule, sometimes I'll create a specific plan. When it's a bit complex, it updates the system directly."

Martin Dambrine, Sales Ops at Indy

Even retroactive challenges are easily managed. It is possible to launch a challenge during the month and apply it retroactively to the first day of the month.

"It's not uncommon for us to launch a challenge mid-month but want it retroactive, we're on the 15th of the month but the challenge counts from the 1st. Qobra lets us implement that while keeping the historical data right away."

Martin Dambrine, Sales Ops at Indy

This flexibility allows sales teams to be more responsive and creative, without complicating variable management.

Rapid implementation of complex rules

Qobra allows sophisticated rules to be integrated and immediately implemented by the platform.

The benefits are immediate:

• Reduction in manual handling
• Rapid updating of rules
• Automatic consistency with the CRM

The tool becomes a real driver of execution for Sales Ops teams.

Immediate visibility for sales reps

The first impact for Sales teams is visibility.

Each sales rep can view:

• Their level of achievement
• The thresholds unlocked
• The estimated amount of their variable compensation

At Indy, the first variable threshold is unlocked at 80% of the target. It is not uncommon to see sales reps log into Qobra as soon as they cross this threshold to view their variable.

Commission becomes a dynamic indicator, consulted on a daily basis.

"The first thing it gives them is a clear view on their variable pay, plain and simple. It's not unusual to see sales reps, as soon as they hit 80%, log into Qobra to check how much variable they'll earn."

Martin Dambrine, Sales Ops at Indy

Total transparency on calculation rules

Each user can view the rules applied to their plan.

This allows them to:

• Understand the calculation precisely
• Verify the accuracy of the rules
• Avoid “manual” calculations

When in doubt, Qobra is the single source of truth.

This transparency builds trust and avoids unnecessary discussions.

"We really value transparency, and Qobra brings transparency to commissions, which can sometimes be a bit fuzzy, and avoids those little side-of-the-table calculations."

Martin Dambrine, Sales Ops at Indy

Responsive and committed support

Indy also highlights the quality of the support provided.

Whether it's to:

• Fix a bug
• Share an idea for improvement
• Adjust a setting

The Qobra teams are available and responsive.

In a subject as sensitive as variable compensation, this level of support is a strategic asset.

"If I had to pick one word, it would be efficiency: efficiency from the tool itself, which lets us configure pretty complex rules, and efficiency on the team side because we get great support."

Martin Dambrine, Sales Ops at Indy

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Strategic benefits for Indy

Supporting growth without complexity

Qobra makes it possible to manage workforce growth and plan diversification without complicating the process.

Gain operational efficiency

Commissions are published faster, and rules are integrated immediately.

Boost team motivation

Visibility on thresholds and amounts strengthens sales rep engagement.

Establish a culture of transparency

The rules are accessible to everyone, which builds trust and reduces friction.

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Conclusion: simplicity and efficiency at the service of performance

The Indy case shows that Excel quickly becomes insufficient in a growing sales organization:

• Increasing complexity
• Lack of scalability
• Slow commission publication
• High operational load

With Qobra, Indy has implemented a simple, flexible, and transparent system.

Sales Ops teams gain agility.

Salespeople have clear visibility into their variable compensation.

Plans can evolve quickly without undermining the entire system.

Variable compensation becomes a strategic tool, capable of supporting growth without complexity.

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Qobra in a few figures

• More than 250 client companies (Doctolib, Payfit, Spendesk, Go1, Make, CoachHub, SeLoger, Figaro, Agicap, etc.)
• More than 20,000 users (Finance, Revenue Operations, Sales Operations, HR, Sales, etc.)
• International presence: France, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and Czech Republic