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This guide is meant to assist in getting your RPM Telco Subscription up and running, if any steps are unclear please do not hesitate to email support@rpmtelco.com for assistance. 


Note: Video tutorials are available by clicking into the guide article.  


Introduction - This video will cover what this guide will assist in when it comes to getting your RPM Telco subscription up and running.


Phase 1 - Populating the Data for Commissions

Step 1 - Collect all commission data from your supplier(s) and/or TSD(s) you do business with in .xlsx format for a selected commission month. RPM Telco processes commissions one month at a time and once a commission run is closed it is locked in and changes cannot be made to it. Keep this in mind when choosing a starting month, if you want your historical commission data in RPM you must start your first commission run as far back as that historical data. 


When you first start using RPM Telco you will be given a month and year to start off(this is located under Top Left Menu > Import Data) do not worry about not loading your data if you wanted to start on a different month and year as an email to support@rpmtelco.com can move the run for you. 


It is recommend that you keep your Excel files in folders labeled by the commission run, for example March 2020. Then in that folder starting another folder called RPM and keeping all the modified RPM ready Excels in there once you've prepared them for import.

  • Using the instructions provided in the "Rules of Thumb", modify all commission data files so they can be successfully uploaded into RPM Telco. This can be left till Phase 2 if desired.

Step 2 - Complete the Microsoft Excel Template titled "Import Agencies Excel Template" with all the Agencies you do business with (or any business/person you would like to pay commissions to).

  • For more information and an in detailed explanation of agencies. 
  • To manually add agencies see instructions here. If you have a small handful of Agencies it might be faster to manually add them in RPM vs an import.


The import agency template can be found in your RPM Subscription under the Top Left Menu > 
Agency page under More > Imports.


Step 3 - Import Agencies the agencies using the template completed earlier if applicable. 

Step 4 - Complete the Microsoft Excel" Template titled "Import Reps Excel Template" with all the reps from your Agencies.

  • For more information and a in detailed explanation of agents. 
  • To manually add Reps see instructions here. 
The import rep template can be found in your RPM Subscription under the Top Left Menu > Rep page under More > Imports.

Step 5 - Import Reps with help of a spreadsheet template allowing you to mass import reps.

Step 6 - Setup Suppliers.  


Suppliers in RPM are used to represent the carrier that is charging the customer, however it is not limited to this configuration. It is recommend that you combine all of your commissions into each supplier you receive commissions from. This means that if you have a direct relationship with a supplier and also receive commissions from a TSD under that supplier you should plan to setup and import the commissions under one supplier entity in RPM. The reason for this is it provides a much cleaner display of your supplier data and you can get complete reports of everything from one supplier without losing out on the ability to report on the TSDs either. 


The other configuration would be to split the suppliers out into each source of commission data. So you would take each variation of a supplier from each TSD  and create it as it's own supplier. For example, Comcast, TSD -Comcast, TSD  2 - Comcast.  The downside to this is the large number of suppliers it would create and the reports by suppliers would be split into multiple separate reports. 


While RPM does not recommend setting up your suppliers to represent TSDs or TSD suppliers(e.g, TSname or TSD_AT&T) you may do so if you prefer RPM to summarize the totals quickly by those categories. Keep in mind your agents will be able to see the supplier names you choose.


Step 7 - If you do business with TSDs that also use RPM Telco, you will need manager logon credentials from the TSD to set up a Commission Transfer.  

Step 8 - Populate the Import matrix, this is where column headers from your commission data are mapped to variables in RPM.

Step 9 - Setup Multi Supplier Imports. If you have any TSDs that are not RPM Subscribers or do not have transfers enabled for their agents you may get a spreadsheet that has multiple carriers listed on it. The Multi-Supplier Import will scan the single spreadsheet and place the items in the assigned supplier in RPM. 

Phase 2 - Importing the Commission Data

Step 10 - Import Commission Data. Using the Excel files you've gathered from Step 1 start loading your commission data into your Import Data page. 

  • If you have not done the modifications on the commission spreadsheets yet follow the "Rules of Thumb", modify all commission data files so they can be successfully uploaded into RPM Telco. 
  • Imported something incorrectly and you need to delete the imports?
  • Getting an error on imports?
    • Click Here for common error messages and how to deal with them.

Step 11 - Import Multi Supplier Spreadsheets. These are your TSD spreadsheets that have multiple suppliers listed on one spreadsheet. If you do not have any skip this step.

  • The first time you do a multi supplier import it is recommended that you view the buffer after the import to check if the number of items under each supplier is split out properly under the desired suppliers.

Step 12 - Transfer Commissions. Transfers are commissions items from other RPM subscribers that you setup in Step 7, if you did not have any skip this step.

Step 13 -  Assign Accounts to Reps(Assignment After Commission Import section) or Assign Assignment Codes to Reps. This is how RPM determines which commission items are assigned to which agents. 


If you assign the code to the wrong agent you can undo the assignment from the top left of the assignment code page using the Undo button. If you need to re-assign assignments after leaving the assignment page you can use the account transfer option.


Step 14 - Create Commission group(s) - A commission group is a group of products that share commission rates. The best practice in RPM is to create commission groups based on how you need to compensate your agents. A common example is to use two commission groups called Residuals and SPIFFS/Upfronts. This allows you to pay your agents a set rate for residuals and a special exception rate for SPIFSS or Upfronts. Of course you can expand on this and create as many groups as required. 

Step 15 - Matching products to commission groups. 

Phase 3 - Commission Rules and Reporting

Step 16 -  Understanding Commissions Structures in RPM.


Commission rules in RPM follow a basic best practice where in your agencies are assigned a pay plan which should cover their most common pay rate. This methodology is to ensure that when you're assigning the agency reps their accounts that they automatically get paid at the set pay plan rate. This will save you time in having to set a payout percentage for every new account that comes into RPM.  


Of course there will be exceptions to every pay plan and your agents may not always get paid one rate across the board. In Step 19 we will be going over all the different type of exception rules we can set and the scenarios they best fit. 


Knowledge tidbits associated with commissions in RPM.

  • Agencies can only have one pay plan assigned to them.
  • Reps cannot have their own pay plans and cannot be assigned adjustments or referrals directly but rather those are assigned to the agency they belong to. If the Rep is a Manager they will be able to see all the adjustments and referrals assigned to the agency. 
  • Commission rule changes only affect the current run and any future runs. Historical runs will not be affected by any changes to any commission rules.
  • You will need an open run to make modifications to commission rules, if your run is closed you will get an error message informing you that the run needs to be open. 

Step 17 - Create Pay Plans - Pay plans are the payout structures/scenarios you have with your agents. A pay plan can be assigned to as many agencies as required, so naming them generically will broaden their use. When adding a pay plan it is best to think of them as the broadest and most common pay rates you may encounter when paying your agent.

Step 18 - Assign Pay Plans.  Agencies Can Only be Assigned to One Pay Plan at a Time. 

Step 19 - Exceptions and When to Use Them.

  • Agency Schedule - When a specific agency fits into a majority of a pay plan but get special rates on certain suppliers.
  • Account group - Used to apply a specific commission rule to an account or multiple accounts per supplier.  The most commonly used exception, account groups are a semi quick way to set a pay rate for certain accounts that override the pay plan.
  • Referral - used to pay more than 1 agent on the same account. Referrals are how RPM recommends in most scenarios on handling multi-agent payouts. Referrals are assigned to an agency and will payout the set percentage to the agency on every included category under it. 
  • Split - used to pay more than 1 agent on the same account. Splits are used for the same reason as referrals are but have one very distinct difference in that they will split an item into pieces. The split items will be a percentage of the original item leaving every split participant with a small fraction of the original item. Splits can create a very large number of commission items and takes more time to manage and setup which is why referrals are the recommended method of paying multiple partners on the same deal. 
  •  Addendum - used to apply a specific commission rule to a product or account.  


Step 20 - Reconciling your Commission Amounts.


Make sure the Calculate option on the latest run page reads (done) and not (required) before checking commission totals.

Using reports on the Latest Run page check if the commission totals line up with your expected amounts. We recommend using these reports for the 1st run.

  • Agency Summaries - Total amounts assigned to each Agency in your subscription. Check over each agency's summary carefully by clicking into them and using the tabs in the grey to navigate between views. If any totals look too high or low you can narrow it down by viewing the totals by customer or supplier.
  • All Items- All commission items imported for this month. Sub categories of this are located directly under the All Items report and can be helpful in summarizing totals. 
    • Items Reporting - Under the All Items report is the option to create custom reports. Using the Edit View option you can create custom reports that you may revisit monthly. Common uses:
      • Use a source filter and filter for a certain TSD. 
      • Use a Net Billed filter of $0 and a Gross Comm filter of above $0 and below $0 to capture SPIFFS. This may not capture all SPIFFs but will give you a good overview of a lot of them. 
      • User a product/commission group filter to search for certain products.

Step 21 - Enabling Agent users (for viewing commissions, customers, accounts etc..) 


Enabled agent users allow your sale partners to login to check their commissions on their own. If not enabling agents you can view their agency summaries and download them to manually email to the agents.

Step 22 - Close the Run


This concludes your first commission run in RPM Telco, you can now use the Month-by-Month Commission Duties guide to get a simple checklist to help you with your next commission run.

Step 23 - Merge Customers  


Sometimes the name of a customer provided by a TSD/Supplier does not match the name you have on file. Merging customers allows you to clean up the names to have unified customer name in your RPM

Phase 4 - Processes Introduction and RPM Management


Processes are different than the above phases due to it being a more customizable part of RPM. Processes are templates designed to solve business problems. Processes are able to track different aspects of your business. The most common examples are tracking your opportunities, orders, trouble tickets, and customer contact log. Below you will find links to guide you through the setup process as well as RPM Telco's best practice in regards to managing Opportunities and Orders using RPM Telco. 



With the processes you can start fresh without pre-existing fields however we recommend using the RPM default best practices to manage your Opportunities and Orders. 


Opportunities


Opportunities is designed to track the Telco sales process. The process is designed to capture the opportunity as a whole and then allow for multiple quotes to be filled in for the single opportunity. The won quote can then be selected and an Order started from the won quote preventing double entry of data.


For detailed information on the usage of this process please view the following article,

Opportunity process  


Orders


Orders in RPM Telco track the signed won contracts that generate MRC or NRC for your company. Tracking Orders in RPM enables the usage of the reconciliation feature allowing you access to reports and comparisons between your Orders and your commissions in RPM. 


For detailed information on the usage of this process please view the following article,

Orders process


Order Modification 


The order modification process is used to track sold, disconnected or upgraded services for the same account under a single order. Having the modification of services separated from the original order allows you to make the modifications without needing to change the original order itself. This will allow you to reconcile the original order through changes of service that may occur over its lifetime.   


For detailed information on the usage of this process please view the following article,

Order Modification


Other Processes

RPM does offer pre-existing templates for forms that you can use. These can be used to give you some ideas some of the uses for processes added to your RPM through an import. 


Further Readings

You can also create and customize processes to your liking. This is done through the Setup menu


Top Menu >> Setup


The following steps will walk you through setting up a new process in your RPM. 


 Further articles on how to use processes can be found Here

Reconciliation


The Reconciliation feature in RPM will allow you to compare the Orders tracked in your RPM with your commission data. It will match and compare your commission totals with your Order totals to see if they commissioned correctly. This means that each of your Orders will need to have an Account number assigned to it so that they are linked together. In most cases, you won't receive the Account number from your TSD or Supplier until the Account actually commissions. With this in mind, there are a couple of ways to approach matching Commissions to Orders: 


  • The New Accounts report (if done monthly) can be your checklist to make sure that all of your new Accounts will need to be assigned to a billing Order. Please see our knowledge base article on where to find it HERE.
  • From Orders, you can use the "First Commission Expected Date" field to filter for Orders that should have already commissioned or is expected to commission in the current month. 


You can find a detailed explanation of the reconcile feature as well as setup steps in the links below.


Reconcile Explained

Reconcile Setup


RPM User Management

Adding Staff User. 


Adding staff users will automatically increase your monthly billing amount by the set amount in your RPM Telco agreement.


Setting up Role - Roles in RPM are assigned to a staff user and controls what the staff user can view and access with their login. 


See also: