Incentive Compensation News

MAKANA SOLUTIONS ENHANCES MOTIVATOR EXPRESS SELF-SERVICE SALES COMPENSATION PLANNING SOLUTION

New User Community, Expanded Best-Practices Support, Improved Usability and New $19 Price Point Help Small Businesses Drive Profit and Revenue by Optimizing Sales Productivity

LEXINGTON, Mass., January 12, 2009 - Makana® Solutions Inc., the leading provider of sales compensation planning solutions, today announced the availability of the next generation of its Makana Motivator ExpressSM on-demand sales compensation planning solution. Starting today, Makana customers will benefit from a variety of expanded capabilities including a new plan wizard, an online forum for customers to ask questions and share knowledge, professional best-practices consulting, and multiple usability enhancements. Businesses can be up and running on Makana Motivator Express in a matter of minutes.

"Optimizing sales productivity is particularly challenging for small businesses, because they often do not have the time or resources needed to develop accurate and effective sales compensation plans," said Liz Cobb, founder and CEO of Makana Solutions. "Makana Motivator Express solves this problem by combining easy-to-use self-service technology with industry best-practices to provide small businesses with an automated way to develop effective sales compensation plans that drive revenue and profit."

More than 200 companies today rely on Makana Motivator Express as a fast, easy and affordable way to create sales compensation plans that drive business results. Motivator Express combines an easy-to-use graphical interface with best-practices consulting advice to guide business and sales managers through the process of creating more effective sales plans, accurately modeling incentive costs and generating graphical plan documents.

"Makana Motivator Express had an immediate impact on our bottom line - our sales became far more profitable and predictable than they were with our old planning methods," said Bassim Robin, owner of AutoSmart America, an automobile dealership in Detroit, Mich. "Motivator Express is incredibly well conceived - it takes you through the planning process step-by-step and provides everything you need to deliver superior sales plans. And, it has eliminated the time and frustration involved with manual sales-plan development, so I can spend more time doing what I do best - managing the business."

Makana Motivator Express Enhancements

The new version of Motivator Express includes the following enhancements:

• Plan Wizard. From the beginning, Makana Motivator Express has been a true self-service solution, requiring no special training or product knowledge from the user. Now, Makana Solutions has taken ease-of-use to a new level with its new Plan Wizard. With best-practices advice built in, the Plan Wizard guides users step-by-step through the plan-development process. Users can also modify the included sample plans as a shortcut. The new Plan Wizard radically simplifies the sales compensation planning process for busy executives and novice plan designers.
• Makana Online Community. This new online community is a dynamic sales compensation forum where Makana customers can ask questions, exchange sales compensation knowledge and tips, and gain valuable assistance from peers and the Makana Solutions team.
• Best-Practice Expert Support and Consulting. Each new customer is assigned a sales compensation expert as their dedicated success manager to ensure rapid results. Makana Solutions' expert sales compensation consultants are also available to provide strategic advice or to help with sales compensation plans.
• Significant Usability Enhancements. Makana Motivator Express now offers a new look and feel, expanded best-practices content and on-line help. Combined, these enhancements make it easier than ever for small business executives to develop sales compensation plans that drive maximum revenue and profit.

Pricing and Availability
Motivator Express is priced at $19 per month per company. Customers can upgrade at any time to Makana Motivator Pro, which calculates payments on the plans designed in Motivator Express and shares statements and reports. For more information, please visit www.makanasolutions.com.

About Makana Solutions
Makana Solutions' self-service on-demand software helps companies plan and deliver effective sales compensation that supports company goals and helps teams pull together to achieve them. Makana Motivator is the first on-line subscription software designed specifically for effective sales compensation planning and payment. Makana has certified integration with salesforce.com and is available on the salesforce.com AppExchange. Makana Solutions also offers expert sales compensation consulting and free best-practice information at www.makanasolutions.com