Your Compensation Plan
Your sales force compensation plan is probably the largest single expense item on your P&L statement, and the largest issue in the minds of your sales force.
A well designed compensation plan can be a powerful asset, focusing the sales force, attracting good sales people, and making management's job easier.
Unfortunately, most compensation plans are vestiges of years gone by, and often work against the company's best interests.
It's too big and important a piece of your sales system to attempt to do it yourself. Tap into our expertise in several ways.
- Take a Free Self-Assessment of your plan. Click here.
- Read a number of articles addressing the issue. Click here.
- Purchase our do-it-yourself guide. Click here to learn more.
- Talk to us about helping you with this critically important task. Call 800-331-1287, or fill in the email form.
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Take a look at what Just In Time magazine had to say about us.
Articles on Sales Force Compensation
Myths of Sales Management: The Entrepreneurial Salesperson
I just had a phone conversation with a client who had a familiar story to tell. He had built his business on the model of an entrepreneurial sales force. Give them a territory, pay them straight commission, and tell them they are in business for themselves, free to develop the customers they chose with the products they wanted. And for a couple decades it had worked well. The business grew and expanded. More entrepreneurial sales people were added, and the model was duplicated over and over again. So far so good. But then the growth in sales began to slow down... {read more}-
Sales Management Myths: Straight Commission
I had just hung up from a phone conversation with one of my clients. He was commiserating with me on the sorry state of his sales force. He had a group of seasoned, experienced salespeople, each of whom was making a good income on a 100% commission sales compensation program. The problem was he couldn't get them to promote new products or seek new customers. They were content to stay within their comfort zones of established customers and familiar products... {read more} -
Is it Time to Revise Your Sales Force Compensation Program?
If you're paying your sales reps straight commission, you're using an obsolete formula. If you're paying your sales reps a straight salary, you're also using an obsolete formula. Read this article to find out about a much more effective way to compensate your sales staff... {read more} -
How to Get 'Em to Do What You Want 'Em to
A few years ago, it was OK to direct your salespeople to Go forth and sell a lot, but today that direction is not sufficient. Successful sales management in the approaching 21st Century world requires a more sophisticated answer from you than just Go forth and sell... {read more}
Q & A from Dave Kahle
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We are intent on revising our decades-old sales force compensation program. Management is divided. One half favors straight commission, and the other doesn't. What are your thoughts?
In my work as a sales consultant, I am routinely involved in helping my clients revise their sales compensation programs. My company, on almost any day of the week, has an open compensation plan project that we are working on for some client. I say that to let you know that I have extensive experience with sales force compensation programs. The ideas that I am going to share with you arise out of this extensive experience. In my career as a salesperson, I loved straight commission.... (Read more)
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I'm finding it difficult to manage my salespeople in our straight commission environment. Any suggestions as to how I can get them to do what I want them to do?
I spent much of my adult life as a salesperson working on 100% commission. I would not have had it any other way. However, as a consultant and sales educator, I'm generally not in favor of 100% commission programs. Here's why: It is difficult to more finely direct a sales force when you pay them 100% commission. You can ask them to do anything, but if it doesn't allow them to make more money right away, it probably won't get done. For example, you can ask your salespeople to prospect for new accounts.... (Read more)
