Sales Compensation: Get Your ‘C’ Players Jobs with Your Competitors
By Ryan Tognazzini, Sales Benchmark Index, Tue, Oct 11, 2011
Sales compensation models are only as effective as the behavior they drive. Recently, Iâve heard a lot of concerns about ensuring on target earnings (OTE) are in line with industry peers. Paying a competitive mix of base salary and variable is critical to attracting top sales talent. The problem is many companies don’t go beyond assessing total earnings. Purchasing compensation data from Radford, PayScale or Salary.com is the first step in determining if your pay levels are comparable with world class, but it doesnât tell you how to pay your sales reps. If the base-variable mix isn’t right, your best people will leave and your worst people will stay forever.
The downstream effect of paying the wrong mix of base and variable is threefold:
- Canât attract âAâ players
- Canât keep âBâ players
- Canât shake âCâ players
âAâ Players
The Problem: The best sales reps want the best compensation plans. If your sales compensation model doesnât allow your top performers to make a killing for world class performance, âAâ players wonât be interested.
The Fix: Make sure the leveraged component of your compensation model rewards your ‘A’ players. Your top performers should make 3X to 4X your bottom performers.
âBâ Players
The Problem: âBâ players are your developmental bench to become future stars. If your plan doesnât allow them to earn a living while climbing their way to the top, they will grow impatient and leave.
The Fix: Test your current sales compensation model to determine the excitement level of the plan (see chart). At what point does the leveraged component begin paying for performance in a way that will create excitement for your âBâ players.
The example shown here illustrates an issue your compensation model may have in driving excitement as your reps near 100% of their goal. If I continue to improve my performance, yet the upside is relatively small, Iâm not motivated to keep pushing for the next level of success.
âCâ Players
http://www.salesbenchmarkindex.com/bid/69147/Sales-Compensation-Get-Your-C-Players-Jobs-with-Your-Competitors
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To Discuss how these Solutions will add value for you, your organization and/or your clients, Affinity/Resale Opportunities, and/or Collaborative Efforts, Please Contact:
Tom McDonald, tsm@centurytel.net; 608-788-5144; Skype: tsmw5752
