Sales People Are Coin Operated

You just need to figure out where to put the coins.

Most sales people have an uncanny ability to find the sweet spot in any sales compensation plan they are given. They can find the low hanging fruit in the plan and that tends to be what they focus on first. Knowing this it is crucial to direct the correct behavior through the compensation plan.

While some companies start out looking for help fixing their broken or troublesome sales compensation plans this pain point is often a symptom of a larger issue.

Without a solid foundation and aligned sales objectives changing sales compensation plans may do little to solve the core problems or challenges which lead you to make the changes in the first place.

If you plan on making changes to your compensation plans it is wise to first take a step back and asses the bigger picture. This entails reviewing your competitive business strategy and the elements in place to implement that strategy such as sales structure, territories, sales channels, etc.

Once you have those items in order you are ready to evaluate the compensation plan to see if it is in alignment with your strategy. Skipping this step while tempting, can have disastrous effects or just be a complete waste of time.

There are a number of Key Elements to Compensation Design, but that is the topic for another blog.