Was your last sales meeting lackluster and boring? Has your sales team numbers been lacking? Have you been wondering why? If any of these are true always look to the employees PayPlan first. If you have a talented employee in a sales position the most crucial factor to their success and to the success of the company is their PayPlan.
If you have someone in sales they are most likely competitive that is why they perform well. However, everybody (I mean Everybody) has a comfort level and it is different for each person. Discovering what that comfort level is sets the starting line when discussing a base salary, draw, guarantee, or however you may describe that portion of the compensation. If an employee is comfortable then they have no need to strive for any more sales, they are as some may say “Fat, Dumb, and Happy”.
A proper pay plan is exciting for both the employer and the employee as there is great opportunity looming with success. You have to ask a couple of questions when developing a proper compensation plan: who else is affected by this individuals success/failure? What is this individuals comfort level? What motivates this individual (It’s not always money)? How much of the total revenue are we, as a company, are we able to give up?
Once you have the answers to those questions you can start the compensation plan. Develop it in a way that allows for growth, it must have a dangling carrot that if reached brings them to another level. However, it must do this with a solid takeaway if they do not meet certain thresholds.
Developing and implementing a proper pay plan that both you and your employees can be excited about is a daunting and tedious task. Do not just slap a 20% Commission structure on the table.