Sales compensation

Sales Compensation

Scope

Covers

• Designing compensation plans for revenue roles (typically SDR/BDR, AE, AM/CSM with expansion)
• Setting OTE, base/variable mix, quota, and ramp
• Defining commission mechanics (crediting rules, accelerators, clawbacks, payout timing)
• Aligning incentives with long-term customer value (retention / NRR), not just bookings
• Producing rep-facing plan docs + admin rules so payouts are actually operable

When to use

• “Design a comp plan for our first AEs/SDRs.”
• “What should our OTE and base/variable split be?”
• “Set quotas and a ramp plan for new reps.”
• “Create accelerators + rules so reps don’t game discounting.”
• “Our reps close bad-fit deals that churn—align comp with retention/NRR.”

When NOT to use

• You need to hire, structure, or onboard an early sales team (use building-sales-team for org design, scorecards, and ramp plans)
• You need to improve pipeline quality, lead scoring, or qualification criteria (use sales-qualification)
• You need to negotiate a specific offer with an individual candidate (use negotiating-offers)
• You need legal/tax/HR advice, employment compliance guidance, or jurisdiction-specific plan language (use qualified professionals)
• You’re designing executive compensation or equity plans (different problem)
• You don’t yet have basic GTM foundations (ICP, pricing, what counts as a closed-won) — do that first, then return
• You want an overly complex “formula soup” plan that can’t be explained in one page or administered reliably

Inputs

Minimum required

• Company stage + GTM motion (inbound/outbound/PLG/enterprise) and primary sales roles
• What you sell + pricing model + typical ACV/ARR and sales cycle length
• Your economic constraints: gross margin, CAC payback target (or runway), budget for sales comp
• Target outcomes for the period (bookings/revenue/NRR) and the time horizon you care about (e.g., 90-day retention, annual renewals)
• Current baseline (if any): pipeline conversion, win rate, ramp time, churn/NRR
• Constraints: simplicity tolerance, payout timing preference, risk tolerance (for the company and for reps)

Missing-info strategy

• Ask up to 5 questions from references/INTAKE.md, then proceed.
• If key data is missing, make explicit assumptions and include:
  • Assumptions & unknowns
  • Sensitivity ranges (e.g., quota/rates under low/base/high scenarios)
  • Validation plan (what to measure in the next 30–90 days)

Outputs (deliverables)

Produce a Sales Comp Plan Pack in Markdown (in-chat; or as files if requested), in this order:

1. Context snapshot (roles, stage, goals, constraints, time horizon)
2. Comp philosophy (what behaviors you want; what you want to prevent)
3. Role → metric mapping (what gets paid on, and why it’s controllable)
4. OTE + pay mix table (base/variable split by role + rationale)
5. Quota + ramp model (quota by period + ramp schedule + any draw/guarantee)
6. Commission mechanics spec (crediting, rates, accelerators, splits, discount policy, payout timing, clawbacks)
7. Retention-alignment addendum (choose one approach; define measurement + timing)
8. Admin & governance (required CRM fields, payout process, disputes, exceptions, change control)
9. Rep-facing one-pager + FAQ (copy/paste)
10. Risks / Open questions / Next steps (always included)

Templates: references/TEMPLATES.md

Workflow (7 steps)

1) Intake + plan boundaries (what problem are we solving?)

• Inputs: User context; references/INTAKE.md.
• Actions: Confirm roles in scope, selling motion, time horizon (bookings vs retention), budget constraints, and “must-not” behaviors (discounting, churny deals, channel conflict). Identify what data you do/don’t have.
• Outputs: Context snapshot + assumptions/unknowns + decision on time horizon.
• Checks: Success is measurable (who/what/by when) and the plan scope is explicit.

2) Define role responsibilities + “what gets paid on”

• Inputs: Role definitions; pipeline stages; revenue recognition basics; retention model.
• Actions: Choose 1 primary performance metric per role (e.g., ARR bookings, qualified meetings, expansion ARR, gross profit). Define “crediting” rules (when a deal counts, splits, renewals).
• Outputs: Role → metric mapping + crediting rules draft.
• Checks: The metric is (a) measurable, (b) attributable, and (c) reasonably controllable by the rep.

3) Set OTE + base/variable mix (pay risk where it belongs)

• Inputs: Talent market bands (if known), role seniority, sales cycle, role risk, stage.
• Actions: Set OTE targets and the base/variable mix per role. Choose a default mix (often ~50/50 for many AE roles) and adjust based on cycle length, product maturity, and expected rep autonomy.
• Outputs: OTE + pay mix table with rationale and guardrails.
• Checks: OTE is economically viable for the business and believable to candidates; pay mix matches controllability and sales cycle length.

4) Build quota + ramp model (make “on target” realistic)

• Inputs: Targets; baseline conversion (or assumptions); expected ramp time; territory/segment definitions.
• Actions: Create a quota model (top-down + bottom-up cross-check). Define ramp schedule, draw/guarantee (if used), and what happens if the plan changes mid-year.
• Outputs: Quota + ramp tables (low/base/high scenarios).
• Checks: A rep at OTE can realistically hit quota with the assumed pipeline and conversion.

5) Define commission mechanics (simple, compute-able, enforceable)

• Inputs: OTE/Quota; metric definitions; discount/margin constraints.
• Actions: Set rates, accelerators/decelerators, and payout timing. Add guardrails: discount approval thresholds, deal qualification minimums, splits/overlays, clawbacks/chargebacks, and edge-case rules.
• Outputs: Commission mechanics spec + 2–3 worked payout examples.
• Checks: A Sales Ops/admin can calculate payouts from CRM data without manual interpretation.

6) Add retention/quality alignment (avoid paying for churn)

• Inputs: Retention/NRR goals; churn timing; implementation/onboarding reality; data availability.
• Actions: Choose one retention-alignment approach (e.g., partial holdback until 90 days, commission adjustment on early churn, pay on collected revenue, or NRR multipliers). Define measurement windows and how disputes are handled.
• Outputs: Retention-alignment addendum (chosen approach + rationale + admin rules).
• Checks: The approach is understandable to reps and proportional to their influence on retention.

7) Quality gate + finalize (rep-ready + admin-ready)

• Inputs: Draft pack.
• Actions: Run references/CHECKLISTS.md and score using references/RUBRIC.md. Produce the rep-facing one-pager + FAQ. Always include Risks / Open questions / Next steps and a 30–90 day validation plan.
• Outputs: Final Sales Comp Plan Pack.
• Checks: The plan can be explained in one page, computed from CRM fields, and aligns incentives with business + customer outcomes.

Quality gate (required)

• Use references/CHECKLISTS.md and references/RUBRIC.md.
• Always include: Risks, Open questions, Next steps.

Anti-patterns

Avoid these common failure modes when designing sales compensation:

1. Formula soup. Creating a comp plan with 4+ metrics, nested multipliers, and conditional accelerators that no rep can mentally model. If a rep cannot estimate their payout from memory after closing a deal, the plan is too complex. Stick to 1 primary metric per role and at most 1-2 secondary adjustments.
2. Paying for bookings while ignoring churn. Rewarding reps purely on closed-won ARR with no retention alignment. This incentivizes closing bad-fit customers, aggressive discounting to pull deals forward, and over-promising during the sales process. Always include at least one retention-alignment mechanism.
3. Unrealistic quotas that kill morale. Setting quotas top-down from the board plan without a bottom-up cross-check (pipeline coverage, conversion rates, ramp time). When fewer than 50-60% of reps hit quota, the plan is broken, not the reps. Always stress-test quotas under low/base/high scenarios.
4. Copy-pasting comp plans across stages. Using a Series C comp structure (territories, overlays, SPIFs, multi-tier accelerators) for a seed-stage team with 2 reps and no pipeline history. Early-stage plans should be simple: base + variable on one metric, with a clear ramp and draw.
5. No ramp protection for new hires. Putting new reps on full quota from day one without a draw, guarantee, or reduced ramp quota. Reps who feel underwater from week one either leave or cut corners. Ramp plans must reflect realistic time-to-productivity.

Examples

Example 1 (first AE comp plan, seed-stage SaaS): “Use sales-compensation. We’re seed-stage B2B SaaS, $12k ACV, 45-day cycle. Hiring first 2 AEs. Goal: $600k ARR this year. Output: a Sales Comp Plan Pack with OTE/pay mix, quotas+ramp, commission mechanics, and a rep-facing FAQ.”

Example 2 (retention-aligned comp, churn problem): “Use sales-compensation. Reps optimize for bookings and we churn in the first 90 days. We want comp to reflect retention/NRR without being overly complex. Output: a Sales Comp Plan Pack with a retention-alignment addendum and clear admin rules.”

Boundary example (redirect to legal counsel): “Write a legally binding compensation agreement for California employees and tell me what’s compliant.” Response: explain this skill produces a comp-plan spec and rep-facing materials, but legal/compliance review must be done by qualified counsel.

Boundary example (redirect to building-sales-team): “We need to figure out what roles to hire, how to interview them, and how much to pay them.” Response: the org design, scorecards, and hiring process belong to building-sales-team. Use this skill specifically for the comp plan (OTE, quotas, commission mechanics) once you know which roles you are hiring.