As an executive recruiter, I'm often asked by clients: "What's the right salary / incentive mix for our sales jobs?" Good question. If the salary is too low relative to the total pay package (base + bonus), then your sales reps might focus too much on short-term opportunities. If the salary is too high, then your sales reps might underachieve in their sales jobs. Each compensation scenario can become a minefield of unintended consequences.
So, what's the answer? Sales compensation experts Jerry Colletti and Mary Fiss, authors of Compensating New Sales Roles, have allowed me to reprint their classic article "Determining the Right Salary / Incentive Ratio for Your Sales Jobs," which ran last year in the print edition of Proven Ways to Get New Customers -- before it became a weblog.
This amazing 8-page Adobe file contains three sections:
- Defining the term "salary / incentive mix" for sales jobs
- Tools to arrive at the right mix for different sales jobs
- FAQ about what mix is best for your unique sales jobs
The article even goes so far as to analyze what personality types fit best given the nature and compensation of different sales jobs. In my opinion, it's a good as anything you'll read in the Harvard Business Review.
Click here to download Compensating Sales Jobs.
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Q: Need the number of a recruiter who "gets it?"
A: Download Harry's contact info for future reference.
