Today we had a topic that is always interesting. For people new to commissioned roles, variable pay can be very scary. For those comparing it to a sales person's compensation plan, they can feel like presales gets a rough deal. What do you think about variable pay?
Notes from our session:
Why have variable pay? Alignment to sales.
Recognition aligned to achievement.
Range 80/20 -> 70/30
OTV = On Target Variable
OTE = On Target Earnings
BASE = what you earn before any bonus or commissions
MBO = management based objectives (more of a bonus than a commission).
Targets on team and individual
- What is the track record on achieving the variable.
- Hybrid targets - combining team and individual, or multiple different targets.
- Ramping - first quarter - getting paid full variable.
- Are finance/salesops set up to calculate individual targets for presales? It could be that your organization isn't set up to work on individual or other complex commission calculations.
Consensus Compensation Survey
• Also did a webcast around it with John Care.
What do people think about splits?
• Standard ratios
• 50/50 splits?
• Agree what kind of split it should be before closure.
Comp isn't just cash
• Extra timeoff
• Stocks
• Club trips
• Future promotion
• Call outs for presales at Sales Kickoff
Some people:
• Less about OTE and more concerned with Base.
Future topics
• Training
• Recognition of the contribution of Presales