Compensation Is for Closers

A strong sales compensation plan, performance incentives, and reasonable quotas are critical to motivating the people who keep your company flush with business.

By Martin Sinderman

They're the front-line troops who battle to carve out a niche for your products and services in an ever-morecrowded market. And the bigger you get, the more you are going to rely on the technical knowledge, interpersonal skills, and powers of persuasion they combine to rake in the revenue that's the lifeblood of your business.

We're talking about your sales force. And putting together the right mix of compensation, performance incentives, and sales quotas that motivate this group to reach and remain at peak production levels is challenging--but very doable if you keep a few key points in mind.

MEET YOUR SALESPERSON
Whether they're selling cars, routers, insurance, kitchen utensils, or servers, all good salespeople are individuals who know how to diagnose their customers' needs, provide solutions, and close sales transactions.

But at the same time, salespeople in the IT arena differ from their cohorts in other fields. "You're typically talking about people with very high levels of technical competence, business savvy, and relationship skills," says Howard Stevens, CEO and chairman of Dayton, Ohiobased HR Chally Group, a talent management, leadership development, and sales improvement consulting company.

Sales performance incentive programs that resonate with this group need to address elements other than monetary compensation. "Money is key, but there is a point at which it no longer functions as an incentive," says Stevens. Once a salesperson reaches an income level that supports the lifestyle he or she desires, interest shifts from making more money "to attaining freedom and flexibility, with the ability to control their own lives and their own schedules while maintaining that lifestyle," explains Stevens.

Beyond dollars and freedom, "there has to be a recognition program," according to Stephan Schiffman, head of DEI Sales Training Systems, a New York City-based sales training company. This can include everything from membership in a "President's Club" to special awards or gifts for performance, he notes, adding that in an IT sales market "oversaturated with people," sales staff often get to feeling "they are on the bottom of the pyramid, and recognition is one way to provide them with more incentive."

DEVELOP A PLAN
Putting together a sales compensation and incentive program isn't an easy undertaking, but it's one an organization needs to accomplish. "A strong sales compensation plan and reasonable quotas are critical to the success of any company," states W. Leigh Culpepper, president and CEO of Alpharetta, Ga.- based Culpepper and Associates Inc., a provider of survey- based benchmarking data for compensation and employee benefit programs.

"A good sales incentive plan can help attract and retain good sales reps," according to Culpepper, and when properly administered, "should motivate reps to perform their duties efficiently and industriously."

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