Compensating Your Sales Staff

Filed in archive Sales on December 27, 2009

© Belly Acres


If you struggle with the question of how to motivate (and compensate) your sales people, Inc.com had an insightful piece for you this month.

One of the biggest management challenges for a growing business is compensating salespeople effectively. You know you need an incentive compensation plan that encourages your sales force to land new accounts and continue to upsell existing customers, but where do you begin figuring out the best way to compensate them? It often boils down to finding the right balance between base pay and commission.

The task can be tedious. There's a mix of long term and short term goals to consider. Pay too much attention to your own cash flow now and you can sacrifice growth later. Pay too little attention to that cash flow and you can go belly up.

The Inc.com story is a pretty hefty look at compensation formulas. It gives you a lot to think about as you struggle to find the right balance for your small business.