saler

AE

Valued Contributor

Closed deals during ramp and getting 0 commission

here's the story - I joined a company 3 months ago part of their comp package is they give 4.3k/m to AEs for the first two months of their onboarding as a 'guarantee' as you ramp. From what I hear, it's very rare to close deals in the first two months.

The first month I had no quota and the second month my quota was 33% of my normal monthly quota, 20k. After the two months, I somehow managed to outbound and close two deals totaling 40k/yr, both on 2 year contracts, so 80k total.

Yet i got my paycheck recently and noticed I didn't make more than my gaurantee. The company has an absymal pay calyclutaor that doesn't work. I spoke to the head of sales ops about my situation a few weeks back and she said I could expect 16k.

Needless to say I am talking to my manager later to clear this up, but can I actually expect to not see any commission from these deals? it seems crazy to think that if I delayed these deals by a few weeks I'd make more money.

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36 comments

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FamilyTruckster

Politicker

20

Exec Director, Major Accounts

Sounds like you’re hitting the ground running. Manager should be pumped. Smart thing on their end is to pay out.

1nbatopshotfan

Politicker

9

Sales

You should 100% be paid. It might just be a hitch because you’re new. What’s the close to pay standard length?

hh456

Celebrated Contributor

9

sales

Check your employment contract. You're the exception but I bet they'll stick to their rule. There may be a clause that defines if you can earn commission or not during training.

Generally the new people don't close shit so they're losing money on you during the ramp up; hence the guarantee. I wouldn't expect any commission, but you know you can get the job done now.

If I was the HR person I'd say, 'give us back the 8.6k and take your commission or keep the 8.6k and we keep the commission'.

That being said, I'd still pursue it if I were you. You close shit, get paid for it.

Let us know how it goes.

saler

Valued Contributor

7

AE

Update: talked to my manager and told me to send the spreadsheet I was presented by our head of sales ops. She unfortunately has left, but thankfully Google docs shows edit history so it is clear she had told me I can expect the 16k. I’m feeling optimistic about it.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

0

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Great! The other thing I was wondering is if they had outlined when you could expect the commission to hit your line. Some companies pay out the first of the month following when the deal closed (closes Oct 18, paid Dec 1, for example). Others have you getting paid on the first blood moon after the customer sent in their payment, which can be an annoying delay.

saler

Valued Contributor

1

AE

Honestly he shot me straight and said how even after 6 months of being a manager he doesn’t understand how the commission calculator works either. He is going to try and get an answer for me though. Thanks for asking.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

0

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Commission calculators can be fun. Ours is online, and I am embarrassed that I have little idea how it works, tbh. I'm better with an old fashioned .xls where I can see the algorithms.

10XQLA

Politicker

0

Medical Sales Assassin

Expect 16 k total after ramp??

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

5

☕️

What is listed out in your comp plan? If it's not written as "no earnings above guarantee" then you should expect your money in full!

goose

Politicker

2

Sales Executive

Any responsible sales organization will pay you the greater of your guaranteed bridge or commission earned (not both). Comp plan should be pretty clear here.

Also, someone should teach our friend how to sandbag a deal for month three.

ValliantInvestors

Good Citizen

1

Founder

Agreed! Or offer to take your sales skills to another company that doesn't punish for exceeding expectations.

Rallier

Politicker

4

SDR Manager and Consultant

I had this happen. I eventually fought back over it and was paid out a pro-rated version for the quarter

E_Money

Big Shot

3

💰

Dude I HATE this.

I have sat down with the SD month one from the same type of situation asking why, if I am hitting the ground running and making the company revenue, am I not being compensated.

Ramp should be set up in a way that it supports new reps to get on their feet, but NOT in a way that is punishes the ones who come in and start crushing it right away.

I feel your pain...

Diablo

Politicker

1

Sr. AE

Voice it and you shall get it. Sometimes it happens (human error / intention) and I'm glad you already actioned it.

Wellss

Tycoon

1

Channel sales

First off, solid work on closing out two deals during ramp up! That's huge! Secondly, I agree that you should absolutely see that commission. & I think you could bring that point up to your manager (depending on how chill they are), that if you had delayed the deals you'd get more money because at the end of the day, that's one of the reasons why people are in sales

SaaSam

Politicker

1

Account Executive

If leadership is smart they'll fix it when you bring it up. A good sales org doesn't discourage overachievement.

whyyouneversmile

Good Citizen

1

Director of Sales

As many have mentioned, check the language in your commission plan/offer letter. We explicitly state in ours that during ramp, reps will receive a guarantee. If they earn commission above the guarantee, they will receive the full commission. Like the others mentioned, if they stiff you on this, let me know as we could always use sellers that actually sell, especially in their first few months in seat.

Mobi85

Politicker

0

Regional Sales Manager

Keep pressing on this one, congrats on closing 2 deals in ramp up and i hope you get paid out because you should. They should reward you for doing your job and winning business, doesn’t matter when it occurs in your career.

desperado

Politicker

0

Head of Sales

They should pay out. If not, sandbag for the check

dwightyouignorantsale

Politicker

0

Account Executive

you should DEFINITELY get paid on that. otherwise that is sketchy and the company is just pure profiting off of your loss.

heelonthephone

Praised Answer

0

Inbound Closer

Leave

Pachacuti

Politicker

0

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

You should be paid the commission instead of the guarantee. Companies will screw themselves though when it comes to paying sales commissions. Lots of people get involved in sales commissions who don't (and have never) earned a commission or made a sale. Too many lawyers and accountants.

Flippinghubs

Opinionated

0

Account Executive

You should be 100% paid my guy

goose

Politicker

0

Sales Executive

Read your comp plan.

saler

Valued Contributor

0

AE

There’s virtually nothing to be shared about this type of situation. Trust me, that’s the first place I went to!

goose

Politicker

0

Sales Executive

Where do you work? Arby’s?

deathbysales

Politicker

0

Vice President, Sales

If they won't pay you on the deals start looking for a new job. Why would anyone want to work for a company that won't reward a rep for hitting the ground running. You want to work for a place that encourages overachievement and rewards it. If they won't take care of you when you're this new in the honeymoon phase imagine what it will be like down the road. I am sure lots of companies would love a rep that comes out come out of the gate a winner.

CaneWolf

Politicker

0

Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract

Yeah, they have to pay you here. This is a no-brainer.

TheRealLeVarBurton

0

Enterprise Account Executive

Did you take a draw, or did they compensate you during ramp with a portion of variable payout? If so, then the company is attempting to make you whole on commission there. It may be antiquated but a company finance team can't justifiably pay you accelerators while you're on a ramp with a draw or that contains variable payout. Sucks, but reasonable. If they did none of that, then you have a case.

tjk

Good Citizen

0

Sales Director

I’m in the same boat. 5 months in with 3 months of guarantees. I’m up to 3.7m in sales and won’t be making anything off that 3.7

Jim_Jones

Executive

0

Enterprise Sales Executive

Look at the offer you signed. Did they offer you a recoverable or non-recoverable draw?

If it is recoverable, then you should get paid your commission minus the ramp draw. If it is non-recoverable, if you should get your minimum and your commission for what you sold.

Also, is your commission paid on the same schedule as your regular payroll, or is there an individual commission payment schedule?

SBess

Contributor

0

Outside Sales

In my experience, if no one can clearly explain he comp plan, RUN. It really shouldn't be that difficult. Sounds like smokin' mirrors and a hot plate of bullshit so far.

ABC33

Old School Bravo

0

Strategic Sales Executive

I hired a guy and I told him to slow down because he wasn't going to get commission during the draw period. I told him to slow roll the deals so when he comes off draw, he will have a nice pipeline and nice checks coming in.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

0

Sales Rep

Same thing happens at my current company. What happens here is you are capped at your guarantee but payout the difference when the ramp up period ends, so 6 months.

SalesSage

Valued Contributor

0

National Account Manager

They should pay you if they want you to stick around, that is all a bunch of crap. What is with pay calculators that suck. It can't be that hard to create something accurate and yet you hear this constantly.

CRAG112

Valued Contributor

0

Account Executive

Always ask for the formulas used to determine commissions. And always be prepared to sue for wage theft.

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