Closingcall

Enterprise Account Executive

Commission Transparency

Is it legal for a company not to use any commission tool and calculate everything manually? And then when you ask for the breakdown of how things were calculated (because they don't seem correct) they tell you too bad? What level of transparency is generally acceptable?

I keep running into scenarios where the total doesn't add up to what I believe it should be and this past month I had a negative for a deal I closed a few months ago. It doesn't make sense since it was an early renewal with growth. I keep asking for a breakdown or an explanation and the commission team team just keeps going in circles. Leadership is trying to escalate it and is getting no where either. This doesn't seem right but I don't know the legalities or options here. Thanks in advance!

🍾 Commission

29 comments

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BmajoR

Arsonist

Account Executive

I would be highly suspicious of that. Illegal? Not sure. Shady? Fuck yeah.

I would consult with a lawyer if the discrepancy is large enough.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

SHADY AS HELL

oldcloser

Arsonist

💀

Yep. Scream time.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

💣

HVACexpert

Politicker

sales engineer

Damn foxy got all the best GIFs lol

SaaSsy

Politicker

Not illegal sadly, it should be! They’re probably running a manual excel sheet, I’ve experienced that before and had to dig through hundreds of rows but you deserve to either see invoice paid or the spreadsheet filtered to you.

Closingcall

Executive

Enterprise Account Executive

Thanks everyone! I thought it was shady and weird and wasn't sure if I was just over reacting. I have an excel doc with everything broken down based on the % per tier of achieving my quota. It is very off. I will use it in my next 1:1 and stop going in circles with the commission team who won't provide any answers. Thanks!

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I belatedly asked about this below, so disregard.
I'm glad you are keeping track. They should be able to provide details about the discrepancies, and update you as well as your management on how they get to the numbers.

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

I think that's a smart approach. They don't need to have an accessible calculator, but they should be open to sharing how they got there with you. Otherwise that's a pretty serious red flag.

Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

You mean actually using math? Not illegal. But the they should able to provide an accounting of how the got to their number.

FoodForSales

Politicker

using math? SMH!

Beans

Big Shot

Enterprise Account Executive

I'd ask to see the formula so you can track yourself as well, like why the secrecy?

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

That is absolutely insane and will not provide a breakdown. Go through your comp plan and do the math in an excel doc. Then in your next 1 on 1, go through it with your manager and say where did I screw up. They should either agree with you and help get more commish OR correct your mistake.

If they just say, nope you are wrong with no context, I assume they are screwing me then

ThatNewAE

Big Shot

Account Executive - Mid enterprise

I don't think it's illegal, but it's stupid.
I wouldn't trust manual efforts with my money. But that makes me think - my ex company used to do it manually.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Legal? Probably. Advisable? No.
Side question: are you keeping track of your own commissions and running the numbers?

Closingcall

Executive

Enterprise Account Executive

Yes I am and they don't add up... I have been trying to address this for months and I get the run around, no break down, no transparent calculation, etc. The gap is too large now.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

out of curiosity, how many AEs are there in your sales organization? When this happened to me years ago, our org was huge and it was often a case of accounts being assigned improperly, and me having to point out the error. If you're in a small org, I can't understand why this would be happening and why they aren't being forthcoming. Do you have a CRO?

Phillip_J_Fry

Opinionated

Director of Revenue

How big of a gap are we talking here?

Closingcall

Executive

Enterprise Account Executive

Pretty big. We are a 6k person company. We have a CRO but he doesn’t seem to care either. It’s very interesting to say the least. And a mistake it fine, but numerous and refusal to share the info is what worries me

Closingcall

Executive

Enterprise Account Executive

We are around 50k now

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Sorry, I have to ask - 50k employees, or a $50k gap?

Closingcall

Executive

Enterprise Account Executive

50k gap on commission in 7 months

HVACexpert

Politicker

sales engineer

Jesus Christ dude that’s really bad

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Yeah, definitely worth pursuing. That’s crazy.

Phillip_J_Fry

Opinionated

Director of Revenue

Holy shit, I'd be fuming.

JDialz

Politicker

Chief Operating Officer

Unfortunately the legality here depends on if you are a W2, 1099, statutory employee, and also what state you’re in.

GDO

Politicker

BDM

If possible calculate it youself in Excell. If it's not a match ask them where you went wrong

ApocalyBoom

Politicker

Account Executive

Do you think you actually use mathematics? Not illegal. But they can explain how they got the number.

SonnyVaccaro

Good Citizen

Growth Lead

They do (or should) show you how they got to their calculation or that's wage theft (I think?) but there are very few tools out there that match each company's commission structure so many are done manually unfortunately. They should absolutely show you how they got the calculation, that's 101 to keeping your team engaged in the workplace. I want my reps to calculate their commission after a single call with someone so they should be able to do that without help.

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Closingcall

Commission Transparency

29 comments

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