When negotiating a new sales role do you always ask for a signing bonus and a first-quarter guarantee? How much would you ask for in your bonus? If you were granted a guarantee on your first quarter would you still stand firm on the signing bonus? Other thoughts with negotiating a strong offer? For context I just realized I'm leaving more money on the table by leaving my current role prior to the Q1 commission payout and want to be sure I make up for as much of that as possible. Thanks for the thoughts!

SalesSlayer

Sales Director

Question about offer negotiation for a new role/job.

When negotiating a new sales role do you always ask for a signing bonus and a first-quarter guarantee?
How much would you ask for in your bonus?
If you were granted a guarantee on your first quarter would you still stand firm on the signing bonus?

Other thoughts with negotiating a strong offer? For context I just realized I'm leaving more money on the table by leaving my current role prior to the Q1 commission payout and want to be sure I make up for as much of that as possible.

Thanks for the thoughts!

💰 Compensation

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LordBusiness

Politicker

Chief Revenue Officer

I didn't know this was an actual thing until I became the leader it was requested of me. So kudos to you for asking the question, and letting the community know that this is in the cards when negotiating a new gig. A lot of times, I'll build a recoverable draw into the contract for new sellers who are coming over with a little experience, this way they get the consistency in compensation, but its not an outright free money signing bonus.

SalesSlayer

Good Citizen

Sales Director

Thank you so much for your feedback. I don't know that I've heard of the 'recoverable draw' option before. Would you share more about how that works so I can possibly option that in the negotiations? Really appreciate your insight as a leader. I don't want to take advantage but realizing we are all taking a leap of faith I want to be sure to set something up that is fair for all sides. :)

E_Money

Big Shot

💰

I've never negotiated a signing bonus, but always get that first quarter guarantee.

No matter what you're selling you'll need to get your feet under you and if they aren't willing to help you do that, then they will probably also be dicks about other stuff too.

SalesSlayer

Good Citizen

Sales Director

Very well said, thanks for your thoughts on this one. :)

DungeonsNDemos

Big Shot

Rolling 20's all day

@E_Money Long shot here but how do you actually ask for that? Are you saying "This offer looks great and I'm really excited about the role - however, I'll need a 3 month draw to compensate for commissions I'll be walking away from."??

wHaTyAgOtCoOkInG

Executive

Solution Consultant

Should be no problem from a new employer if you ask for a signing bonus equal to what you are leaving on the table. Asking for a guaranteed q1 payout; I've never asked for that, but i like it as a negotiation tool.

softwarebro

Politicker

Sales Director

You could ask for hot inbound leads instead of a first-quarter guarantee. For one, you could get your feet wet and put something towards your quota. Second, the potential commission from a few quality leads is probably more $ than what you want for a Q1 guarantee.

Mikey

Politicker

Senior Regional Director

It's been a while since I've been in this position. I'm not much help unfortunately, but following closely!

Also, congrats on the new role!

ARRisLife

Politicker

Account Executive

@SalesSlayer its been a few weeks since this post- curious if you were in negotiations and if so how did they turn out? any tips or advice to someone who may be in the position soon?

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Some kind of ramp should be offered while you are in training.