What Should I Ask For: Adding Accelerators to Comp Plan

I've been mulling this one over for a while...

Saw a good post from @TheLaughingWolf but I don't think it completely applies as we don't have BDRs or SDRs.


First, here are some facts of my position (AE for hardgood) and company:

  • We don't have a formal quota.
  • Currently we are expected to hit a rough number because it means we are working, but no actual quotas in place.
  • $120,000 in sales per month would be average.
  • Only 4 people on sales team. This is a SMALL, private company but many people on production side.
  • Each sales person focuses on different things. Same products but different markets is main difference.
  • Currently make base salary + 3% commission on whatever I sell, paid each month. This was cut down a few months back and no change in base (yes I know, red flag).
  • No equity offered to any of us.


I have worked in SaaS before and I miss those sweet 10% commission comps with the fun accelerators. To be honest I am still making relatively good money but my yearly review is coming up and I am preparing in a few ways.


I know my salary is underpaid for the market, so I'm prepping to have offers on the table at the time of the meeting but I like my current company in terms of flexibility so I want to see if they offer me the incentive to stay.

This would be

  • Solid raise to a market competitive salary (if they don't offer I will ask)
  • Change in commission structure so when I sell more I am compensated for knocking it out of the park.


I plan to propose a 1% increase per every 25K over 100K per month. Nothing too fancy or complicated, and this straight up incentives direct sales.


Would love to hear your thoughts! And yes if I'm not compensated fairly with a solid raise I plan to go elsewhere.

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4
UrAssIsSaaS
Arsonist
8
SaaS Eater
I dont know standards of the hardgoods space but I like where youre heads at. Ask for it, worst case they say no and you move on. 
InQ5WeTrust
Arsonist
5
No marketing, mayo isn't an MQL
The Ass grants knowledge once again. 
CuriousFox
WR Officer
2
🦊
The Ass is big with the advice today.
hh456
Celebrated Contributor
4
sales
I forfeit my right to provide advice because I support your opinion.
UrAssIsSaaS
Arsonist
3
SaaS Eater
My goal in life is to make sure all the SaaS eaters out there dont make the same mistakes I did.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
4
🦊
Bless you my child.
DungeonsNDemos
Big Shot
3
Rolling 20's all day
I figure it's a win win for me. As I can either get what I want or work somewhere that will offer an even better comp situation.
Diablo
Politicker
1
Sr. AE
I can't agree more.Communication is the key, it will be either a yes or no. 
CaneWolf
Politicker
2
Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract
You should also ask for a piece of anything within the first 12 months after signing an initial client. So if you bring in a company at $50k, get an extra percentage point for anything else they buy later.
DungeonsNDemos
Big Shot
0
Rolling 20's all day
Thanks@CaneWolf, I'll bring this up as a point. Lots of growth opportunity too as our product has a built in repeat purchase.

Thankfully once I sign an account/close a sale they are my account for upsells and anything afterwards. 
LordBusiness
Politicker
1
Chief Revenue Officer
Ask for the base salary increase, and the compensation plan increase - maybe you'll get one.  GIven they've already snipped your comp, sounds like there is something happening in the backend and incentivizing performance isn't a priority though. 
DungeonsNDemos
Big Shot
0
Rolling 20's all day
Definitely will ask! It's a weird scenario where we have really strong production growth and profit increase, but we never hire any new sales people. It's like having a ferrari of a company product (for our market) but then driving like a golf cart.
Justatitle
Big Shot
1
Account Executive
Before providing my thoughts what is the ACV of the product you sell and what is the average sales cycle? Additionally are the leads fed to you from Marketing or are you sourcing your own deals?
DungeonsNDemos
Big Shot
0
Rolling 20's all day
really can vary as an individual unit is $1,000 but general sales can be anywhere from a doctor's office, schools, or private company management. 
I would say regular sale to a business is between 5-10K, but for bigger ops can be 100-200K easy. 
Sales cycles can be 1-2 weeks or 3-4 months. Depends on timing but its a non-customized product so not hard to implement.
Marketing does NOT really feed any leads and pretty much everything is self sourced. Marketing focuses on more market penetration/brand awareness and B2C sales.

Also of note, I work with a few strategic reseller partners too. They make much larger margins than my sales commission per unit.
Justatitle
Big Shot
1
Account Executive
Such being the case and driving your own pipeline, 5% is the absolute lowest you should be negotiating as the base commission. I’d also say to push for 1.5% for each 20k you bring in over the quota. 
DungeonsNDemos
Big Shot
1
Rolling 20's all day
Much appreciated! I will draft up a solid way to ask
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