TennisandSales

Head Of Sales

ya'll surprised me😂

I made a post the other day about what comp you would require to not have commission anymore. A few things that surprised me:

Many ppl demand a base of $300K+ when they have never hit that level and do not have an OTE That is at that level.
Also, the idea that you would get this PHAT base and then be able to just coast.

in my mind, if we are in a world with no commission, you really wouldn't be able to just coast. There would still be pressure to perform, quotas to hit ect.

I wonder if this would be a way to weed out poor sales ppl?

or is it the best way to keep bad reps?

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Filth

Politicker

Live Filthy or Die Clean

Yeah as much as I love the hustle and grind for bonus checks - there is a calming feel that knowing I can just focus on doing my job the best I can and I'm getting paid a good rate for that effort, not always the results which can be out of my control so much of the time. I'm not there yet, my salary has not gotten to the point that I'm not hungry as a MOFO - but if I could I would probably sacrifice some big MAYBE money for less guaranteed day in day out.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

I want to feel calm. ❤🦊

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

What is this 'calm' you speak of?

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

before my current gig the most calm i felt was after I hit quota. that calmness led me to take my foot off the gas.

but now i am closer to that feeling more often and dont feel the need to take my foot off the gas.

(joey from Friends voice) "i like it!".....anyone?....anyone?

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

some leaders this "calmness" is the killer of all productivity!

Filth

Politicker

Live Filthy or Die Clean

Even after hitting quota at old orgs - i knew damn well I had to babysit the deal up and through implementation even though it was someone else's job. It's hard for me to hand somethings off and allow someone else to fuck up your blood and sweat.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

i am right there with you. I have a really amazing comp plan right now that allows me to have this calm feeling and the freedom to do good work. I would like to see this continue (which it probably wont haha) but its always great to hear others opinions.

Filth

Politicker

Live Filthy or Die Clean

We all know these cushy plans are gone the second the world gets close to pre COVID unless we show some serious growth with nice base salaries and less cut throat quotas.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Calm? In sales?

I mean, I guess if you mean you won't personally feel that the wolves are at your door because your finances are in order, yes, that's calming. But are we really in this job because it's calming? ;)

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

haha good point!! when i was leaving college knowing I wanted to be in sales i didnt do it because i knew it would be a calming and relaxing experience. BUT our reality is a bit extreme i think.

I got into the game because I knew i could potentially make more many than my friends that were going to go to school for 4-8 more years haha

Filth

Politicker

Live Filthy or Die Clean

I mean you aren't wrong but a little less chaos...also this is hypothetical god knows I might go stir crazy if shit got too predictable or I learn how to pick up another job and set macros to do all my work lol.

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

Bravado's Resident Asshole

I made my points on that post. I would have more focus and clarity on the quality of work that I do vs pushing the shit through hah.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

for sure. I wonder too if it would be less likely to happen at established orgs VS startups. Since starts ups care more about the quality of the customers in my experience.

LordOfWar

Tycoon

Blow it up

For me it is not that I want to be coasting, it would instead be the relaxation of knowing I will still live comfortably while expected only to deliver on what is actually within my capability.

Often times in sales we close great deals but our company underdelivered or fails to execute. I'm not talking about being bad at sales either, as we all should be bringing in projects that are achievable. Even when we deliver a perfect fit on a silver platter there are always delays outside our control which affect our bottom line.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

totally agree! having more peace of mind allows for better performance in my mind.

the shortcomings of the org that are outside of our control are SUPER frustrating.

LordOfWar

Tycoon

Blow it up

Exactly. I hardly ever see other departments suffer financially for not delivering to an expected standard, other than maybe losses in profit sharing plans or outright being fired but that takes a feat to achieve.

We're out there busting our ass to close deals and earn some nice income, working evenings and weekends, travelling, putting up with all the client-side bullshit... meanwhile, my AR is lazy and rude to my customers, my production team delays projects to fit their pace, and my sourcing team can hardly be bothered to call more than one vendor to speed up projects or get a better price on something.

Its not fair, yet the boss will say it is the price we pay for making the big $$$.

This just turned into a vent session and I'm not at all sorry lol

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

hahah Im here for it!

it is true. we deal with WAAAAAY more stress than other departments. And the money we CAN/do earn is always the justification for it.

NotCreativeEnough

Big Shot

Professional Day Ruiner

for me - it wasn't that the company/job would allow me to coast. It would more so be the mental game of feeling like whether I give it 120% or 70% I get the same outcome, so why push to do more than the bare minimum asked of me? Vs now if I push hard I can make more.

You can use carman as a case study to a degree. Or at least the one I used to work at in my past life. Originally they were late rate commission. A top performer would still make less than at a traditional dealership, but you earned more consistent money, they had great benefits, etc. They decided to change it to an hourly + unit bonus model. The lower and average performers loved this. They were making the same or more money than before. The top performers hated it because they were making less.

I view a salaried commission job the same way, the guys who absolutely crush it and significantly out earn their OTE wouldn't stick around for it. They want that motivator of being able to earn way more by putting in more effort. But for the average sales guy and underperformed it may motivate them to do better because they have don't have the stress of needing to hit numbers to pay their bills anymore.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

yeah this is a great response. I can see some reps that fucking kill it to hate the idea of capping the income no matter how high.

i think there is a place for it though. maybe its in a certain stage company, or certain industry/vertical? not sure.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

I actually think all base can helped reduce a lot of unethical behavior. People won’t steal deals from each other or do high pressure sales

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

yep i agree i think that would be a positive result.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

My OTE isn't at the level I said I'd take to move to base only. But that wasn't the assignment. The assignment was what base you'd take to move off base + commission. Since my commissions are uncapped and I prefer to meet & exceed my quota, my rationale was it would take quite a bit to accept a cap. I probably went low.

That said, I do just fine as is, and like to have the sweet, sweet commission check at the end of a successful cycle. There is something to be said for staying at least a little hungry.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

staying a little hungry for sure has its advantages.

and you are correct maybe I should have been more specific haha! thank you for your input 🙏🏼

PineappleYa

Opinionated

Anyone who deserves a sales role & cares would perform just as well wo the pressure if not better bc they would feel less like they are self serving & more like a consultant

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

I totally agree with this! glad someone else is on my team

Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

The way I look at it:

Variable Comp Plans = selfish sales people. We will nearly always do what is best for ourselves.

Taking away a variable comp plan allows the sales person to do what is right for the customer, in most cases.

I am intrinsically motivated personally and will perform the same regardless of the external motivation, mostly.

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TennisandSales

ya'll surprised me😂

26 comments

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