They build the plan around what they can afford.
Not around what behavior they're trying to drive.
I get it. You're early. You're watching runway. You want to be fair to your first rep and protect the business at the same time. So you put together something reasonable, send it over, and move on.
But six months later, something feels off.
Your rep is closing deals — but not the right deals. Or they're pushing hard in Q4 to hit their number and sandbagging in Q1. Or they're spending all their time on logo counts instead of ARR. Or they're doing their own math in a spreadsheet because they don't trust yours.
That last one has a name. It's called shadow accounting. And it's not a trust problem — it's a design problem.
When your comp plan is confusing, or when the rep doesn't believe the numbers will be calculated correctly, they build their own model. That means they're making selling decisions based on their spreadsheet, not yours. And those two versions of reality are almost never the same.
The fix isn't a higher OTE. It's a simpler plan that incentivizes the things that actually grow your business.
Before you finalize any commission structure, ask yourself:
If the answer to any of those is no — the plan needs a redesign before it goes out the door.
Struggling to write your own plan?
That's why I built the Sales Commission Plan Bundle. Learn more about how it can help you simplify your plan so it's a win win for everyone.
Photo by Alexander Mils on Unsplash