The Complete Guide to Sales Force Incentive Compensation
How to Design and Implement Plans That Work
If you're like most sales leaders, your incentive program is a constant challenge, as
you try to jumpstart sales, energize a geographically dispersed and autonomous workforce,
and motivate salespeople to achieve ambitious revenue goals. And sometimes it seems like
you just don't know what works; your products and markets are changing, the incentive
program that was so successful last year no longer produces the desired results, or
perhaps the generous incentive program you created has yielded a corps of highly paid
salespeople who spend most of their time on existing clients and minimal time generating
new business - and threaten to walk away with your customer base if you scale back
paychecks!
Incentive programs are seductively powerful but complicated instruments. Without
careful planning and implementation, they can be too stingy to motivate, too complex to
understand, too quick to reward mediocre results, and too difficult to implement. But a
well-designed and implemented incentive program is an essential tool for building a
motivated, highly effective sales force that delivers the results you need.
The Complete Guide to Sales Force Incentive Compensation is a
practical, accessible, detailed roadmap to building a compensation system that gets it
right by creating motivating incentives that produce positive outcomes. Packed with
hundreds of real-life examples of what works and what doesn't, this important guide helps
you:
Understand the value of building an incentive plan that is aligned with your company's
goals and culture.
Avoid the common trap of overusing incentives to solve too many sales management
problems.
Measure the effectiveness of your current incentive program, employing easy-to-use
tools and metrics for pinpointing its weak spots.
Design a compensation plan that attracts and retains successful salespeople, including
guidelines for determining the correct pay level, the best salary incentive mix, the
proper performance measures, and the right performance payout relationship.
Select an incentive compensation plan that works for your organization - then test the
plan before it is launched.
Set territory-level goals that are fair and realistic, and avoid overpaying the sales
force because goals are too easy, or demoralizing salespeople by having goals that are too
difficult or not fairly assigned.
Create and manage sales contests, SPIFFs (Special Performance Incentive for Field
Force), and recognition programs that consistently deliver the intended results.
Manage a successful transition to a new compensation plan and build efficient
administration systems to support your plan.
Every year, corporations spend $200 billion compensating their sales forces, with
extremely mixed results. Make sure every dollar you spend is helping to achieve your goal
of creating an empowered, effective sales force that drives your company's success. Packed
with ready-to-use formulas and assessment tools and a wealth of insights from frontline
sales managers and executives, The Complete Guide to Sales Force Incentive Compensation is
your hands-on, easy-to-read playbook for crucially important decisions.
Andris A. Zoltners is a Professor of Marketing at the Kellogg School
of Management at Northwestern University. He is a founder and co-chairman of ZS
Associates, a global business consulting firm. For over 30 years, he has served the
business community as a professor, consultant, speaker, and author on marketing and sales
force performance. He lives in Evanston, Illinois.
Prabhakant Sinha is a founder and co-chairman of ZS Associates, where
he has consulted with more than 200 firms in North America, Europe, and Asia. He also
teaches executive education courses on sales force effectiveness at Kellogg, the London
Business School, and the Indian School of Business, and leads custom workshops for sales
leadership teams. He lives in Evanston, Illinois.
Sally E. Lorimer is a consultant, specializing in sales and marketing,
and business writer. She was previously a principal at ZS Associates, where she consulted
with numerous companies on sales force design. She lives in Northville, Michigan.
All three are coauthors of Sales Force Design for Strategic Advantage, and Zoltners and
Sinha are coauthors (with Greggor A. Zoltners) of The Complete Guide to Accelerating Sales
Force Performance.
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1 Sales Force Incentive Compensation and the Successful Sales Organization
Introduction
The Drivers of Sales Force Compensation Change
The Sales Force Compensation Challenge
The Sales Management System
The Role of Incentive Compensation Within the Sales Management System
Diagnosing Sales Force Issues
How This Book Is Organized
Chapter 2 Reviewing a Current Incentive Compensation Plan and Setting Objectives for a
New Plan
Introduction
Is It Really an Incentive Compensation Plan Problem?
An Overview of a Sales Incentive Plan Assessment Process
Assessment of Current Sales Compensation Plan Consequences
Assessment of Current Sales Compensation Plan Consistency and Compatibility
Developing New Plan Objectives
Chapter 3 Plan Design Fundamentals
Introduction
Sales Compensation Plan Design Terminology
Chapter 4 Plan Design Part 1: Determining the Correct Pay Level
Is Your Sales Force Pay Level Correct?
The Range of Sales Force Pay Levels
How to Determine the Right Sales Force Pay Level
Conclusion
Chapter 5 Plan Design Part 2: Finding the Best Salary Incentive Mix
Introduction
Do You Have the Right Pay Mix?
The Range of SalaryNIncentive Mix
How to Determine the Right SalaryNIncentive Mix
A Pay Mix Scorecard
Chapter 6 Plan Design Part 3: Selecting Performance Measures
Are You Using the Most Appropriate Performance Measures to Determine Your Incentive
Plan Payout?
Types of Measures
How to Determine the Most Appropriate Sales Incentive Measures: An Advisory
How to Determine the Most Appropriate Sales Incentive Measures: Specifics
Chapter 7 Plan Design Part 4: Determining the Right PerformanceNPayout Relationship
Introduction
Is the Most Appropriate Performance - Payout Relationship Used for Determining the
Incentive Plan Payout?
Representing Performance - Payout Relationships
Decision 1: Bonus Plan or Commission Plan?
Decision 2: Progressive or Regressive Plan?
Decision 3: Caps or No Caps?
Decision 4: Pay from the First Dollar or from Goal or a Fraction of Goal?
Decision 5: Single Measure or Multiple Measures?
Concluding Insights
Chapter 8 Evaluating Proposed Sales Incentive
Compensation Plan Alternatives and Selecting a New Plan
Introduction
An Overview of Candidate Sales Compensation Plan Assessment
Quantitative Assessment of a Candidate Sales Compensation Plan
Qualitative Assessment of a Candidate Sales Compensation Plan
Future-Proofing Assessment of a Candidate Sales Compensation Plan
Conclusion: From Objectives to Reality
Chapter 9 Setting Effective Goals and Objectives
Introduction
Are Your Sales Force Goals Appropriate?
Types of Goals
How to Set Effective Sales Force Goals: a Five Step Process
Tracking Performance Against Goals
Goal-Setting Recommendations
Concluding Insights
Chapter 10 Increasing Sales Force Motivation Through Sales
Contests, SPIFFs, and Recognition Programs
Introduction
Sales Contests and SPIFFS
Recognition Programs
Insights
Chapter 11 Making an Effective Transition with a Major Incentive Compensation Plan
Change
Introduction
Sales Incentive Compensation Plan Change and the Sales
Management System
Challenging Sales Incentive Compensation Plan Transitions
A Sales Force Change Process Framework
Chapter 12 Incentive Compensation Plan Administration
Introduction
Is the Incentive Compensation Plan Administered Well?
IC Plan Administration Systems and Processes
How to Design an Effective IC Plan Administration System
Summary
Index
About the Authors
Hardcover, 496 pages