Sales management · Compensation
Pay for three to five things a rep controls and your books can prove.
Comp plan objectives are the three to five measurable results that a sales pay plan rewards, such as new accounts, collections or margin. This page shows how to choose them from the year's goal, test each for control and data, and end with one signed objective sheet.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
Comp plan objectives are the three to five measurable results that a sales pay plan rewards, such as new accounts, collections or margin. This page shows how to choose them from the year's goal, test each for control and data, and end with one signed objective sheet.
A tile distributor in Morbi pays reps a commission on billed value. Billing is up, but the reps push the slow-moving range to hit the number and collections are stuck at ninety days. The plan pays for exactly what it measures, and the firm measured the wrong thing.
Objectives are chosen before the rate is. The owner writes the year's sales goal and last year's actual, the sales manager lists everything a rep could be paid for, and the two cut the list to three to five. Accounts confirms the books can report each one without a person typing figures by hand.
It replaces a plan that pays on whatever the accounts software prints first. It sits ahead of pay mix and the payout curve, which decide how much, and beside the job-description page, which decides what duties exist at all.
Where this sits
Topic 7 of 14 in sales management: compensation. Designing and checking the sales pay plan.
- The topic before
- Motivation and coaching
- The topic after
- Sales expenses
If you want this done for you
Your incentive plan rewards activity that has nothing to do with what needs selling.
The work
What this is actually like.
“If the rep cannot move it, do not pay for it”
Total company sales is something a rep can nudge, not control. A rep's own new accounts, the quotations they sent, the collections on their invoices, they can. Score each candidate from one to five on control and drop anything below three.
“Your books decide what you can pay for”
If margin by invoice does not come out of your accounting software without a day of work, margin cannot be an objective this year. Start with what the books report now and add the rest once you have fixed the reports.
“Three objectives pull in three directions on purpose”
Order value alone drives discounting, value plus margin stops it, and value plus margin plus collections stops the rep selling to customers who do not pay. The right set is one where a rep cannot win by neglecting the others.
“The manager must be paid on the same numbers”
If reps are paid on collections and the sales manager on billing, the manager will push reps toward the wrong thing. Give both the same measures so a conflict shows up in a meeting, not in the field.
What we do
What you end up with.
The documents this topic produces, what each one is for, and how you know it is finished.
The long list
Every possible measure with a column for type (result or activity), who controls it, 1 to 5, and where the figure comes from. Ten to fifteen rows is normal.
Result: Finished when every row has a data source or a note saying there is none.
The tested list
The long list with scores, cut to those the rep controls at three or above and the books can report. The rest are parked with the reason.
Result: Finished when no measure is on the list that nobody can calculate.
The objective sheet
Three to five objectives, each with a definition in one line, a target per rep, the data source and the person who calculates it. Signed by the owner.
Result: Finished when two people given the same raw data would produce the same figure.
The weighting draft
A rough split of attention across the objectives, as a percentage, to be handed to the pay-mix design later.
Result: Finished when the percentages sum to a hundred and the owner can defend each.
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No guarantees we cannot keep
The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
Your brief
Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
Should we pay for activity such as calls made?
How many objectives is too many?
Can objectives differ by rep?
What if the data sits in a distributor's system, not ours?
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
Where to go next
The work that carries this topic further.
The rest of compensation
Or read all of sales management.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.