Partner compensation and incentive design · Channel and partners
Pay partners for the behaviour you want, not the order they would have placed anyway.
Many trade schemes reward the same top few partners every quarter, because the scheme is structured around volume alone and volume follows whoever was already largest. The incentive spend goes out, but it rarely changes anyone's behaviour.
A 90-minute audit call and a written, scored report. Turnaround, reporting and term are agreed in writing after the audit.
In one paragraph
Partner compensation and incentive design is the work of structuring margins, scheme payouts and contests. It rewards partners for growth, coverage and compliance rather than for orders they would have placed regardless. GullySales reviews current payouts and rebuilds the incentive structure around what genuinely moves the business.
This service looks at what a scheme is actually meant to achieve, whether that is new territory coverage, faster payment or pushing a slow-moving product. It then designs the payout to reward that specifically. It also checks that the maths works: that the incentive costs less than the growth it produces.
The problem
Does this sound like your business?
What owners tell us on the first call, in their words.
“The same three partners win every contest”
A volume-based scheme naturally rewards whoever was already the largest, so the incentive spend changes nothing about anyone's behaviour.
“Nobody has checked if the scheme pays for itself”
A festival scheme goes out every year on habit, and nobody has compared its cost against the extra sales it actually produced.
“Partners game the scheme instead of growing with it”
Orders get pushed to the last week of a slab period to hit a bonus tier, then drop off, creating a spike that looks like growth but is not.
What we do
Everything that is included.
Each deliverable, and what it gets you. Nothing here is an extra.
Incentive objective review
A clear statement of what the scheme is meant to change, coverage, new products, payment terms or total volume, before any structure is designed.
Scheme structure design
Slabs, bonuses or contests built around the specific behaviour you want, tested against past order data before launch.
Payout cost and return check
A comparison of what a scheme is likely to cost against the incremental sales it should produce, so it earns its budget.
Anti-gaming rules
Simple checks, such as return caps or spread requirements, that stop a scheme being gamed through order timing alone.
Scheme communication material
Clear terms explained to partners so there is no dispute at payout time about what was promised.
How the result is measured
- Scheme cost against incremental sales
- Number of partners earning above the base tier
- New behaviour targeted versus achieved
- Disputes raised at payout
Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.
Who it is for
This is written for you if these sound familiar.
- Businesses running trade schemes that pay out to the same partners regardless of effort
- Companies wanting to launch a new product and needing an incentive to get partners to push it
- Networks where credit period and payment discipline have slipped and need a compliance incentive
- Businesses unsure whether their current scheme spend is producing any incremental growth
Not for
It is not the right fit if.
- You have never run a partner scheme before and want the basic tier structure first. Start with partner programme design
- Your issue is which partners to reward, not how much. That is partner segmentation and tiering
How it works
From your first message to the first report.
No open-ended retainer. Every step gives you something in writing.
First
Free audit call
90 minutes with whoever handles your enquiries: how they arrive, how fast they are answered, where they are lost.
After the call
Written, scored report
Six areas scored, fixes ranked by return and cost. If you want our help, the scope, the fee and the reporting come with it, in writing.
Before work starts
Baseline recorded
Enquiries by source, reply time, conversion and cost per order, written down so every later report has an honest comparison.
After the baseline
The first fix goes live
Usually the cheapest one on the report: reply time, a follow-up sequence or the marketing-to-sales handover.
As agreed
Report against the baseline
What moved, what did not, and what changes next, in plain words. How often you get it is set in writing before work starts.
At renewal
Renew on the numbers
The term ends and you decide whether to continue from the results. The length is agreed in writing before anything starts.
How the work runs
- 1
Review current schemes
A free audit of the last year's schemes, their cost and what they actually changed in partner behaviour.
- 2
Set the objective
Agreement on what this round of incentive design is meant to achieve, specifically.
- 3
Design and test
Structure built and checked against historic order data before it goes live.
- 4
Launch and measure
The scheme run with clear terms, and its cost against results reported at close.
Proof
What happened when owners fixed this.
Real clients, the work we did, and the result as it was recorded. Where no number was recorded, none is claimed.
Chord Road Hospital
- Situation
- Patients who knew the hospital trusted it. Patients who searched for a department or a treatment in the area did not find it.
- What we did
- Website rebuilt around patient needs
- Search visibility
- Social media on a schedule
- Review management
- Result
- Organic traffic increased 60% within six months
- Online appointment bookings increased 40%
- Social following grew 45%, and engagement on it rose 70%
Hotel Felicity Inn
- Situation
- A traveller compares three hotels on a phone and books one. The website was not built for that.
- What we did
- The site rebuilt around booking
- Photography and one look
- Search work for destination searches
- Content a traveller reads
- Result
- Online bookings increased 35%
- Organic traffic increased 50% within six months
- Positive reviews on Google and TripAdvisor increased 30%
SB Engineering
- Situation
- Buyers searching for laser cutting and sheet metal work in Bengaluru were finding other suppliers first, because the company did not rank for the terms its own customers type.
- What we did
- The site redesigned for mobile
- Search work on the buyer's terms
- Content that shows the work
- Social channels managed
- Result
- Website traffic rose 60% within six months, against a target of 50%.
- High-quality leads rose 45%, with a rise in conversion rates alongside them.
- Fifteen target keywords moved up the rankings, five of them into the top three positions.
Also worked with
Curtain Label · Difesa Security Services · Hands On CSR · Implevista · Kambar Group · Kalessi · Kerur Pain Clinic · LL Trust · Lucky Deals · Natural Gases · NavaShakthi Souhardha · NewCom Logistics · Proton Technical Services · Shakthi Foundation · Shakthi Group · Urbanest · Insyde Studio · Venkateshwara Laser Tech · Vivara Studios
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.
Engagement options
Ways to work with us.
Pick the size of commitment that fits. Every option starts with the free audit.
Option 1
The audit on its own
A 90-minute call and a written, scored report. It says honestly whether you need outside help, and many fixes are ones your own team can make.
Option 2
One fix, scoped
Start with the fix the audit ranks first, such as reply time or follow-up. The fee is in writing before anything starts.
Option 3
An ongoing programme
We run the work, report against the baseline, and you renew on the numbers. The term and the reporting are agreed in writing first.
Option 4
Guidance for your own team or agency
We plan, brief and check the work of your in-house team or current agency, instead of replacing them.
The offer
Start with a free audit of how you sell.
It is useful on its own, whether or not you hire us.
What you receive
- A 90-minute call with the person who will do the work
- A written, scored report on the six places orders leak
- Every fix ranked by what it returns and what it costs
- The one thing to do first, and why
- An honest line on whether you need outside help at all
- If you do, the scope and the fee in writing
No invoice. No obligation. No sales script.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
Can you tell us the right payout percentage for our trade?
How do you stop a scheme being gamed?
Should incentives be cash or something else?
How often should schemes change?
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?
By industry
Partner compensation and incentive design, written for your industry.
Related services
Often bought with this, or instead of it.
Read before you buy
- How to create dealer incentives without damaging marginsMost dealer schemes buy volume the dealer would have bought anyway and become permanent discounts. Reward the behaviour you are short of, not the billing.
- How to design a channel partner programmeDecide what the partner must do, what they earn for it, and what they get from you in return. Write the tiers, margins, territory and support down first.
Your next practical step
Get a free audit of how you sell, and a scored report of where the work is.
90 minutes. A written, scored report. No invoice and no obligation.