What is the ROI on a sales compensation plans design change effort?

There are three income statement lines affected by improved sales compensation plans:

1. Revenue - total sales volume can increase with the right incentives. And it can increase with a sales force that isn’t distracted by a complex comp plan and shadow accounting. Revenue can also be increased by focusing sales people on strategically important sales (right customers, right products, long term revenue streams, etc.).

2. Margin – by focusing sales people on the most valuable sales and on correct pricing and deal structure, margin can be increased even if revenue is not.

3. Cost – While this is not typically the focus of sales compensation plan redesign, the cost of comp can be managed down either by paying less to sales people for the same productivity. More often costs are managed down by expecting sales productivity to increase faster than sales compensation. Other costs that can be managed include the cost of administering the plans, cost of delivering the company’s offering (reduced through better deal structure), and the cost of turnover in the sales organization due to un-motivating, unintelligible, or unfair comp plans.

The specific issues faced by the business will determine where the value creation can happen. Ask why you are considering changing their plans, what benefit you expect to gain. Ideally, substantial changes in sales focus that yield business results are the result of a full program that is supported by the compensation plans. It is rare that compensation plan changes alone will make a dramatic difference on the income statement. It is also rare that a change in the market strategy, a change in sales roles, a new coverage model, or other important changes in the sales job will be successful without support from the sales compensation plans. So the ROI is most likely on the overall change initiative of which sales compensation is a part.