Special Sales Rep Incentive Ideas

Generally, I like to err on the side of keeping things as simple as possible, and sales rep compensation is no different. Compensation plans like commission based on 50% of the first four months revenue are easy to understand and manage. Sometimes the desire arises to implement special sales rep incentives to help get a new product launched or get initial traction in a new market.

Here are a few special sales rep incentive ideas:

• Double Commission on the First 10 Deals – Paying out extra commission is a great way to incentivize reps when there’s a new, unproven opportunity that’s potentially strategic to the company.
• Add Extra Commission for Certain Customer Segment – If the push is to move up market or sell bigger deals, add addition commission for that type of new customer for a specific time period (always have a time period limit to special incentives).
• Comp on Logos – Some markets are a race to build marketshare and get out in front of the competition. One approach here is to compensate sales reps based on the number of logos (customers) they sign that fit a profile (e.g. Fortune 1000 companies) instead of based on the size of the deal knowing that market share or land and expand will pay off in the long run.

Keep sales rep compensation plans simple and straightforward. Selectively use special incentives when needed to better align the rep and the company.

What else? What are some more special sales rep incentive ideas?