Think Commission is Motivating? Think Again

I'm going to throw a cat amongst the pigeons today.

Paying commission may not be incentivizing the results you actually want.

How can a heavily commission-based representative possibly be more interested in serving, rather than making a sale? When you're paid this way you're focused on making the sale and you don't give a fig whether the customer will be satisfied in the long run. Fast way to make $$, but only once.

Most people like to be rewarded for their achievements. But not everyone is motivated by financial rewards.

And when you're hungry, as so many organizations like to keep their revenue generating people, you may not be making decisions in the best interest of your clients or your employer.

For most salespeople a base salary that provides a regular and stable source of income with some performance based pay works well. Note the regular and stable source of income requirement.

But what about companies that don't have salespeople?

I think non-sales team members should also be rewarded for company success through bonuses or profit sharing schemes. The key is to tie them to company culture and KPIs that incentivize the right sort of behavior ie. retaining and renewing clients with perhaps a profit share if additional services can be added to that client's portfolio.