Compensating New Sales Roles: How to Design Rewards That Work in Today's Selling Environment

Summing Up

The sales executive, like John Stevens, who faces what seems to be an unreasonably high sales quota cannot simply do more of the same. Often the sales organization is working flat-out; there is no more water to squeeze from this particular stone. What you must do is first understand the customer's buying process and the company's four selling opportunities: retention, penetration, conversion, and new market selling. These opportunities change as the business moves through the growth cycle. For a brand new business, there is no retention selling because there has been no selling at all. For a mature business, there may be little new market selling because the company has no new products (which may be another kind of red flag for top ...