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

The Effective Frontline Manager Challenge

Our experience suggests that a sales employee's feelings about the compensation plan are largely shaped by his or her immediate supervisor or team leader. Therefore, one would expect companies to spend a great deal of time and money on equipping frontline managers with the skills needed to manage effectively with the compensation plan, particularly when new sales roles are introduced into the business. However, our research and that of others shows that most companies are poor at developing their frontline managers in how to manage effectively with a sales compensation plan.

A recent Conference Board study reported that there is little or no emphasis on understanding leadership fundamentals—individual ...