Compensating the Sales Force

  • Post last modified:10 August 2023
  • Reading time:14 mins read
  • Post category:Sales Management
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Compensating the Sales Force

A good sales compensation plan stimulates the salesperson to exert greater promoting efforts and gain higher results. Managers, too, can lead and supervise salesperson easily. The compensation for the sales force includes a secured income as living wages in exchange of their performance and efforts.

A good sales compensation plan aids in attaining the objectives of the sales organization. It may involve incentives and other employee benefits and perks.

Factors Influencing Design of Sales Compensation Plan

Compensation level is influenced via different means. Some elements are internal in nature and others are external. Internal elements are company-precise that relate to the company’s resources, abilities, policies, etc. External elements are people who perform outdoor the organisation, i.e., the outside surroundings which have an impact on the sale compensation plans.

Internal Factors

The internal factors are discussed in brief as follows:

  • Financial Ability: A firm’s ability position returns on investment, monetary outlay, etc., suggest the long-time period monetary potential of a firm.

  • Compensation Policies: A company’s compensation policies are determined by the number of employees working, number of permanent employees, number of casual staff, etc.
    Moreover, whatever policies the company follow (say, only salary schemes or performance-based incentive schemes) should have a relationship with the total remuneration volumes of the company.

  • Recruitment and Selection Policy: This impacts the number of humans which might be at the salary roll. The salary payment guidelines need to do not forget the quantity of latest personnel inducted and the quantity of personnel, which might be retired or have left.

  • Job Descriptions: The volume of job (sales volume), its importance, and characteristics affect the compensation plan assigned to a job position.

  • Employer’s Designation and Position: An executive position deserves higher salary level. Secondly, a senior in position demands a higher remuneration package than that of the junior employee.

  • Employee’s Relative Contribution: Here, the benefit of the worker is a decisive aspect in finalising his compensation package. An employee who sells products at a very high margin and in large number deserves unique interest in phrases of incentives or rewards.

External Factors

The external factors, including a compensation plan are discussed as follows:

  • Prevailing Compensation Policies in the Industry: Every enterprise must provide salary to its salesperson and it’s far secure for a corporation to observe the industries norms and policies.
    This is in particular real for medium and small agencies with restricted monetary strength. However, a good salesperson can grab the higher salaries or commissions.

  • Legal Conditions: As organisations need to strictly examine the legal regulations and policies of the governments. The authorities have felony prerequisites at the minimum wages act or provisions for fringe.
    However, many organisations regularly violate those norms and have interaction salesperson on a meagre salary more and take advantage of them.

  • Economic Conditions: These are vital salary level determinants. It is a customary exercise withinside the enterprise circuit that with the upward push in inflationary conditions, the businesses enhance the extent of the allowance in order that the personnel can cope up with the growing rate degree.
    Similarly, below recessionary situation, the enterprise itself stays in a depressing situation and percolates down the identical to the personnel. Therefore, personnel are pressured to stay with their compensatory plan for a long term until the gloom is over.

  • Market Competition: It is a great cause to control personnel tactically at the salary packages. Under fantastic aggressive situations, the group’s installation techniques to maintain or live on withinside the competition scenario and here, professional personnel come to be valued assets of the organisation.
    The organisation desires to preserve them desperately by giving them appealing salary tiers to save you surprising attritions. The good personnel can also play their playing cards to compel reluctant groups to reinforce their salary tiers.

  • Trade Unions: It regularly performs a mediating position withinside the company’s decision to repair up different salary stages for employees along numerous positions. This is real in public sectors and large private region firms.
    In small firms, change unions are normally non-existent and employees are pressured to crab the earnings or salary stages as decided with the aid of using the company.

  • Global Considerations: These are vital when the organisation establishes any subsidiary devices in overseas countries or ship their personnel overseas to work on worldwide initiatives or businesses.

    It is essential, therefore, for the organisation to recognise the price of living, tax structure, social or cultural norms, etc., of a country that has robust relationships with compensation levels.

  • Criteria for Sound Compensation Scheme: A salary scheme wishes to comply with a few basic standards or requirements. These are essential for each employer and salesperson for nonviolent coexistence in one place.

    It needs to serve the work of each event equitably. Compensation of sales pressure is a critical component of sales pressure management.

Types of Sales Compensation

Salary is the economic and non-economic compensation offered to employees in exchange of their work performance. The term ‘salary’ refers to all types of monetary returns and tangible offers those personnel gets hold of as a part of the employment relationship. Compensation is the system of supplying adequate, equitable and honest remuneration to the personnel.

Compensation is that employees get hold of in exchange for the offerings rendered in an organisation. Compensation refers to a huge variety of monetary and non-monetary rewards given to personnel for his or her offerings rendered to the organisation.

It involves wages, salaries and worker advantages that include paid vacation, insurance, maternity leave, long touring facility, retirement advantages, etc.

Financial Compensation

Financial compensation is the most crucial motivational factor that satisfies employees’ primary desires like food, clothing, etc. It includes the compensation in the form of salary, wages and monetary benefits. It is further categorised into two parts:

Direct Compensation

Direct compensation means compensating employees by providing them salary in the following forms:

  • Wages: Wages means remuneration paid in cash for the work performed by an employee.

  • Bonus: Bonus means extra cash paid to an employee for exceeding his performance or on completion of specified project or target.

Indirect Compensation

It consists of fringe benefits, worker services, supplementary reimbursement. Management makes use of it ostensibly to facilitate its recruitment attempt or have an impact on the ability of personnel coming to work for a company, have an impact on their live or create more commitment, improve morale, lessen absenteeism in trendy and enhance the productivity of the business enterprise.

Non-financial compensation refers to compensating employee not in form of money but in some other forms that stimulate employees’ morale and also improve his performance.

It can be in the following forms:

  • Job security
  • Recognition
  • Participation
  • Pride in job
  • Delegation of responsibility
  • Other incentives

Non-financial Compensation

Non-monetary reimbursement differs from direct salary as it has no financial value. Non-economic incentives are in the forms of rewards that are not a part of an employee’s salary. It may involve achievement awards, group management opportunities, non-public days, prices, paid training, present cards, new workplace or workspace improve or maybe paid parking or transit passes, etc.


Objectives of Compensation Plans

A good sales compensation plan satisfies the employees in every term. Here are some of the additional objectives of compensation management:

To Attract Top Talent

One of the primary goals of compensation should be to recruit qualified talent. When you have a competitive compensation plan in place, you will be better able to attract the best industry talent.

To Retain & Reward Personnel

Don’t lose your top expertise on your competition due to the fact employees agree that the grass will be greener elsewhere. Find out market values for your employees and provide salary plan accordingly. You can also set up salary-for-performance models to drive performance by encouraging associates to reach new goals and push farther.

To Boost Motivation

When established effectively, your re-salary plan can pressure motivation throughout your teams. Employees who understand that they’re being pretty compensated for his or her work sense preferred and are consequently much more likely to live engaged, committed, and productive. A well-evolved re-salary plan also can boom process pleasure in general.

To Be Compliant

Compensation isn’t pretty much being truthful inside the industry; it should additionally follow federal regulations, together with the Fair Labor Standards Act. While adhering to requirements can complicate your reimbursement control, it’s going to assist defend your corporation in opposition to litigation and make certain equity throughout the board on your employees.

Compensation control goals at motivating employees for better productivity. Monetary reimbursement has its very own boundaries in motivating humans for advanced performance.

To Maximise ROI

It requires a few excellent turning; however, salary control is only while you get the most important bang on your buck. In different words, if you could create a salary plan that remains inside finances at the same time as additionally riding productiveness through salary-for-overall performance and different motivational tactics, you are developing a plan that is good for the organisation and effective for employer to work hard.

Article Source
  • Connett, B., Abratt, R., & Cant, M. (2010). Sales management. Sandton, Johannesburg: Heinemann.

  • Jobber, D., Lancaster, G., & Le Meunier-Fitzhugh, K. (2019). Selling and Sales Management. Harlow, United Kingdom: Pearson Education, Limited.

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