Explore / Team and operations / Sales compensation plans
Sales compensation plans · checked 11 November 2026
One page, one number, one rate: base plus variable at about 50:50 for a closer, one quota on new ARR, a flat commission and an accelerator above 100 percent.
Pay variable in proportion to what the person controls: about 50:50 for an AE, 70:30 or 80:20 for an SDR and around 75:25 for customer success. Set a first quota from cost, at four to six times OTE, then check it bottom up against how many deals one rep can run. A healthy plan has roughly two thirds of reps hitting quota; review it quarterly and change it annually.
The steps 16 answers
- I am a founder writing my first sales comp plan. What is the simplest thing that works? GTM
- I have been handed a comp plan. How do I work out what I will actually earn? GTM
- What do OTE, pay mix, accelerator, draw and clawback actually mean? GTM
- What is a fair quota for my first rep when we have no history to go on? GTM
- How do I set quotas that most of the team can actually hit? GTM
- How should SDR, AE and customer success comp actually differ, and why? GTM
- Do SPIFFs work, or do they just teach the team to wait for the next one? GTM
- How do I split territories and segments without starting a civil war? GTM
- How do I build a comp plan that pays for the strategy we actually have this year? GTM
- What does sales comp look like for an India based team selling into the US? GTM
- My comp plan is being gamed. How do I find it and fix it mid-year? GTM
- How much should the whole GTM org cost, and how do I know when we are overspending? GTM
- What does best-in-class quota attainment actually look like, and what does the shape tell me? GTM
- How do the best-run comp teams operate the plan through the year, not just design it? GTM
- How do the best companies pay reps in a hybrid or product-led motion where the product sourced the deal? GTM
- How do the best companies handle territory and segment design once there are dozens of reps? GTM
The readingMost used across these answers
- The $400K Sales Rep: What Top Earners Know That You Don't | Siva Rajamani (Everstage CEO) Listen · 14 answers
- SaaS Sales Compensation Benchmarks: Trends and Best Practices Read · 6 answers
- SaaS Sales Compensation Guide: How to Design Scalable and Fair Plans Read · 6 answers
- Getting the Quotas Right for Your SaaS Sales Teams Read · 6 answers
- Compensation for SaaS Sales Organizations Read · 6 answers
- Simple Math to Set Up a Sales Team Read · 5 answers
- 57% of SaaS Sales Reps Missed Quota in Q2 2025. Here's What That Means Read · 5 answers
- Sales Compensation Structure: The Guide With Role-Based Templates Use · 4 answers
- Sales Capacity Planning Read · 4 answers
- Sales Quota Planning: How to Align Targets and Drive Results Read · 4 answers
The terms
On-Target EarningsSales QuotaAccount ExecutiveSales Development RepAnnual Contract ValueSaaS Magic Number
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