Sales compensation plans are traditionally designed around sales roles, and they assume every individual has the same motivations—which psychologists would disagree with. One of the great visions for sales compensation is to provide a level of personalization to sales comp plans to maximize the motivation of individual sales representatives. As a result, more and more companies are tailoring their incentive plans to increase motivation in their sales reps and encourage desired sales behaviors. Join Steve Marley, co-author of The Future of Sales Compensation, in this webinar as he discusses how companies are enabling personalized incentives to benefit both the individual and the company.

1. Personalizing Incentives
Brought to you by:

2. Personalizing Incentives
Leveraging technology to deliver a more motivating
incentive program

3. Presenter
Steve Marley is a Principal at ZS. As a leader in the firm’s
Sales Compensation Practice, he oversees ZS’s sales
performance management work. Steve, a Certified Sales
Compensation Professional, has more than 10 years of
consulting experience.
He has helped companies design effective compensation
plans, set motivating quotas and implement efficient
compensation administration programs.
Steve is the author of several articles in industry
publications, a regular speaker at conferences, a frequent
contributor to ZS’s blog The Carrot, the coauthor of the 2016
book, “The Future of Sales Compensation”, and a coauthor
of the upcoming book, “Sales Compensation Solutions”.

4. Book giveaway
Sales Compensation Solutions
Written by leading sales compensation experts,
“Sales Compensation Solutions” offers
actionable insights and ideas that sales and
compensation professionals can use to design
and implement programs that work in today’s
selling environments, including
recommendations to:
■ Adapt compensation to changing sales roles
■ Motivate the sales force with more than money
■ Create incentives that drive the top and bottom lines
■ Use analytics to boost sales compensation impact
■ Help the sales force embrace compensation plan
change
■ And more!

5. External change forces impacting the
sales organization

6. Implications of external forces
Sales incentive programs are becoming more complex
 Complex selling environments
 Challenging crediting assignments
 Murky line-of-sight / attribution of sales

7. Internal change forces impacting the
sales organization

8. Implications of internal forces
A new layer of complexity: external forces plus…
 Movement away from “coin-operated” mentality$
 Greater focus on what else gets people “out of bed”
in the morning

9. The foundation for personalized incentives
Current incentives plans are designed around sales roles
ISR Territory
Executive
KAM

10. Increasing levels of customization
Exceptions, but still based on the role

11. Personalization of incentives

12. A total of 510 valid
responses, with
approximately
equal number from
Baby Boomers,
Gen-X, and Gen-Y
Respondents are
Salespeople
working in the USA
Generations in the workforce

13. Survey findings overview (1 of 3)Preference
Baby-Boomers
GenX
GenY
High
Low
Baby-Boomers prefer
high fixed component
Medium level of fixed pay
(50%-70%) is the most
preferred choice of Gen-X
Gen-Y prefers low fixed
componentHigh Variable Pay High Fixed Pay
Key Takeaway: Risk appetite is higher for younger generations.
Compensation system should address the risk appetite of different
generations

14. Survey findings overview (2 of 3)
50 Hours 40 Hours 32 Hours
Preference
Baby-Boomers
Non Flexible Flexible
Low
High
50 Hours 40 Hours 32 Hours
Gen-Y
50 Hours 40 Hours 32 Hours
Gen-X
Preference for work hours and flexibility
Key Takeaway: Work being central to their lives, baby-boomers do not
benefit from flexible working hours whereas flexibility in work hours
is highly important for Gen-Y

15. Survey findings overview (3 of 3)
Two Winners, Unequal Prize
Money
Three Winners, Unequal Prize
Money
Three Winners, Equal Prize
Money
Preference
Preferences for Sales Contests
Baby-Boomers
GenX
GenY
Low
High
COMPETITIVE INTENSITYHigh Low
Key Takeaway: Younger generations prefer less competitive
contest structures

16. Levels of Personalization
Level Personalization Options Example
1 Company designs and offers limited
options
Choose from Plan 1
or Plan 2
2 Sales person provides input to metric
or measure from company
Choose your quota
level
3 Sales person provides direct input to
individual compensation structure
Choose your plan
type
Sales
Person
Company

17. Where are we now?
What level of plan personalization has your company incorporated?
Level 1: Company offers limited number of controlled options to
sales people
Level 2: Sales people provide input on select, certain metrics (e.g.,
quota level)
Level 3: Sales people can chose metrics and / or reward mechanisms
from variety of options
Level 4: Company hasn’t started personalizing plans yet

18. Challenges

19. Enabling personalization

20. Designing options
• Key questions to consider:
Why? Who? What?
Why do we need this?
Why will it benefit the
sales person?
Who needs to be involved
to make it work?
Who should participate?
What are the options?

21. Paradox of Choice

22. Technology enablers

23. Technology enablers
Connectivity
• Integration of functionality to
drive motivation
• HR data, prizes, game play,
sales compensation
Ability to track and compare
multiple compensation structures at
the role-person (or role-group) level

24. Technology enablers
Flexibility and architecture changes
• Paradigm of systems constructed around
a single role will become increasingly
obsolete
Software that can easily handle “exceptions”
of today with ease
• Faster processing speeds

25. Comp, role based
Comp,
motivation
rewards
Integrated sales
planning, role based
Integrated sales
planning, motivation
rewards
Evolution of company incentives strategy
Complexity
Breadth

26. Q AQ A