Ximena Keller· Sales Compensation Manager, Aurora Hospitality
Asked in Sales Compensation ·
Industrial distributor in the US, about 220 sellers, of whom 12 are global account managers. When a global customer places an order through a local branch, the local territory rep services it and the global account manager negotiated the frame agreement that made it possible.
Today we double credit: both get 100%. It keeps the peace, but we pay commission twice on roughly 18% of revenue and quotas have crept up to compensate, which the reps who never touch global accounts resent.
Is anyone splitting credit on this kind of deal and keeping both roles motivated? What split, and who decides it?
6 helpful · 2 insightful · 1 agree · 5 replies · 166 views · 2 following
Accepted answer· by Wren Zhang
I would keep double crediting and fix the cost elsewhere. Splits make people fight over the pie. Give the global account managers a different measure altogether, say total account revenue growth worldwide at a lower rate, and leave the local rep on full territory credit. You are paying twice on the same revenue either way, but each rate is set knowing that, so the cost is planned and not accidental.
Read in the conversation ↓
Senior Compensation Analyst, Beacon Retail Group
We split 60/40 in favour of whoever holds the local relationship, fixed in the plan, no negotiation per deal. The first year was painful. The second year nobody mentioned it. What made it work was resetting quotas at the same time so that nobody's target still assumed full credit.
Wren ZhangCRP, CEP
Job Architecture Lead, Silverline Media
Accepted answer
I would keep double crediting and fix the cost elsewhere. Splits make people fight over the pie. Give the global account managers a different measure altogether, say total account revenue growth worldwide at a lower rate, and leave the local rep on full territory credit.
You are paying twice on the same revenue either way, but each rate is set knowing that, so the cost is planned and not accidental.
Wren ZhangCRP, CEP
Job Architecture Lead, Silverline Media
Colin WalshWWP, CBS
People Analytics Lead, Kestrel Aerospace
A caveat on fixed splits from someone who administers them: every fixed split generates exception requests. In our first year with a 50/50 rule we had 46 requests to vary it. We now allow variation only if both managers sign before the opportunity reaches proposal stage. After that the default applies, whatever happened.
Benefits Analyst, Lumen Biosciences
Really useful. I modelled the separate-measure approach over the weekend and it brings the double-paid cost down by about a third while leaving the territory plan untouched, which matters because that is 200 people who would otherwise see a change they did not ask for. Taking it to the sales leadership meeting next month.
