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Aligning Incentives with Service Strategy:
A Customer Care Transformation

Challenge

A Small & Medium Business (SMB) Customer Care team was facing two key issues: poor customer satisfaction ratings and high revenue churn. The traditional tiered support model – where calls were qualified and handed off – led to fragmented service and low employee engagement. Reps felt disconnected from outcomes, and customers experienced inconsistent support.

The company was transitioning to a new Trusted Advisor service model, empowering Reps to resolve any customer issue in a single interaction. This required a fundamental shift in how Reps were trained, supported, and rewarded.

Approach

Greg was engaged to redesign incentive compensation structures to align with the new service model. His approach was collaborative and consultative, and involved:

  • Discovery & Analysis:
    • Reviewed job descriptions, org charts, performance metrics, and business objectives
    • Conducted in-depth interviews with leadership to understand strategic goals and operational realities
  • Design & Development:
    • Conducted market benchmarking based on new role definitions
    • Designed a new compensation framework including salary ranges, pay mix, and on-target earnings (OTE)
    • Developed a new performance metric focused on retained recurring revenue (R3), replacing the legacy churn metric
  • Financial Modeling & Validation:
    • Conducted sensitivity and break-even analyses to ensure financial viability
    • Provided recommendations on target setting methodologies

Solution

The redesigned framework included:

  • A simplified compensation structure aligned with the Trusted Advisor model
  • A new variable pay program tied to R3, a dollar-based performance metric that was relatable and impactful
  • Full documentation including payout calculators for Reps
  • Launch support, including PowerPoint decks and speaking points for the management team

Results

  • Revenue Impact: $4M in incremental retained revenue in the first year
  • Employee Engagement: Significant morale boost; Reps felt empowered and valued
  • Customer Satisfaction: Trending upward within months
  • Performance Metric Adoption: R3 became a core metric for the senior leadership team, and was adopted by the Consumer Care organization

One of the most powerful outcomes was the shift in mindset – Reps began to see their direct contribution to company success. The new performance metric (R3) created an epiphany moment for many, transforming their roles from transactional to strategic.

Client Feedback

“The new incentive compensation framework gave our Reps purpose and clarity. They understood how they contributed to the business, and it showed in their performance and attitude.”

Why It Matters

This case shows how aligning incentive compensation with a strategic service model can drive both business results and employee engagement. By focusing on intrinsic motivators and empowering frontline staff, the organization turned a struggling department into a high-performing team.