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Designing for Change:
A Flexible Sales Compensation Strategy That Delivered Growth

Challenge

A specialized B2B sales team serving multi-dwelling units was reorganized under new leadership and given a clear mandate:
  • Achieve aggressive growth targets
  • Grow wallet-share with existing customers by cross-selling the company’s full product suite
The team had historically focused on renewals and customer support, with limited experience in acquisition-oriented selling. Leadership recognized the need to upskill their team members and evolve the sales compensation framework to support this shift in strategy.

Approach

Greg was engaged to assess and redesign the sales compensation structure to align with the evolution to the new mandate. His approach was open, collaborative, and consultative, and involved:

  • Discovery & Analysis:
    • Reviewed existing job descriptions, org charts, KPIs, and business objectives
    • Conducted interviews with leadership to clarify goals, obstacles, and success metrics
    • Asked critical questions to uncover the real problem and define what success would look like
  • Design & Development:
    • Developed new role definitions and conducted market benchmarking
    • Developed new salary ranges, pay mix, and on-target earnings (OTE)
    • Modelled a flexible variable pay program with multiple performance metrics to support a staged transition to acquisition selling
  • Sensitivity to Transition:
    • Recognized that many Reps came from support roles and needed time and training to adapt to acquisition selling

Solution

The new sales compensation structure featured:
  • A variable pay program with three performance metrics tied directly to business goals:
    • New Sales
    • Revenue Retention
    • Cross-Sell Revenue
  • Built in flexibility to adjust performance metric weighting over time
  • Support systems including comprehensive documentation and payout calculators to help Reps transition to and succeed in acquisition roles

Results

  • Leadership Confidence: Management felt empowered by the flexible framework and confident in building a scalable sales effort
  • Employee Sentiment: Reps felt valued and supported; morale improved
  • Team Transition: 16 of 18 sales representatives successfully adapted; 2 transitioned to other roles better aligned with their strengths
  • Revenue Growth: Team surpassed revenue targets

Client Feedback

“The new design gave us the ability to evolve sales compensation metrics and weighting during the transition period.  This gave us confidence – we could support our team while still pushing for growth. It was the right balance.”

Why It Matters

This case illustrates how a flexible, people-first sales compensation strategy can drive growth while respecting the realities of team dynamics. By anticipating transition challenges and building in adaptability, the organization created a path to success that was both strategic and practical.