Sales and MarketingSales Compensation and Incentive Plan Design
A sales incentive plan is an instruction, and salespeople follow it precisely, including into the behaviour nobody intended when the plan was written. This course covers designing for what you actually want. Delegates work through the commercial outcome a plan is meant to produce, and the small number of measures that can be paid on before the plan stops guiding anything. Pay mix and the split between fixed and variable follow, matched to how much influence the individual genuinely has over the sale. Quota setting is covered, including the difference between a stretching target and one nobody believes. Accelerators, caps, thresholds and their effects on end of period behaviour are addressed. Team and individual components are covered. Plan administration, dispute handling and the credibility cost of a late or wrong payment follow. The course closes on modelling cost of sale and on changing a plan without losing the team.
Course objectives
- State the commercial outcome the plan is meant to produce
- Limit the plan to measures that can still guide behaviour
- Set pay mix against the individual's real influence on the sale
- Set quotas that stretch without losing credibility
- Use accelerators, caps and thresholds knowing their period end effects
- Balance team and individual components
- Administer the plan, model cost of sale and change it without losing people
Who should attend
- Sales directors and commercial leaders
- Human resources and reward specialists supporting sales
- Sales operations managers
- Finance business partners costing incentive plans
- Business owners designing a first commission scheme
Course outline
- 01A plan is an instruction
- 02The outcome the plan must produce
- 03How many measures a plan can carry
- 04Pay mix and real influence
- 05Quota setting and credibility
- 06Accelerators, caps and period end behaviour
- 07Team against individual components
- 08Administration, cost of sale and changing a plan
Scheduled sessions
| Dates | Venue | Format | Price | Register |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 to 23 October 2026 | Cape Town, South Africa | Classroom | R11,950 per delegate | Register Now |
| 10 to 11 November 2026 | Online | Online | R6,500 per delegate | Register Now |
| 2 to 3 February 2027 | Pretoria, South Africa | Classroom | R11,950 per delegate | Register Now |
| 10 to 11 February 2027 | Johannesburg, South Africa | Classroom | R11,950 per delegate | Register Now |
| 18 to 19 February 2027 | Kampala, Uganda | Classroom | USD 795 per delegate | Register Now |