This article by Beth Carroll, 5 Steps for Communicating Your New Sales Comp Plan, originally appeared in WorldatWork.
New Year, New Plans
It's a new year, and with a new year always comes new sales compensation plans. You might have already rolled yours out, but if you are like many organizations, January is the time for the annual sales conference, when sales reps gather to plan for the year and learn about changes to their compensation plan.
For some this is exciting, as it means the opportunity to earn more money. But for most it's an event that is met with skepticism and even dread. In some cases this fear is well-founded. If the reps work or have worked for an organization that has changed compensation negatively in the past, they might have developed a conditioned response to the communication of a new comp plan. If the reps have been treated badly enough in the past, and have gone through several negative changes, then the fear likely has morphed into indifference, disregard, disrespect and disdain. They've seen it all, heard it all and know exactly where the story ends: They make less money and have a higher goal to reach. And to make matters worse, management is going to tell them they should be excited about the change.
The 5 steps for Communicating Your New Sales Comp Plan
Develop a high-level presentation
Develop comparison calculators
Test the presentation and the calculators
Communicate the plans to the reps' managers first
Communication the plan to the reps in stages
Continue reading the entire article here: 5 Steps for Communicating Your New Sales Comp Plan