Design Sales Commission Plans
Design sales commission plans with tiered rates, accelerators, clawbacks, and worked payout scenarios by role.
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Why it matters
Create competitive and motivating sales compensation structures tailored to your business goals and sales roles. This asset helps define clear commission tiers, bonus incentives, and payout scenarios.
Outcomes
What it gets done
Define base salary and variable compensation splits.
Structure commission rates based on performance tiers and accelerators.
Incorporate bonus incentives for specific achievements (e.g., new logos, multi-year deals).
Outline clawback provisions and provide example payout scenarios.
Install
Add it to your toolbox
Run in your project directory:
curl -fsSL https://spark.entire.vc/get/vb-sales-commission | bash Overview
Sales Commission Plan
A sales commission plan design prompt covering base/variable splits, tiered commission structures, accelerators, and worked payout scenarios by role. Use it when designing or revising a sales commission plan that needs tiered rates and concrete payout scenarios.
What it does
This prompt designs competitive sales compensation structures. Given the role (SDR, AE, AM, Sales Manager), target OTE, base/variable split, quota type, sales cycle, ACV range, and business goals (primary/secondary metrics, behaviors to encourage), it generates a compensation structure overview, commission rate tiers, a bonus/accelerator structure, clawback provisions, and example scenarios at different performance levels. It explains the two compensation components (base salary for stability, typically 50-70% of OTE; variable compensation tied to performance, typically 30-50% of OTE) and four commission structure types (linear, tiered, accelerator, decelerator). It provides a fully worked Account Executive plan ($150K OTE, 50/50 split, $1M quota) with a four-tier commission rate table (5% below 80%, up to 12% above 120%), accelerator spiffs (multi-year deals, new logos, strategic products), and three payout scenarios at 80/100/120% of quota, plus an SDR plan example ($75K OTE, 67/33 split) with a per-meeting rate, a tier bonus at quota, and a stretch bonus above quota.
When to use - and when NOT to
Use this prompt when designing a sales compensation plan - setting the base/variable split for a role, building tiered commission rates that reward over-quota performance, adding accelerator spiffs for specific behaviors (new logos, multi-year deals), or modeling payout scenarios across performance levels to sanity-check the plan's economics.
It does not cover payroll administration or legal compliance review of the comp plan - it is focused specifically on designing the compensation structure and rate tiers.
Inputs and outputs
Inputs are the role, target OTE, base/variable split, quota type, sales cycle, ACV range, and business goals. Outputs include a tiered commission structure, for example the Account Executive plan:
OTE: $150,000 | Base: $75,000 (50%) | Variable: $75,000 (50%) | Quota: $1,000,000
| Performance | Rate | Payout |
|-------------|------|--------|
| 0-80% | 5% | $0-40K |
| 80-100% | 7.5% | $40K-75K |
| 100-120% | 10% | $75K-95K |
| 120%+ | 12% | $95K+ |
Accelerators: Multi-year deals +1%, New logo +$500 spiff, Strategic product +2%
Scenario at 100% quota ($1M): $75K base + $75K commission = $150K
Other outputs include an SDR plan with a per-meeting payout rate and stretch bonus, and clawback provisions for the overall structure.
Who it's for
Sales leaders and RevOps designing or revising a commission plan who need concrete tiered rates and worked payout scenarios rather than an abstract compensation philosophy.
Source README
Sales Commission Plan
Create competitive sales compensation structures.
Prompt Template
Design a sales commission plan for:
**Role:** [SDR/AE/AM/Sales Manager]
**Target OTE:** [On-target earnings]
**Base/Variable Split:** [60/40, 50/50, etc.]
**Quota Type:** [Revenue/Meetings/Pipeline]
**Sales Cycle:** [Average deal time]
**ACV Range:** [Deal sizes]
**Business Goals:**
- Primary metric: [What to optimize]
- Secondary metrics: [Other important factors]
- Behaviors to encourage: [Specific actions]
Generate:
1. Compensation structure overview
2. Commission rate tiers
3. Bonus/accelerator structure
4. Clawback provisions
5. Example scenarios at different performance levels
Compensation Components
Base Salary
- Provides stability
- Typically 50-70% of OTE
- Based on market rate and experience
Variable Compensation
- Tied to performance
- Motivates achievement
- Typically 30-50% of OTE
Commission Structures
Linear: Same rate for all sales
Tiered: Increasing rates at thresholds
Accelerator: Higher rates above quota
Decelerator: Lower rates below threshold
Example: Account Executive Plan
OTE: $150,000
Base: $75,000 (50%)
Variable: $75,000 (50%)
Quota: $1,000,000 annually
Commission Structure:
| Performance | Rate | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| 0-80% | 5% | $0-40K |
| 80-100% | 7.5% | $40K-75K |
| 100-120% | 10% | $75K-95K |
| 120%+ | 12% | $95K+ |
Accelerators:
- Multi-year deals: +1% bonus
- New logo: +$500 spiff
- Strategic product: +2% on product revenue
Example Scenarios:
- 80% quota ($800K): $75K base + $40K commission = $115K
- 100% quota ($1M): $75K base + $75K commission = $150K
- 120% quota ($1.2M): $75K base + $95K commission = $170K
SDR Plan Example
OTE: $75,000
Base: $50,000 (67%)
Variable: $25,000 (33%)
Monthly Quota: 15 qualified meetings
Payout:
- Per meeting: $100
- Tier bonus at 15: $500
- Stretch bonus at 20: $1,000 additional
FAQ
Common questions
Discussion
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