Incentive Compensation Management from SalesGlobe
SalesGlobe is a data-driven, creative problem-solving firm for sales. We design, evaluate, and optimize sales compensation programs using the Sales Compensation Diamond — a proven approach developed over hundreds of companies and described in What Your CEO Needs to Know About Sales Compensation. We don’t sell software; we design the plans the software runs.
Where we strengthen your incentive comp program.
- Plan design and incentive mechanics
- Quota setting and territory alignment
- Pay mix, target pay, and competitive benchmarking
- Governance, mid-year adjustments, and dispute management
- Plan communication and change management
Incentive compensation management is more than calculating commissions.
A sales compensation or sales commission plan creates the critical link between the sales strategy and front-line performance. The compensation plan trumps leadership messages, sales strategy, sales management, and sales training. The sales organization will go where the compensation plan leads.
Too many executives squander the opportunity effective compensation planning presents. SalesGlobe’s work is built to change that — demonstrating how to improve the return on investment in your sales compensation plan in returns that are both financial and strategic.
Better plans. Better behavior. Better return on investment.
SalesGlobe starts by asking the big questions around your C-Level Goals: What’s important to accomplish strategically and how can sales compensation support it? How can sales compensation support your sales roles and goals? How does sales compensation align with your sales strategies and sales process?
How SalesGlobe helps with incentive compensation management
Our consulting work covers plan design and redesign, quota setting, pay mix and benchmarking, governance and evaluation, plan communication, change management, and more.
Plan Design & Redesign
Translate C-level goals into incentive plan structure that connects pay to the behaviors leadership is paying for.
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SalesGlobe uses a proven sales compensation design process described in What Your CEO Needs to Know About Sales Compensation, a best practice approach developed over hundreds of companies, to rigorously evaluate and design your incentive plans.
The Sales Compensation Diamond ties pay mix and target pay, incentive mechanics, quota setting and alignment, and governance and evaluation into one connected system.
Quota Setting & Territory Alignment
Quotas that motivate the entire sales organization — not just the top performers.
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SalesGlobe uses a top-down, bottom-up methodology that begins with corporate revenue targets and works down to territory-level assignments, while simultaneously building up from account-level opportunity data. This dual approach produces quotas that are both strategically aligned and achievable.
Our Quota Setting and Alignment work also analyzes historical attainment distributions, territory coverage, and market potential to ensure quotas motivate sellers across all performance tiers, not just the top ten percent.
Pay Mix, Target Pay & Benchmarking
Get the math right — how much is at risk, how it pays out, and how it compares to market.
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Pay mix defines the ratio between base salary and variable pay for each sales role. SalesGlobe analyzes role complexity, sales cycle length, seller influence on the buying decision, and market pay data to determine the optimal pay mix for each role.
SalesGlobe’s Competitive Benchmarking practice pairs plan design with targeted, third-party intelligence on pay practices, quota setting approaches, and other sales effectiveness areas from your specific competitor set.
Governance & Evaluation
Build the governance structure that keeps plans aligned with business strategy as conditions evolve.
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A compensation plan is only as effective as the governance structure that supports it. SalesGlobe helps organizations build compensation governance frameworks that include regular plan evaluation, managing crediting disputes, and making mid-year adjustments when necessary.
SalesGlobe recommends annual plan evaluations and a comprehensive redesign every two to three years. Between redesigns, ongoing governance protects plan integrity and ensures that compensation continues to drive the right behaviors.
Plan Communication & Design
Deliver a clear, consistent message about the plan that gets results in the field.
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SalesGlobe’s Sales Communications and Design practice helps you develop and deliver a clear, consistent strategic message that gets results. We use Information Visualization, Motion Design, and Interaction Design to make the plan land in the field the way it was designed at HQ.
An effective strategy is only as good as the company’s ability to engage the team to execute it. Poor communications take the organization off-track; thoughtful communication keeps everyone aligned.
Change Management
The advocacy, communications, and rollout discipline that makes new comp plans stick.
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Whether you’re changing the sales compensation plan or making a change further upstream in The Revenue Roadmap, a good change management plan helps lead the organization through the transition and implementation.
SalesGlobe’s Change Management practice helps with starting strong (due diligence to make sure the program is ready to go), building organization advocacy, designing the communications campaign and change story, understanding the organization’s view and readiness, and supporting the implementation.
The Sales Compensation Diamond
The Sales Compensation Diamond is SalesGlobe’s proprietary framework for designing, evaluating, and optimizing sales compensation programs. Developed through decades of research and implementation across industries, the Diamond addresses four interconnected dimensions that must work together for a compensation program to succeed.
Each dimension influences the others. Changing one element without considering its impact on the rest creates imbalances that undermine plan effectiveness — which is why SalesGlobe addresses all four together.
Platform-agnostic plan design. Ecosystem-deep partnerships.
SalesGlobe doesn’t sell software. We design the plans the software runs. Our strategic partnerships span the sales effectiveness, incentive compensation, and SPM ecosystem, giving us hands-on experience across the leading platforms.
Built for the leaders responsible for incentive compensation
Incentive compensation management touches every team that owns or influences how variable pay is designed, deployed, and governed.
Methodology, not just opinions.
SalesGlobe was started to go beyond the benchmarking and common practices that many firms dispense to their clients as the answer. We’re a data-driven, creative problem-solving firm for sales — committed to bringing new problem-solving approaches to sales effectiveness that make a difference and deliver results.
Our approach to incentive compensation management is grounded in the Sales Compensation Diamond and the proven sales compensation design process described in Mark Donnolo’s book What Your CEO Needs to Know About Sales Compensation.
Mark Donnolo
CEO & Founder, SalesGlobe
Mark is CEO and Founder of SalesGlobe and author of multiple books on sales compensation and sales effectiveness, including What Your CEO Needs to Know About Sales Compensation, The Innovative Sale, and Quotas! Design Thinking to Solve Your Biggest Sales Challenge.
Incentive compensation management resources
Free tools, frameworks, and content from SalesGlobe to help your team build stronger incentive compensation programs.
Sales Compensation Report Card
Take a quick quiz to receive a report card from SalesGlobe analyzing your current plans.
Sales Compensation Diamond
The four interconnected dimensions — pay mix, mechanics, quotas, and governance — of every effective comp plan.
Competitive Benchmarking
Targeted, third-party intelligence on competitor pay practices, quota setting, and sales effectiveness areas.
Change Management
The advocacy, communications, and rollout discipline that makes new compensation plans stick.
Sales Compensation for Results
SalesGlobe’s training platform with expert content, practical tools, and the Sage AI Assistant.
Incentive compensation management FAQs
Common questions about ICM, SalesGlobe’s approach, and how engagements work.
What is incentive compensation management?
Incentive compensation management — often abbreviated ICM — is the discipline of designing, calculating, paying, and governing variable pay programs for sales and other revenue-generating roles. It covers plan design, quota setting, pay mechanics, reporting, and governance.
ICM is broader than commission calculation alone. The underlying plan design and governance decisions determine whether the program actually drives the behavior leadership wants. SalesGlobe focuses on plan design, quota setting, and the governance work that surrounds them.
What is the Sales Compensation Diamond?
The Sales Compensation Diamond is SalesGlobe’s proprietary framework for designing and evaluating sales compensation programs. It covers four interconnected dimensions: pay mix and target pay, incentive mechanics, quota setting and alignment, and governance and evaluation.
By addressing all four areas together, organizations create compensation plans that drive the right seller behaviors and align with corporate strategy.
What is the difference between ICM and SPM?
ICM focuses on the incentive pay layer — designing, calculating, and managing variable compensation. SPM, or sales performance management, is the broader category that includes ICM plus quota planning, territory design, capacity planning, and forecasting.
SalesGlobe’s consulting work covers both. Many engagements start with plan design and expand into quota methodology, territory alignment, and governance.
How is SalesGlobe’s approach different from a software vendor?
ICM software vendors build the platform that calculates your plans. SalesGlobe designs the plans — and the governance around them — that the platform calculates. We don’t sell software; our work is methodology-driven and grounded in a sales compensation design process developed over hundreds of companies across industries including technology, healthcare, financial services, and manufacturing.
How often should we review our incentive compensation plans?
SalesGlobe recommends evaluating your compensation program annually and conducting a full redesign every two to three years. Warning signs that an earlier redesign is needed include significant changes in strategy, go-to-market model, or market conditions, high performer attrition, quota attainment that is either too high or too low, pay that has become disconnected from performance, or incentive plans that no longer reflect current selling motions.
What industries does SalesGlobe work in?
SalesGlobe has designed and implemented sales compensation programs across a wide range of industries, including technology, healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, telecommunications, wireless services, professional services, cloud and SaaS services, information services, and staffing and recruiting.
Each industry presents unique compensation challenges, and our team brings deep experience in tailoring plans to the specific selling environments our clients face.
How do SalesGlobe engagements typically work?
SalesGlobe can help organizations plan and design sales compensation and sales quota programs that align to business objectives and provide organizational change management to help teams drive sales results.
Common engagement types include plan design and redesign, quota setting and territory alignment, competitive benchmarking, governance and evaluation, plan communication and design, and change management for plan rollouts.
Do we need ICM software to work with SalesGlobe?
No. SalesGlobe doesn’t sell software — we design the plans the software runs. We work with clients across the entire technology spectrum, from teams running incentive plans on spreadsheets to global enterprises on Xactly, Varicent, CaptivateIQ, SAP, or Anaplan.
If part of your engagement is selecting or replacing your ICM platform, we coordinate with our strategic partners — Varicent, Xactly, OpenSymmetry, and Luminas Strategy — to help you make an informed decision.
How do you set quotas that drive the right performance?
Quota setting at SalesGlobe starts with a top-down, bottom-up approach. We begin with corporate revenue targets and work down to territory-level assignments, while simultaneously building up from account-level opportunity data. This dual approach ensures quotas are both ambitious and achievable.
We also analyze historical performance, market potential, and territory coverage to create quotas that motivate all seller tiers, not just the top performers.
Talk to a SalesGlobe expert about your incentive compensation program.
Tell us about your challenge — plan design, quota methodology, pay mix and benchmarking, governance, communication, or change management — and a SalesGlobe consultant will follow up.
How we engage
- Sales compensation plan design and redesign
- Quota setting and territory alignment
- Pay mix analysis and competitive benchmarking
- Governance and evaluation frameworks
- Plan communication and design
- Change management for plan rollouts
- Revenue Roadmap Assessment and M&A plan-transition support
Tell us about your ICM challenge