Unsurprisingly, most people work to get paid (a wild concept, I know.) Despite that, navigating and creating a proper pay scale for sales teams is a seemingly complex and difficult process. How can we create a pay scale that works for the organization and the workers themselves? In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by the CRO of LinkSquares, Steve Travaglini, to discuss what he does to strike a balance between these two sides. 

Salary open for negotiation in sales roles doesn’t make sense.

• If you have two people doing the exact same job, they should be paid the same.
• Pay isn’t the way to motivate people. If you pay people differently, that will eventually get out and will result in a lack of trust in the organization.
• Base salaries should be standard across a job title, but allow the variable income (i.e. commission) to determine how much a seller’s skills allow them to make. 
• There should be no questions or ambiguous items when an employee signs a compensation agreement. Set the rules before you play the game.

What items do sellers find annoying in the compensation package?

• Having different salaries but the same amount of experience should be a nonstarter.
• Structure annual bonuses around the hiring period, not the calendar year to give everyone an equal chance of reaching that quota. 
• Implement rewards and compensations beyond strictly monetary like parental leave, benefits, and even stocks or an owner’s portion of the company to keep employees satisfied.
• Consider advertising jobs based on income; it shouldn’t be the taboo topic that it is currently. 

Steve’s average retention v. other tech companies:

• Typically tech companies aim to be in the 50-75% range of employee
• This year, Steve’s company is around 80% retention and historically around 70%. 
• They take risks on sellers with no experience or without the 5-6 years of closing experience, people expect to see.
• It all comes down to the product and the company; you can be great at your craft, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be world-class at every company.

Steve’s final takeaway? Don’t forget what it’s like to be the rep. Listen to the account executives and those around you; put together a benefits package you would’ve appreciated if you were in their role. To get in contact with Steve, connect with him on LinkedIn or visit Linksquares.com to view available job openings (but he always enjoys a custom LinkedIn DM.)

This episode is brought to you in part by Skipio.

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This episode is brought to you in part by Scratchpad.

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As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify. Audio provided by Free SFX, Soundstripe, and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

Mentioned in this episode:

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

hubpspot.com/marketers

bluemangostudios.com