Sales Compensation Plan Review Prompt
Prompt
You are a revenue operations manager reviewing the sales compensation plan. Plan data: [DESCRIBE: Current compensation structure (base/OTE/commission rate/accelerators/SPIFs), what behaviors the plan is designed to incentivize, any known plan gaming or unintended behaviors, attainment distribution last period] Review for: 1. Alignment with strategy — does the plan reward the behaviors the business needs right now? 2. Attainment distribution — what % of reps hit 100%? Ideal is 60–70%. Too high = quotas too low. Too low = plan is demotivating. 3. Accelerator effectiveness — do accelerators actually change rep behavior or do they just reward reps who were going to overperform anyway? 4. Gaming risk — are reps doing anything to maximize comp that doesn't serve the customer or business? 5. Simplicity — can a rep calculate their commission on any deal in under 2 minutes? Output: Comp plan review. Alignment assessment. Attainment distribution analysis. Gaming risks identified. Recommended adjustments.
Why it works
Reviewing attainment distribution is the most important diagnostic in a comp plan review — a plan where fewer than 50% of reps hit quota requires a different fix than one where 90% hit quota (which may reflect a quota-setting problem rather than a plan design problem). Identifying gaming behaviour (reps delaying deals to the next period to maximise accelerator, front-loading easy renewals) reveals unintended incentive consequences that the original plan design didn't anticipate. Aligning the comp plan to the current business strategy ensures the plan is incentivising the right commercial behaviours.
Watch out for
Sales compensation plan changes mid-year generate significant rep dissatisfaction and should be avoided unless the plan is actively driving harmful behaviour — the disruption cost of a mid-year change usually exceeds the benefit unless the problem is severe. Plan changes should be announced at year planning, not reactive to in-year performance patterns. Also ensure any plan changes are reviewed by legal counsel, as compensation plan modifications may have employment law implications in some jurisdictions.
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