There’s no better way to grow beer sales than to have a properly designed sales compensation plan.
The compensation plan should motivate your sales team and provide incentives to get the desired outcome: sales growth of your beer brands.
In the next few posts, I’ll share 3 Sales Compensation tactics, and describe how to use them so that you can build a plan that gets results.
3 Sales Compensation Tactics to Grow Revenue
- Use the First Rule of Compensation
- Ask these Key Comp Plan Questions
- Explain How the Comp Plan Works…then do it again
#1 Remember the First Rule of Compensation
The first rule of compensation is that people want to be paid a market rate and to be given an opportunity to make more if they go above and beyond.
Humans don’t like uncertainty. We want to know what to expect in life and in our paycheck. We want to know that we will be able to pay the bills and put away some money for the kids’ college savings and for retirement.
Your sales people are humans, so pay them accordingly.
Sales people want to be paid a market rate and to be given an opportunity to make more if they go above and beyond.
How to Determine Market Rate
The market rate for a sales person in your area is easy to find. Ask your brewery brothers and sisters what they are paying. Check the Brewer’s Association compensation survey data. And look outside the beer business to see what other industries are paying their sales people. This will give you a good idea of ‘market rate’.
How to Determine Pay for Going ‘Above and Beyond’
The market rate gives your sales person safety, security and certainty in the paycheck. Important things. Next, build in a plan to pay them to go ‘above and beyond’.
One tactic is to use your sales forecast and design a bonus that gets paid when the sales person exceeds the goal. For example, if the sales forecast calls for 5% growth, pay them a percentage for growing it even more.
Another tactic is to look at the needs of your business and create a plan to pay for ‘above and beyond’. This might include increasing points of distribution, getting more shelf space in existing accounts, or building more store displays.
There are many, many ways to pay your sales team to go above and beyond. Start with a market rate and design the sales compensation structure to provide safety, security and certainty.
Wrap Up + Action Items
There’s no better way to grow beer sales than to have a properly designed sales compensation plan.
Use the first rule of compensation: pay a market rate and give them a chance to make more when they go above and beyond.
In the next post we’ll look at Key Questions to Ask when building your sales compensation plan.
Until next time, check out the Brewery Sales Growth Course which includes sample compensation models and step-by-step video training to grow brewery sales.
Already a Craft Brewery Financial Training subscriber? Get instant access to the Sales Growth course in the Online Courses section of the Member Area.
Yours in Sales Comp Plans,
Kary
p.s. The Sales Growth Course is included free with your Annual Subscription. Sign up today for instant access.
