You might have a sales compensation plan problem if:

  1. More than 10% of reps are confused about how they get paid.

  2. Managers frequently need to explain or reinterpret the sales compensation plan.

  3. You frequently rely on SPIFFs or one-time bonuses to fix behavior problems and issues.

  4. Sales and Finance frequently disagree on the accuracy or fairness of payouts.

  5. The sales compensation plan has legacy rules or formulas no one can explain or justify.

  6. Reps maintain their own shadow spreadsheets to estimate pay.

  7. You regularly make manual plan exceptions or adjustments.

  8. Top performers frequently express dissatisfaction with how they are rewarded.

  9. Plan changes take more than a month to design and roll out.

  10. There is no quarterly or annual comp plan review process in place.

  11. Calculations are manually processed for payout on Excel spreadsheets.

  12. Participants who perform the same work are compensated differently on different sales comp plans.

Count the number of “True” answers to the questions above to reveal your relative level of risk, and PLEASE contact me as soon as the risk exceeds your personal tolerance for it…

0: No risk, no problem, everything is running smoothly; no action needed; “Hakuna Matata” (no worries).

1–2: Very mild risk, nuisance; slight inefficiency, but not a priority; like a squeaky door.

3–4: Mild risk; low impact; known issue, not urgent; workaround exists; like a wobbly kitchen table.

5–6: Moderate risk; noticeable loss affecting team productivity or cost; starting to escalate; like a bored cat climbing on your keyboard and insisting on attention.

7–8: Severe risk, high operational impact causing lost revenue, customer dissatisfaction, or staff burnout; like accidentally tossing sweaty socks into the dishwasher which—despite extensive cleaning—continues to place a faint, lingering aroma of your local gym onto your dishes.

9–10: Very severe risk, strategic threat hindering growth, losing market share, or triggering executive concern; like a mechanically challenged but well-intentioned relative attempting to turn your home into a “smart home” but resulting in a “not-so-smart home”.

11–12: Crisis level; existential or legal risk placing business continuity at risk; immediate intervention required; like taking a bite of your lunch sandwich only to realize too late that the mayonnaise was 3 months past the “best if used by” date and you just ingested a big bite of a biohazard.