Challenge
Sales Compensation Redefined by Key Changes
After a major strategic transformation and a reduction in workforce, an animal nutrition provider sought to re-evaluate their current sales compensation plan. The client specifically aimed to address internal conflict issues and the weakened link between pay and performance, including:
Job and Role Rationalization
There was a lack of clarity around job roles and coverage models, creating confusion and hindering performance.
Plan Inconsistency
The varying compensation plans for similar roles added administrative burden.
Unnecessary Complexity
Complex plans that relied on self-reporting resulted in limited transparency and little oversight.
Because of Alexander Group’s expertise in sales structure review and agricultural benchmark, the client sought our insight into designing a market-competitive, growth-oriented sales compensation plan that would incentivize sellers, align sales objectives and maintain simplicity.
Solution
Developing a Scalable, Market-Ready Compensation Model
To understand where the challenges originated from, Alexander Group conducted a comprehensive assessment of the client’s existing sales compensation program. This analysis evaluated the current sales compensation model’s alignment to business strategy, market practices and best-in-class principles within the agriculture industry. The full assessment confirmed misalignment with business objectives, limited transparency and excessive plan complexity.
After the evaluation process, Alexander Group facilitated cross-functional design sessions and led the development of a future-state compensation model.
This model included:
Clarifying Jobs and Roles
Simplifying role deployment to streamline the coverage model and reduce internal conflict.
Consolidating Plans
Reducing the multiple similar compensation plans into simple, scalable and market-competitive designs to minimize administrative burden.
Overhauling Crediting Methodology
Shifted from subjective, manager-driven crediting to a team-based model that incentivized collaboration and improved transparency.
Creating a Governance Framework
Established a structured governance model with defined roles, responsibilities, milestones and escalation procedures to ensure consistent plan administration.
We also shared additional recommendations, including shifting to profitability-based measures, using team crediting, fixing target incentives and adding a scorecard to guide strategic selling.
By adopting this new model and putting our recommendations into practice, the client could drive profitable growth, reward top performers and maintain plan simplicity while also supporting long-term business goals.
Impact
Fueling Record Revenue Growth and Long-Term Sales Performance
The redesigned sales compensation program delivered immediate results. Within the first year of implementation, the client achieved one of its top three revenue years in the past two decades.
The redesigned plans created stronger alignment between pay and performance, offering greater upside for top sellers while reinforcing accountability. Quota bands helped normalize expectations across territories, and the redefined performance measures sharpened attention on strategic accounts and products.
Ready to Redesign Your Sales Strategy for Lasting Growth?
In today’s evolving market, organizations must rethink how they engage and reward their sales teams. Alexander Group collaborates with clients to design scalable plans that address key issues, drive team performance and support strategic goals. Reach out today to learn how we can help your organization build a compensation strategy that delivers results.
About Alexander Group
Alexander Group understands your revenue growth challenges. Since 1985, we’ve served more than 3,000 companies across the globe. This experience gives us not only a highly sophisticated set of best practices to grow revenue—we also have a rich repository of unique industry data that informs all our recommendations. Aligning product, marketing, operations and finance efforts behind a successful sales organization takes insight and hard work. We help the world’s leading organizations build the right revenue vision, transform their organizations and deliver results.
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