Get Our Email Newsletter

REAL ISSUES. REAL ANSWERS: Salary Vs. Commission

“Base plus commission has worked well for us. More important, though, is the level of support we provide the sales staff, so they can work on relationships while others take care of the details.”


“Commission plus a signing bonus and guarantee.”


“We utilize a mix of straight commission (primarily in large MSA markets) and base + commission (generally in smaller markets). I believe it is important to remain flexible, however, you must have guardrails around your sales compensation as a percentage of sales and gross profit dollars.”

LBM Resources

White Paper: M&A Heats Up for Component Manufacturers. Prepared?

Acquirers Are Rolling Up Component & Truss Manufacturers and Panelized Providers Are you prepared for this surge of interest? If you’re a component or truss manufacturer,...

“Base plus commission leading to commission only.”


“For us, it’s always been base + commission. The salespeople then are confident in the fact that the base will cover their basic expenses so they’ll be covered in case of a bad month or a market slowdown. That way, they can then focus on selling, instead of trying to figure out how to pay their bills.”


“Determining pay is one of the most difficult topics in today’s marketplace. We find ourselves tailoring packages to each potential sales hire depending on the circumstances.”

- Advertisement -

“Base plus commission attracts aggressive sales talent that can also bring new customers with them.”


“Fortunately, we have not had to recruit sales staff for some time. In the past, we used a guaranteed salary for a time period and then gradually removed the guarantee as the sales person grows sales.”


“Base plus. Aggressive sales people don’t want caps, and it’s best that they have some salary at risk.”

- Advertisement -

“With seasoned pros, they are generally less afraid of commission programs, and are naturally the type of people who want to exceed goals. For this reason, I believe that commission works better with these long-time professionals, as they understand the cost-benefit of a commission program.”


“Salary plus quarterly incentives.”


“I say that this has changed. I think it was a fixed salary back in the 60’s and 70’s, but now I believe it is trending toward base plus commission. Work ethic and employees have changed. They want something they can count on (base), but want to have that incentive/opportunity to really make significant dollars. Previous generations all put in a hard days work and just believed that ownership would reward them for their work with increases in salary and/ or benefits.”

Get our free newsletter

Join thousands of other lumber and building material industry leaders and keep up with the companies, people, products and issues shaping the industry.

What's New

Digital Partners

Become a digital partner ...

Sales Comp Study

Download this 55-page, in-depth study by LBM Journal of industry trends in sales force compensation and benefits. See how your organization stacks up.

Webinars

- Advertisement -

White Papers

View all ...

- Advertisement -

Partner Content

View all ...

- Advertisement -

Registration is now open for the LBM Strategies 2024 Conference