Sales Compensation--Fair Play, Fair Pay

"We've had happy salespeople who reach a plateau," Bray confesses. "If they produce profitable work, you're not going to put them out to pasture. But you do want to encourage them to grow."

DeWese suggests that nothing will push a sales rep to do more once that individual has become comfortable. However, you can set performance standards, offer inducements and try to explain that a salesperson who is limited to a handful of accounts will see last year's earnings of $65,000 drop to $45,000 if an account is lost.