How sales compensation is structured

The components

How splits differ by role

• Pipeline-generation roles usually carry a smaller variable share, because the outcome is partly outside their control.
• Closing roles carry the largest variable share, often approaching an even split with base.
• Leadership variable pay is typically tied to team attainment and sometimes to retention or hiring.
• Post-sale roles are usually weighted towards base with a smaller retention or expansion bonus.

Questions to answer before you publish a range

1. 01What percentage of the team reached OTE in the last full year?
2. 02When is commission paid — on signature, on invoice or on cash collection?
3. 03Is there a cap, and where?
4. 04What happens to commission on a deal that closes after the seller leaves?
5. 05Is the ramp guarantee repayable if the person leaves inside twelve months?

Why there are no figures on this page

Salary figures move, vary by region, sector and funding stage, and are frequently quoted without a source. We publish specific ranges only where we can cite where the number came from and when it was read. Where we cannot, the page stays unpublished rather than becoming another uncited number on the internet.

Payment timing is the term candidates get wrong

Two offers with an identical OTE can pay very differently across a year. Commission paid on signature reaches the seller within weeks; commission paid on cash collection can sit unpaid for a quarter or more in enterprise deals with long payment terms. Neither is unfair, but only one of them matches how most candidates model their income.

Say the timing out loud at offer stage, with an example: a deal signed in month one, invoiced in month two, collected in month four, and the month the commission lands. Candidates who understand the mechanics rarely object to them. Candidates who discover them in month five usually start looking.

Signals that a plan will cause problems

• A quota set from a board target rather than from what the current motion demonstrably produces.
• A plan that changes mid-year without a written transition rule for in-flight deals.
• Accelerators that only trigger at an attainment level almost nobody has reached.
• Clawback windows longer than the customer's first renewal decision.
• A ramp guarantee that becomes repayable on resignation, which quietly converts pay into a retention lock.
• Multipliers on so many measures that no seller can calculate their own earnings.

Common questions

Should we advertise a salary range?

Yes in most cases. It reduces wasted process on both sides, and candidates increasingly filter out adverts without one. Publish a range you would actually pay.

Is a high OTE with a low base attractive?

Only to candidates who believe the OTE is achievable. If most of the team missed target last year, an aggressive OTE reads as a warning rather than an opportunity.