AE Tech commission plan: Best practices (+4 templates)

Introduction

In a constantly evolving technology market, the remuneration of sales reps is a key factor in attracting, motivating and retaining talent.

The commission plan plays a central role in the performance of sales reps and the achievement of growth targets. With new sales dynamics, longer sales cycles and the need to build customer loyalty, it is becoming essential to regularly rethink commission models.

This white paper has been designed to help you, Tech companies, develop or review your sales reps' commission plan for 2025. We've put together practical advice, in-depth analysis and industry benchmarks to guide you every step of the way.

Whether you want to optimize your commission rates, adjust your targets or incorporate customer retention incentives, this guide will help you build a plan that is aligned with your strategic objectives and adapted to the realities of today's market.

‍

Summary

1. How do I determine the amount of commission to pay my sales reps?

a. Alignment with customer acquisition costs (CAC)

b. Define a realistic OTE (On-Target Earnings)

c. Benchmarking and market expectations

2. Which performance indicators should you choose?

a. Prioritise the simplicity and clarity of indicators

b. Using a hybrid model: individual and collective objectives

c. Rewarding multi-year commitments and one-off payments

3. What commission rate should I choose?

a. Calculate the commission rate

b. Knowledge of industry standards

c. Impact of the customer acquisition cost (CAC)

d. Adjustments and optimization

e. Performance monitoring and annual reviews

4. What is the right target frequency?

a. Adapting objectives to the sales cycle

b. Quarterly quotas: flexibility and strategic alignment

c. Seasonality as a key factor

5. What commission thresholds should be adopted?

a. Avoiding excessively high thresholds

b. Introducing progressive thresholds

6. What commission ceilings should I choose?

a. The benefits of capping commission

b. The advantages of de-capping commissions

7. What sales accelerators should be set up?

a. Benchmarks and statistics

b. Pay more to earn more: The impact of sales accelerators on the CAC

c. Accelerators based on the achievement of objectives

d. Accelerators for one-off payments

e. Accelerators for multi-year contracts

8. What is the right payment frequency?

a. The importance of regular payments

b. Aligning payments with the sales cycle

c. Risks relating to the collection of payments

9. New Sales in 2025: Commissions during the ramp-up

a. Defining the ramp-up period: adapting to the complexity of the product

b. Best practices for adjusting quotas during the ramp-up period

c. Remuneration options during the ramp-up

10. AE commission plan: 4 start-up & scale-up templates

11. Why should you adopt Qobra to manage your commission plans in 2025?