Sales Compensation Design
A commission plan is not a reward for good work — it is an instruction, and it will be obeyed literally.
What it is
A commission plan designed as an instruction rather than a reward: one job named before any percentage, on-target earnings and the base/variable split sized against what gross margin carries, then the mechanics — quota basis, trigger, accelerators, caps, draws, clawbacks, splits, leaver — governed by a signed document, a dispute route and one annual change date. For founders paying a first seller, leaders fixing a plan that buys the wrong behaviour, and the finance lead who funds it.
What you receive
a commission plan that pays for the behaviour you actually want — the plan's single job written before any percentage, the base/variable split with its affordability test against gross margin, the measures with their gaming edges named, the accelerators, caps, draws and clawbacks decided in advance, the worked example every rep gets on day one, and the dated annual change process that fixes it without a mutiny
Delivered as a single, complete .md skill file — open it, paste it into any capable chat model, and work. No installation, no account with anyone but us.
Supported models
- Claude (Opus/Sonnet)
- ChatGPT (GPT-4o/5)
- Gemini
- any capable chat model
People reach for it when
- “how to structure a commission plan for my first sales hire”
- “should commission be paid on invoiced or on collected revenue”
- “base salary to commission split for an account executive”
- “sales commission clawback wording when the customer never pays”
- “how do I change a commission plan without the sales team walking out”
Record
lineage: first-party house build
gates passed: demand-evidence · function-fit · beats-the-blank-page
status: IN THE COLLECTION
Sale-time bench runs and the fix-or-refund log attach to this record when the payment room opens.
In the collection. The sale room is being fitted; this work goes on sale when it opens.
Join the house — be written to when sales openBack to the collectionLicense
Free-shelf works ship under the DolceDrago House License — use the outputs freely, personal or commercial; the work file itself stays with the house.