Navigating Difficult Trade-offs in Sales Compensation

Sales leaders face challenging trade-offs in managing compensation during uncertain times, particularly between ensuring salespeople's financial stability and adhering to profit margins and corporate profitability mandates. Many leaders may not have previously grappled with these financial metrics, and navigating this tension becomes vital. This situation harkens back to the 2008-2009 economic downturn, but the absence of recent experience in such conditions amplifies the difficulty of decision-making. It is crucial for sales operations leaders to establish guiding principles in advance to guide their decisions and avoid reactive choices that may misalign with the company's cultural values.