White Chemical Co. is examining its selling strategy and one of the issues it believes needs attention is the role its sales staff has in undertaking sales support (non-selling) activities; yet it wants to keep the salespeople directed toward increasing sales for the next year. If you did not know which plan the firm presently uses, what advice would you give?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Providing a base salary and a commission on sales generated would incentivize salespeople to focus on increasing sales while also ensuring they are adequately compensated for any non-selling activities they undertake. This approach strikes a balance between motivating sales staff to increase sales and ensuring they have the resources to support those efforts. Giving raises, bonuses, or offering straight salaries or commissions do not account for non-selling activities or provide a sufficient incentive for achieving sales growth.