What Your CEO Needs to Know About Sales Compensation

What it’s about

What Your CEO Needs to Know About Sales Compensation reframes sales compensation as one of the most powerful levers a company has to drive profitable growth—yet one that is chronically misunderstood and mismanaged. Drawing on 25 years of consulting with Fortune 1,000 companies, Mark Donnolo shows executives how to start not with commission rates but with the big strategic questions, using frameworks like the Revenue Roadmap, the Sales Compensation Diamond, the canine sales-role metaphors (Dobermans, Retrievers, Collies), and the Reverse Robin Hood Principle for differentiating top performers. Rich with real stories from top sales leaders at companies like Verizon, Salesforce, Autodesk, and ARAMARK, the book equips leaders to ask the right questions, avoid common measurement pitfalls, set equitable quotas, motivate managers, communicate change, and get involved at the right time in the right way. It promises a clear connection between strategy and the behaviors that actually drive revenue.

The through-line

Who it’s for

A CEO or senior executive who wants to drive profitable revenue growth by making sales compensation work strategically.

The problem

Sales compensation is misaligned with strategy, expensive, and fails to drive the right behaviors or reward the right people. Executives feel frustrated and uncertain, sensing conflict and compromise between sales, finance, HR, and operations without knowing the right questions to ask.

The plan

1. Understand the Revenue Roadmap and align strategy before touching compensation.
2. Set C-Level Goals across Customer, Product, Coverage, Financial, and Talent.
3. Define sales roles and match pay mix to the behaviors needed.
4. Differentiate top performers with upside and the Reverse Robin Hood Principle.
5. Choose few, controllable performance measures and set market-based quotas.

The payoff

Compensation clearly reflects strategy and drives desired behaviors. · Top performers are the top earners and are retained. · The company hits its growth targets with a motivated, aligned sales force.

See our guide

• The Four-S Discipline — One System, Four Capabilities →
• Design A Sales Compensation Plan →
• Set Strategy And Build Durable, Measurable Advantage →
• Set Goals And OKRs That Actually Move →

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Featured in these guides

• Set Goals And OKRs That Actually Move →Cited source
• Design A Sales Compensation Plan →Cited source
• Set Strategy And Build Durable, Measurable Advantage →Cited source