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CFO & Strategy

Compensating Sales in a Usage-Based World

Written by Harry Prabandham

Curated by Rubric Financial

Last updated

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The Core Tension

  • Traditional sales comp pays on a fixed contract value signed at the moment of the deal.
  • In usage models the real revenue depends on how much the customer later consumes.
  • Paying full commission on an uncertain number can overpay reps for accounts that never ramp.
  • The framework must reward landing customers and the consumption that actually follows.

About the author

Harry Prabandham

Founder & CEO

Founder and CEO of StartupCFO. MBA from Wharton, MS in Computer Science, and decades of experience building and advising venture-backed startups.

More articles by Harry

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