Let’s be honest. The old sales playbook is gathering dust. The watercooler deal-closing chats, the high-fives in the office after a big win—they’re fading into memory. We’re now in a remote-first reality, and the way we pay our sales teams is scrambling to catch up. It’s not just about moving a spreadsheet online. It’s a fundamental rethink.
The future, it seems, is leaning hard into outcome-based compensation models. But what does that actually look like when your team is scattered across time zones? Let’s dive in.
Why the Old Commission Structure Feels… Broken
Remember the classic model? Hit your quota, get your commission. Simple, right? Well, in a distributed world, its cracks become canyons. It often rewarded activity—calls made, emails sent—over true impact. And when managers can’t physically see their team, mistrust can creep in. Are they really working, or just optimizing for that one visible metric?
That’s the core pain point. Traditional plans weren’t built for transparency at scale. They create silos, sometimes even internal competition that kills collaboration—a death knell for remote teams that need to share knowledge to survive. We need a system that trusts the output, not just surveils the input.
Outcome-Based Compensation: The North Star, Not Just a Metric
So, here’s the deal. Shifting to an outcome-based sales compensation model is more than a tweak. It’s a change in philosophy. You’re paying for the value delivered, the problem solved, the strategic goal hit. Think of it like navigating by the North Star instead of counting every single step.
This means compensation gets tied to things like:
- Gross Profit or Net Revenue Retention: Did the deal actually make the company money long-term?
- Customer Health Scores: Onboarding success, product adoption, feedback. Are they setting customers up to stay and grow?
- Strategic Product Lines: Maybe you need to push that new, innovative solution. Reward that.
- Team or Company-Wide Goals: Fostering that “all-in-this-together” remote culture.
The beauty? It aligns the sales rep’s goal with the company’s true north. They’re incentivized to land the right client, not just any client.
The Remote-First Multiplier Effect
Now, layer in remote work. Honestly, outcome-based models and remote-first are a perfect match. Without the facade of “looking busy,” what matters is crystal clear: the result. It empowers autonomy. A rep in Lisbon and a rep in Denver know exactly what they’re aiming for, without guessing what “good” looks like to a manager three thousand miles away.
But—and this is a big but—it demands radical clarity. Ambiguity is the killer. If the outcome isn’t measurable, trackable, and universally understood, you’ll have chaos. And maybe a few resignations.
Building the Future Plan: Practical Considerations
Okay, so how do you build this? You can’t just flip a switch. It’s a rebuild. Here are some key pillars for a modern sales compensation strategy.
1. Transparency is Your Currency
In an office, you could mumble an explanation at the coffee machine. Remote? Every detail of the comp plan must be documented, accessible, and dead simple to understand. Use dashboards that update in real-time. Reps should know where they stand on any given Tuesday afternoon, no questions asked. This transparency builds trust—the glue of any remote team.
2. Balance the Equation: Leading vs. Lagging Indicators
Pure outcome (a “lagging” indicator like closed revenue) is crucial. But to get there, you need “leading” indicators, especially for coaching. Think of it like farming. The harvest is the outcome. But you still need to measure soil health and rainfall.
A balanced plan might have a core incentive for closed deals, but with a meaningful multiplier or bonus for leading indicators like:
- Referenceable customer creation
- High-quality pipeline generation from new markets
- Mentoring new hire ramp-up time
3. Simplify, Then Simplify Again
If a rep needs a spreadsheet and a finance degree to calculate their paycheck, you’ve failed. Complex plans with a dozen caveats breed skepticism. Aim for elegance. A clear formula. When in doubt, cut a clause. Simplicity scales; complexity crumbles.
A Glimpse at a Future Comp Plan Structure
Let’s get concrete. What might a blended, remote-friendly plan actually include? Here’s a hypothetical framework for an Account Executive role.
| Comp Component | Weight | Outcome Measured | Why It Works Remote |
| Base Salary | 60% | Role & Experience | Provides stability in an isolated environment; values the professional. |
| Core Commission | 30% | Closed Revenue (with gross profit modifier) | Clear, direct outcome. Ties effort directly to company revenue. |
| Strategic Bonus Pool | 10% | Team NRR Goal + Individual Customer Health Score | Promotes collaboration on shared goals; rewards long-term thinking. |
This is just a sketch, you know? The weights will vary. But the principle is there: stability, clear individual outcome, and aligned teamwork.
The Human Hurdles (You Can’t Ignore These)
Technology can track anything. But people… well, people need more. The biggest challenges aren’t technical—they’re cultural.
Communication Overload is Real: You have to over-communicate the “why” behind the plan. Not once. Not twice. Constantly. In videos, docs, AMA sessions. Reps need to believe in the fairness.
Fairness and Perceived Equity: In a global team, market differences are stark. A deal in one territory might be harder or easier than another. Plans need nuance—regional multipliers, market difficulty adjustments. Ignore this at your peril.
And then there’s the manager’s role. It shifts from quota enforcer to coach and clarity-provider. Their job is to remove roadblocks, interpret the plan, and help reps connect their daily work to those ultimate outcomes.
Looking Ahead: The Compensation Ecosystem
The future of sales comp isn’t a standalone policy. It’s part of a living ecosystem. It integrates seamlessly with CRM and revenue platforms for real-time tracking. It’s agile, allowing for quarterly tweaks as business strategy evolves—because let’s face it, change is the only constant now.
We might even see the rise of more dynamic, project-based incentives for specific initiatives, almost like internal gig work. Or heavier weighting on cross-functional collaboration metrics, breaking down the last walls between sales, success, and marketing.
The goal is to build a system that doesn’t just pay for performance, but actively cultivates the right kind of performance. A system that builds a cohesive, aligned, and frankly, more human remote sales culture—where people are measured by their impact, not their internet connection light.
That’s the real outcome worth chasing.
