A Regional Vice President expressed concern and frustration that there was no direct correlation between compensation and the performance of his sales organization. Numerous studies have shown that to drive performance or behavior changes, the minimum "leverage" (variable amount) is 30% of the total compensation. This organization's leverage ranged from 5% to 18%.

Bill was engaged to lead a team responsible for the implementation of a new plan that was designed to reflect an individuals' contribution against well defined business based metrics. This team was responsible for:

• Defining the metrics to be used
• Insuring the sales team had some influence on the outcome of the metrics
• Defining the different roles in the sales organization
• Establishing the proper "leverage" and payout for each role
• Establishing individual goals for each metric consistent with the overall business targets
• Modeling the new plan vs. the old plan
• Establishing a transition timetable
• Obtaining business and corporate approval to convert

The team went from the initial discussions to launch in less than 6 months. The Vice President responsible reported that the program was considered to be successful as the business performance and behavior changes expected were delivered.