Accelerator

An accelerator is a step up in the commission rate. Up to the quota, the seller earns the base rate. Above it, every extra sale pays more. The idea is to make the last deals of the period worth the effort. Otherwise sellers save them for the next one.

The accelerator is part of the commission plan and lives in the same signed document. It depends on two numbers from the CRM: the seller's quota and the sales counted against it. If either number is disputed, the accelerator becomes an argument, so both must be clear before the period starts.

Quota $50,000, sales $60,000, base 5%, accelerator 8%: $2,500 on the quota plus $800 on the extra $10,000, $3,300 in total.

The owner approves the accelerator, because it pays out more exactly when revenue is high. The head of sales watches it in the weekly pipeline review near the end of each period. Sellers close to quota will push to cross it. Check that the deals they push are real, not pulled forward with discounts.

Read the accelerator next to margin. A higher rate on deals with thin margin can cost more than the deal earns. Some plans pay the accelerator only on deals above a margin floor. Decide this with the owner before launch, not after the first large payout.

The accelerator works with quota and clawback. Quota sets the threshold. The clawback protects the company if an accelerated deal is never paid or the customer leaves early. Together they reward sales that stay, not sales that only look good on the last day.

• Setting quota so high nobody reaches it. Then the accelerator motivates no one. Set quota from the pipeline and the sales cycle, then test it for a quarter.
• Paying the accelerator on signature. Deals pulled in at the end of a period are the most likely to slip on payment. Pay it on payment received, or tie it to a clawback.
• Ignoring sandbagging. Sellers may hold deals until the next period if this one is out of reach. Watch for deals sitting at the decision stage near the period end.
• A rate step too large. Example (invented numbers): a base of 5% and an accelerator of 20% can make one deal swing a whole month. Test smaller steps first.

By Friday, the head of sales takes last quarter's sales per seller and recounts what the accelerator would have paid. Put next to it the margin on the accelerated deals. Show both numbers to the owner on one page. Agree whether the accelerator needs a margin floor or a payment condition. Write the decision into the plan for the next period.

A weekly meeting on stuck deals that ends with a decision and an owner for each.