The 5 Things Every CRO Secretly Wishes They Could Do With Their Comp Plans

For CROs, the sales compensation plan is the bridge between strategy on paper and seller behavior in the field. It’s one of the most powerful levers for running a high-performing GTM engine.

But today’s processes rarely support the needs of CROs—and most aren’t getting what they need. Here are the top five things CROs wish they could do with their comp plans:

1. Launch Their Comp Plans in a Week

At the end of the fiscal year, CROs are laser-focused on closing strong and delivering the number. The next year’s comp plan feels like a problem for “future us.” There’s also understandable hesitation to approve a new plan before understanding how the year will end.

The result? Plans often take months to implement—even when they’re built in Excel. Sellers leave SKO energized…but without a comp plan. Momentum stalls before the year even starts.

CROs want to launch plans fast—in days, not months.

2. Align Plans With ALL Business Objectives—While Keeping Payouts Crystal Clear

Yes, comp plans must align with the company’s strategic priorities. But when every department adds “just one small thing,” you end up with a Frankenstein plan that’s impossible to understand and even harder to motivate against.

Great plans balance sophistication with clarity. Sellers should be able to look at any payout and instantly understand why they earned it.

3. Drive True Meritocracy With Easy Access to Historical Performance

Identifying top performers requires more than glancing at last month’s leaderboard. Many sellers win through consistency over quarters and years—not just one big deal.

But maintaining a centralized, accurate repository of attainment and productivity metrics is harder than it sounds. Without it, “performance” becomes subjective.

CROs want simple, reliable historical data to drive a real meritocracy.

4. Grant Exceptions Without Breaking Operations

Splits, holdovers, double-bubble, bounties, draws—running a sales org requires creativity and flexibility. Real-life selling is rarely a straight line.

But managing exceptions manually can overwhelm operations and lead to mistakes or confusion about who was promised what.

CROs want exception workflows that are flexible and auditable.

5. Keep Spend Under Budget Without Guesswork

A great CRO drives growth while partnering closely with the CFO to manage the P&L. That means understanding:

• Headcount decisions
• Cost of comp plans
• Impact of exceptions
• Payouts above OTE
• Off-band hiring

Nobody wants to end up in a situation where expenses outrun revenue, triggering hiring freezes or—worse—downsizing.

CROs want the financial clarity to stay confidently within budget.

Where EasyComp Comes In

Executing flawlessly across all these expectations is incredibly hard. Most operations teams—no matter how talented—are limited by systems not designed for the modern GTM org.

At EasyComp, we’re building a product that makes flawless execution easy:

• Launch comp plans in a week (not months)
• Clearly explain payouts so sellers spend time selling—not crunching commissions
• Give CROs and RevOps easy access to attainment and productivity metrics
• Manage exceptions with workflows that are flexible, trackable, and auditable
• Keep everything aligned to budget with real-time financial insight

If you’re a CRO or RevOps leader and want to learn more, I’d love to connect.

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