Operations
Feb 06 2026
Sales compensation is one of those topics everyone thinks they understand — until it’s time to explain how someone actually gets paid.
Ask a simple question like, “What’s an example of sales compensation?” and you’ll hear wildly different answers depending on who you ask: commission-only plans, base plus bonus, quotas, accelerators, team payouts, or something in between. The truth is, sales compensation isn’t one thing. It’s a set of structures designed to reward specific behaviors, and those structures vary dramatically by role.
A sales compensation plan might pay an Account Executive a percentage of closed revenue. It might reward a BDR for booking qualified meetings. It might tie a Customer Success Manager’s bonus to retention instead of new sales. Each of these is a valid example — but only when it matches how the role actually creates value.
This guide walks through real-world examples of sales compensation across common revenue roles, from Enterprise Account Executives to Customer Success and Professional Services. Instead of abstract theory, you’ll see concrete pay structures, typical metrics, and why each approach is used — so you can understand not just what a sales compensation plan looks like, but why it’s designed that way.
An example of sales compensation is a pay structure that combines a base salary with variable pay tied to performance, such as commissions or bonuses.
Example:
A Mid-Market Account Executive earns a $95,000 base salary plus $65,000 in commission for hitting a $900,000 annual revenue quota, for a total on-target earnings (OTE) of $160,000.
Sales compensation plans vary by role, but they all use measurable outcomes — revenue, pipeline, retention, or activity — to align pay with business goals.
This guide breaks down sales compensation examples across common revenue roles, including Account Executives, BDRs, Sales Engineers, Customer Success, and Professional Services.
Most sales compensation plans are built from the same core components.
Fixed pay that provides income stability and reflects the role’s responsibility and risk.
Performance-based pay earned by hitting targets like:
The total amount a salesperson earns when they hit 100% of their goal.
OTE = Base Salary + Variable Compensation
The performance goal required to earn full variable pay.
Higher commission rates earned after exceeding quota.
Example of Enterprise AE sales compensation:
Why this works:
Enterprise AEs manage long sales cycles and large deals, so compensation emphasizes upside for closing high-value contracts.
Example of Mid-Market AE sales compensation:
Why this works:
Mid-market roles focus on volume and velocity, with faster payout cycles and simpler commission rules.
Example of inbound BDR sales compensation:
Why this works:
Inbound BDRs convert existing demand, so compensation rewards lead quality and follow-through.
Example of outbound BDR sales compensation:
Why this works:
Outbound roles require more effort and rejection tolerance, so variable pay is higher.
Example of Sales Engineer compensation:
Why this works:
SEs influence deals but don’t own revenue, so team-based incentives reduce internal friction.
Example of Professional Services compensation:
Why this works:
PS compensation balances delivery quality with financial performance.
Example of Customer Success compensation:
Why this works:
CSMs are incentivized to retain and grow customer value, not just sell.
From an SEO perspective, these are the most searched plan types:
Most companies combine multiple types depending on role.
Sales compensation plans fail when:
The most effective plans provide clear explanations of how commissions are calculated, supported by data and visible logic.
A sales compensation example is any structured plan that ties pay to performance — whether that performance is revenue, pipeline, retention, or delivery.
The best plans are:
As sales organizations scale, clarity in compensation becomes just as important as the payout itself.
Gabe Salzer
Revenue Operations
Strategy - HIGHTOUCH
EasyComp is so intuitive that our sales team needed almost no training to get started. Now, our account executives have real-time payout visibility, with clear explanations that eliminate back-and-forth with operations, allowing them to stay focused on closing deals.
EasyComp's complete sales performance management platform streamlines compensation management for maximized revenue impact.
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