Why MSP Sales Experts Get Lazy

Some of the most successful managed service providers have discovered a rather troubling trend: Their best sales pros are getting a little lazy living off recurring commissions, and aren’t motivated enough to go out and close new business toward the end of a fiscal year.

The issue was mentioned during a breakout session at the Ingram Micro Seismic partner conference in Chicago earlier today. In order to combat the problem and keep salespeople motivated year-round, some managed service providers are now building “sunset clauses” into their compensation programs. Here’s how the approach works.

First, a little more on the problem: Assume a salesperson has a particularly strong Q1 and Q2. In some cases, they may start kicking back and living off the recurring revenue streams they helped to build. But with sunset clauses, MSPs can offer tiered commission rates that fade away over a four-quarter cycle.

Each piece of new business earns a high commission, while customer engagements that are three- and four-quarters old gradually fade to zero commission rates.

This is just one way to keep your managed services sales force motivated. Surely, there must be dozens of other options… Readers?