Incentive Structures for Short-Term Goals

This is the most underrated problem I've seen when trying to build or expand partnership GTM: Leadership is initially fully behind a new partnership, excited about its potential, but that enthusiasm never makes its way down to the sales teams who are expected to execute. Without alignment, even the best partnership can stall before it has a chance to succeed. Why does this happen? Sales teams are often focused on their core products, and if a partnership doesn’t clearly benefit them or fit into their day-to-day operations, it becomes an afterthought. To turn things around, you need to make sure your partnership incentives, compensation, and training are in lockstep with the teams that will be selling your product. Here’s how to align incentives and drive results: 1. Ensure your incentives are compelling enough for frontline teams. It’s not enough to excite leadership—sales teams need a clear, tangible reason to sell your product. - Introduce a financial incentive or bonus structure that’s competitive with what reps earn on their core products. This could be a one-time bonus for the first sale, or an ongoing commission that rewards consistent effort. -Tie the incentive to their existing sales goals. If your product helps them hit their targets more easily, they’ll naturally prioritize it. 2. Structure partner compensation to motivate co-selling. If your partner compensation doesn’t align with their core goals, they won’t push your product. - Design a compensation plan that aligns with both the partner’s and your business objectives. For instance, if your partner’s core offering is hardware, incentivize bundling your software as part of the sale to create a win-win situation. - Offer performance-based incentives that reward partners for hitting key milestones—whether that’s a certain number of units sold, a specific revenue target, or even customer engagement metrics. Keep it simple and measurable. 3. Provide consistent training and engagement so your product isn’t just another checkbox. Sales teams won’t advocate for your product if they don’t fully understand its value or how to sell it. - Develop ongoing, bite-sized training sessions that fit into their schedules. Instead of overwhelming them with lengthy sessions, focus on 15-minute, high-impact trainings that teach them how to identify the right opportunities. -Pair training with real-time support. Join sales calls, offer one-pagers, and provide direct assistance during key customer engagements. When they feel supported, they’re more likely to feel confident pushing your product. This kind of alignment can make the difference between a stalled partnership and a thriving one. When sales teams are motivated, equipped, and incentivized to sell your product, the partnership stops being just another checkbox—it becomes a key driver of growth.

Accounting firms are facing an exodus of experienced partners, and we’re missing the mark on how to solve it. The reason is clear: we’re getting old. There’s an aging population of boomers retiring. The problem is, the next generation of skilled talent isn’t eager to replace them. Why? ➡ Young people have very different motivations They want short-term rewards. The road to partner is long and so is the payout. We’ve seen this in our organization. Our future leaders would much prefer a shorter-term equity award vs. long-term incentives. Firm leaders should look towards a “Great Restructuring.” Here are 7 strategies that we’re implementing. 1️⃣ A new value proposition to talent Waiting 12+ years to become a partner isn’t cutting it anymore. We need to design new, rewarding career paths that allow our teams to thrive. As we focus more on solving our client's complex, tech-enabled challenges (while automating and offshoring low-value services), we create roles that are aligned with their motivations. 2️⃣ Train and reinvest in people Accounting firms are now competing with tech giants like Google and Amazon for talent. Robust reinvestment in our people is essential, particularly in technology and digital transformation skills. Don’t skimp on your training budgets if you really want to grow. 3️⃣ Rethink KPIs and performance metrics The days of valuing only individual billable hours are over. Let’s redefine success by prioritizing team-based achievements, client satisfaction and innovative solutions. 4️⃣ Reimagine office space Workplaces should inspire collaboration, not reinforce silos. Offering flexible work arrangements and hybrid models with spaces that are both productive and socially engaging. 5️⃣ Rethink compensation We must offer short-term incentives. Consider short-vesting equity options, performance bonuses, and the like that align rewards with immediate contributions, not just long-term tenure. 6️⃣ Explore alternative firm structures What would a model look like without traditional partnerships? CBIZ, for example, operates with a corporate-style structure that might hold clues for the future. By experimenting with alternative ownership models, we could create roles that offer equity and influence without requiring the traditional partner track. 7️⃣ Foster new leadership mindsets A restructuring of this scale demands bold, creative leadership. It starts with adopting a new mindset about how work gets done. Leaders must embrace innovation, question legacy systems, and challenge traditional hierarchies to build a model that works for the future. ➡ My question to the young leaders amongst us. What motivates you? ➡ My question to firm leadership. How does the industry need to change?

Line of Sight: The Missing Link in Incentive Plan Design When incentive plans fall flat, it’s often not the mechanics that are broken. It is the line of sight. Line of sight is the clear connection between an individual’s day-to-day actions and the outcomes that drive incentive payouts. Without it, even well-funded bonus and commission programs struggle to motivate or retain. Why? Because employees don’t see how their efforts influence results. Whether you're designing management bonus plans or sales commission structures, line of sight must be prioritized. Here's how it should guide your design: 1 - Set metrics employees can directly influence – A regional sales manager can drive revenue but not profit margin. A warehouse supervisor can manage labor costs, not stock price. 2 - Create time-aligned goals – Annual bonuses tied to long-term metrics creates disconnection. Match the measurement period to the job’s decision-making window. What can the role accomplish within a year to impact their annual bonus payout? 3 - Ensure visibility of performance – Employees should be able to track progress toward goals throughout the performance period. If they can’t, then something needs to be done to fix this disconnect. 4 - Reinforce the connection – Leaders must continuously tie employee contributions to business outcomes. The best incentive plans are underpinned by effective communication, not just easy to understand calculations. And effective communication is repetitive. The same key messages shared repeatedly with the leader’s willingness to listen and respond to questions from employees is powerful. When you ignore line of sight, here's what you get: • Low employee engagement and confusion around goals • Perceived unfairness or randomness in incentive payouts • Leaders spend more time explaining than inspiring goal aligned performance • Missed business results despite payout dollars being spent Incentives should focus behavior, not just reward outcomes. Line of sight is how you create that focus. Is your incentive plan clear enough that every participant can answer: “What do I need to do to earn this?” And even better, “What do I need to do today and next week to maximize the payout?” If you're unsure, it's time to take a closer look. Start with one plan. One role. One business goal. One metric. Then build from there. #TotalRewards #IncentiveDesign #Compensation #SalesComp #ExecutiveCompensation #LineOfSight #HR #PayForPerformance #CompensationConsultant #FairPay #Incentives #Bonus #Commissions

Another dinner conversation at Apartmentalize was about how owners are rethinking standard commission structures for leasing teams. For owners and operators tackling lease-ups, value-adds, distressed assets, or sudden drops in short-term occupancy, standard commission plans often fall short in driving leasing performance and motivating teams. Most management companies use a leasing commission of around $50-100 per unit. Say you lease 30 units so $1,500/month—that’s split between the team. Not bad. But not exactly motivating when ownership and management are facing real occupancy pressure. At our dinner, multiple large owners have started pivoting to new structures, which is similar to how Eastman operates on our lease-ups: 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝐬 + 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝗽𝗲𝗿-𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻. Give the team a reason to sprint. Let them realize a portion of the upside for vacancy loss saved if they blow it out of the water. If the team stabilizes just 5% ahead of schedule on a 300-unit deal with average rents of $1,500, that’s $22.5K in savings for a single month of earlier occupancy. Two to three months early? That’s $40K–$60K of additional cash flow. Right now, most site teams have little incentive to push for that - only a small portion of their annual comp is the leasing commission bonus. But the owner benefits massively. So build a plan where everyone wins. Example incentive structure (assuming an October 1st stabilization target): ▪️$10K bonus if the team hits 95% occupancy by September 1st ▪️$20K bonus if they hit it by August 1st ▪️$30K bonus if they reach it by July 1st Split it between office and maintenance teams - we do 75% / 25%. I also find it crazy how many owners don’t give maintenance any leasing bonuses.. They are a huge part of keeping the community beautiful which in turn allows the leasing team to sell. Office morale is notably higher when everyone realizes the winning — when everyone gets excited about the team leasing, not just an individual contributor, it's a win. Morale and happiness is so important. The goal is simple: turn the entire on-site team into one focused leasing machine. Not just leasing staff—but maintenance, support, everyone aligned around hitting occupancy targets. The takeaway isn’t just about leasing—it’s about aligning incentives across the board. Give your teams a reason to shoot for the stars, even when the goal is the moon. 🌠🌠🌠

Budgets That Motivate: Aligning Incentives with Reality in Property Management We all agree that incentives are powerful. So why are we tying them to 12-month targets that lose meaning by month 3? 💬 The more immediate the reinforcement, the stronger its effect on behavior.” B.F. Skinner Let’s talk about what really goes wrong with budgeting in property management: ➡️ Scenario 1: The Sandbag Budget The team beats the budget with ease. Everyone gets a bonus. Nobody stretches. Incentive? Wasted. ➡️ Scenario 2: The Impossible Dream The budget is too aggressive. The site gives up before they start. Result? Demotivation and finger-pointing. ➡️ Scenario 3: The Sweet Spot A stretch target that feels barely achievable. This is where the magic happens—if you also fix one fatal flaw: timing. That’s why I moved to quarterly reforecasting and bonuses—especially for properties in lease-up or those impacted by outside events (think: factory closures, unexpected capital needs, etc.). Quarterly reforecasting gave us: Faster feedback loops More relevant incentives Motivation to hit new stretch goals Protection against uncontrollable events 🛠️ We also differentiated between controllable vs. uncontrollable expenses. If a $30K plumbing break wipes out a site’s bonus potential, that’s not just demoralizing—it’s unfair. So we built in variance protection for capital events. If your budget doesn’t inspire better performance, what exactly is it doing? How does your team structure budgeting incentives? 🔁 Follow me for more ideas on transforming operations and team performance without burning out your on-site staff.

How We Turned a Simple Cart Incentive Into $2.4M in New Revenue 💰 When trying to increase Average Order Value (AOV), the common move is to push upsells or cross-sells in the cart. But that doesn’t always work. Too many distractions can actually hurt conversions. So, instead of adding friction, we tested an incentive that encouraged larger purchases. -> The Strategy: Offer Store Credit Instead of Just an Upsell Rather than simply suggesting add-ons, we gave customers a compelling reason to buy more now and return later: ✅ Spend more, get store credit for a future purchase. This approach helped increase AOV while also boosting customer retention. ->Why This Worked 🚀 1️⃣ Incentive to spend more now: customers saw immediate value in increasing their order size. 2️⃣ Higher lifetime value: store credit encouraged repeat purchases, making customers more likely to return. 3️⃣ Built-in re-engagement opportunity: brands could email customers reminders when their store credit was about to expire, driving additional sales. 4️⃣ Win-win for new & returning customers: new customers spent more upfront, and existing ones had a reason to come back. ->The Results? 📈 $204K in new monthly revenue (with the same traffic!) 💰 $2.4M in projected annual revenue 🚀 AOV increased AND conversion rates improved This test proved that smart incentives can drive both short-term revenue and long-term loyalty. ->Key Takeaway CRO isn’t just about squeezing more revenue out of a single session, it’s about creating a smoother, smarter buying experience that keeps customers coming back. 👉 Would you try a store credit incentive on your cart?

How I fixed a sales team's performance with one simple change. A sales team was struggling. Not because they weren't working hard. They just weren't motivated enough. Why? Their bonus came once a year. No extra push. No reason to hustle harder. This meant: ↳ Always playing catch-up ↳ Slow revenue growth ↳ Missed opportunities So I changed one thing: ↳ The frequency of the incentive. From annual bonus to quarterly sales incentives And slightly the incentive's KPI mechanics too. The results? • Teams started crushing short-term targets • Sales became consistent month after month • Annual goals? Hit them without the last-minute panic Here's what I learned: The right incentives don't just reward people. They transform behavior. If your team isn't delivering what you need: Take a hard look at what's motivating them. P.S. What compensation changes have worked for your team?