Dave Jones, marketing director, Premier Paper Group  
It is difficult to generalise, as what works for one company may not work for another. Many companies use key performance indicators (KPIs) and reward their staff appropriately for achieving these. However, it is not always a simple choice between volume and contribution. The top tips made in the article generally make a lot of sense, such as that any bonus or commission scheme needs to be kept simple, and that bonuses should be paid in steps. I believe that this can create a good motivating factor for staff.

Phil Payter, managing director, PPG
I suspect many companies in the print industry are using commission structures that have become unworkable due to decreasing margins. This can leave the sales team, through no fault of the individuals, earning more from their sales than is contributed to the company. It’s vital to strike the right balance with accurate information about which jobs create more profit. Any incentive has to work for all parties. If the contribution is down, any commission should reduce to keep a healthy balance sheet. Commission needs to work as a carrot to increase company profits, achieving that in the current climate is difficult.

Lucy Edwards, assistant managing director, Howard Hunt
There isn’t a one-model-fits-all solution. The people out opening new accounts need to be remunerated on a different model to those responsible for account development. So, if you’re opening accounts, your commission might be on something like first-year contract value – whether that’s based on added value or turnover is debatable – while account developers could be remunerated on the extra volume they bring in over and above the contract value. Opening up an account is incredibly hard to do - sometimes the sales cycle can be one or two years – it’s a skill and you need to be rewarded for that.

Peter Morris, managing director, Friedheim
I wish I could make a profit so we could have that choice. We have always done it based on turnover, the salesman gets a percentage of it. At the end of the day, I don’t think it matters what you use, it wouldn’t make any difference to the end result. In the past, we have tried incentive schemes like a trip to Paris. But if somebody sold no machines and then three machines because we were offering them a trip to Paris, I would probably sack them. In the capital equipment industry, you get what you can get; we don’t turn down orders and neither do our salesmen.