Q: What is a milestone bonus?

In sales compensation , a milestone bonus is earned when the rep meets designated stipulations and is paid a set amount. These bonuses do not vary if the rep is below or above these requirements. Meaning, anything less than the quota, and the rep earns nothing. And, for any deals that come in after hitting the quota target within the quota period, the rep would not earn any additional bonuses.

Question 1

Why would I only include a milestone bonus in my comp plan?

Accepted Answer

The major reason to have your compensation plan be exclusively 1 milestone bonus is if you have a specific bar that you’re trying to have your reps hit. You don’t care about them overachieving. The only thing that matters is that they hit their quota every month/quarter/year. If that is the case for you, a milestone bonus could be fitting.

Question 2

What is the point of milestone bonuses?

Accepted Answer

Milestone bonuses are typically paired with a commission path in order to encourage reps to hit some certain target. If you include a milestone bonus with your commission rate, this removes some of the concern of sandbagging and rep dissatisfaction.

Question 3

What is a milestone bonus?

Accepted Answer

In sales compensation, a milestone bonus is earned when the rep meets designated stipulations and is paid a set amount. These bonuses do not vary if the rep is below or above these requirements. Meaning, anything less than the quota, and the rep earns nothing. And, for any deals that come in after hitting the quota target within the quota period, the rep would not earn any additional bonuses.

Question 4

What’s the difference between sales commissions and bonuses?

Accepted Answer

The difference between commissions and bonuses is that bonuses are based on a set amount of money you earn for doing a specific task. Commissions, on the other hand, are a percentage of a revenue number you earn for closing a deal. For example, If a rep gets 20% of every deal closed, that’s commission. If a rep collects $200 for every deal they close, that’s a bonus.

Question 5

Is this plan too complex?

Accepted Answer

This commission plan’s complexity (or lackthereof) is right up there with the Single Rate Commission plan. The milestone bonus and single rate commission plans both include flat amounts or commission rates. Some would argue the milestone bonus plan is even simpler because the rep can only earn a set amount if and only when they hit quota. In both cases, the math is simple to calculate and easy for reps to understand.