Compensation

What this layer covers

This layer covers how sales and customer facing teams get paid once the moment of signature stops being the only thing that matters. It spans splitting commission between initial commitment and recognised consumption, redesigning quota to reflect ongoing value realisation rather than one time bookings, and deciding whether a standalone customer success function still makes sense once selling and serving are the same job.

The comp plan is the operating model made visible. Look at how a business actually pays its people, and you see what it believes about where value comes from: regardless of what the strategy deck says.

Why it's breaking now

A comp plan tied to bookings and seat expansion actively works against a consumption or outcome business, rewarding a rep for over selling ahead of usage rather than growing it. Companies that have addressed this seriously have gone further than a formula tweak: some have dissolved the wall between sales and customer success entirely, because in a consumption world that wall is the problem, not a department.