Can salespeople actually enjoy vacation?

Published: Wed, 04/09/25

Updated: Mon, 04/14/25

April 9, 2025

TOGETHER WITH

Good morning Sales Folks (we’re not sure if that should be capitalized or not), and welcome back to The Quota. In this week’s issue of the internet’s most bespoke sales newsletter, we’ll take a look at a new study that shows how incentive programs often backfire. We’ll also share a Sales Fail about a sales rep on vacation, and give some advice to a rep who closes deals but gets little recognition. So crack open an energy drink, keep an eye on your resting heart rate, and enjoy!

NUMBER OF THE WEEK

The average lifetime value of a referred customer is 16% higher than a non-referred customer’s

Source: UPenn

SALES ROUNDUP

Here’s what’s happening in the sales world this week:

A new lawsuit claims that a Texas salesperson was intoxicated when he took a customer out on a deadly Dodge Challenger test drive. The customer, who had an extensive record of driver-related offenses, struck and killed the driver of another car that was on the road. The lawsuit, filed by the victim’s family, alleged that the salesperson and dealership should never have let the customer behind the wheel. You can read more about it here.
Salesmen at a Long Island, New York, Mercedes dealership routinely offered discounts on vehicles to “select female customers” in exchange for sex, a former employee alleges. In a federal discrimination lawsuit filed Monday and obtained by The Independent, Talita Paulino, who was hired last year at Mercedes-Benz of Massapequa as a sales consultant, claims another employee, a “product concierge,” shared videos of buyers providing sexual favors for discounts in the dealership’s cars. You can read more about it here.

FEATURE

The 3 mistakes sales leaders make when creating incentive programs

In a recent Harvard Business Review article, Scott Edinger, author of The Growth Leader: Strategies to Drive the Top and Lisa Earle McLeod, author of Selling with Noble Purpose, challenge one of the most entrenched beliefs in the sales industry: that salespeople are fundamentally “coin-operated.” They argue that the notion of salespeople being exclusively motivated by financial incentives is both outdated and harmful. While fair compensation remains important, this oversimplification of motivations not only undervalues sales professionals but can lead to counterproductive leadership practices that harm customer relationships.

The money motivation myth

Research from Michigan State's Dr. Valerie Good reveals a surprising truth: salespeople who sell with a purpose beyond financial gain consistently outperform those focused solely on hitting targets and maximizing commissions.

These purpose-driven sellers demonstrate greater resilience and sustained effort over time compared to their financially-motivated counterparts. When sales orgs overly rely on financial incentives rather than actual strategic leadership, they can trigger a cascade of unintended consequences:

1. Complex compensation plans that backfire

Remember Goodhart's law: "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure." The Wells Fargo cross-selling scandal showed us this principle in action, where incentivizing account openings led employees to create millions of fraudulent accounts.

In the pursuit of optimizing compensation metrics, salespeople routinely engage in behaviors that undermine company strategy: pursuing the wrong accounts, recommending ill-fitting products, holding back deals to hit future quotas, or neglecting existing business in favor of new logos.

2. SPIFFs that sabotage customer trust

We've probably all experienced the salesperson who steers us toward a specific product regardless of our needs (usually the most expensive one). Behind the scenes, there's often a SPIFF (Sales Performance Incentive Fund) driving this behavior.

While SPIFFs might temporarily boost specific product sales, they fundamentally misalign sellers with customers. The moment customers sense they're being pushed toward products that serve the salesperson rather than their needs, trust erodes and they start running towards the door.

3. Discouraging discounting through comp structures

When sales leaders claim they want their team to "think like CFOs," they're typically expressing frustration with excessive discounting. However, adjusting commission structures to reward profit margin rarely fixes the problem.

One Fortune 500 technology company tried paying commissions on gross profit instead of revenue, hoping to encourage the sales team to avoid discounting. After a year, they found that discounting behavior remained virtually unchanged. The sellers' mentality that "70% of something is better than 100% of nothing" persisted despite the altered incentives.
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Sales leaders—the next time you're tempted to modify the comp plan to drive different sales behaviors, ask yourself: Is this truly a compensation issue, or have I failed to provide the coaching and strategic guidance my team needs to succeed?

The best salespeople aren't simply coin-operated machines—they're professionals who thrive when equipped with purpose, strategy, and leadership rather than just another “new and improved” comp plan.

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MEME OF THE WEEK

Source: Instagram -- Sales Humor

QUIZ

What was the most expensive car sold at auction in 2024?

A. 1903 Mercedes-Simplex 60hp Roi des Belges
B. 1992 Geo Storm
C. 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider
D. 1963 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider

SALES FAILS

Each week, we bring you the most cringe-worthy sales moments from across the web. To submit your sales fail story for consideration, click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

After months working on this big enterprise deal, they finally signed the contract. My manager announced the deal to the entire team during our all-hands meeting and everyone applauded me. I was on cloud nine and immediately booked a non-refundable vacation to celebrate as the deal put me over my quota four months early.

Three days later, my point of contact casually emailed: "Just an FYI, our new CFO started yesterday and has put all new vendor relationships on a 90-day freeze for review. No big deal, just protocol." My stomach dropped. I emailed back but there was nothing I could do except wait with my fingers crossed. I ended up going on vacation the next week but I couldn't enjoy myself. I was stressed the entire time not knowing if the deal was guaranteed (and thinking about how expensive the vacation was). It ended up closing, but the waiting period literally ruined the vacation for me. I learned my lesson: don't celebrate until the money is in the bank.

Anonymous Location withheld

GRAPH OF THE WEEK

Source: LinkedIn Poll -- April 2025

WORTH A PEEK

What do you do if you work in sales but don’t know how to be assertive and stand up for yourself? A recent poster on Reddit asked this very question, attributing his own lack of courage to a volatile upbringing. He/she asked readers what to do, and they weighed in. You can read the conversation here.

ASK THE QUOTA

Want to submit a question and be featured in our advice column? Click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

Dear Quota Team,

I'm a consistent performer who always hits between 105-115% of quota. My results are reliable but never spectacular. Meanwhile, the company celebrates the feast-or-famine reps who miss quota for months then land one massive deal that puts them at 200%. The dramatic performers get the recognition, promotions, and President's Club trips while I'm seen as merely dependable. Should I change my approach and swing for the fences?

Consistent in Arizona

Dear Consistent,

What's more important to you: recognition or money? You're consistently hitting or exceeding your quota, which makes you a high performer. This is no small feat and you should feel proud. But if you want the recognition, then go ahead and start swinging for the fences—hopefully it doesn’t come at the expense of your consistency.

Quiz Answer: D. The most expensive car sold at auction in 2024 was a 1963 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider for $17.9m (you can read the source article here)

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Today's email was written by Ken Kupchik, Erica Furgiuele, Steve Rado, and Emily Hill.

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